My first Regency novel Unladylike Lessons in Love is out today. Next to it I’m holding my first Georgette Heyer found in a secondhand bookstall as a teenager. Who knew it would be so important? As a brown writer of Indian origin what was my place in Regency fiction after all? 1)

Some hilarious adventures in trying to be a grown up and miserably failing. creativehunger.substack.com/…

Loved writing this. Will my creative hunger ruin my life? Help! Read here and subscribe for free. creativehunger.substack.com/… Talking about this very thing @PrimadonnaFest today. On my way now. Don’t you love a train photo?

Do you get chattier when you feel vulnerable? I do & my character Lila does. Only read if you want to see the edgier sides of Regency London, ‘scintillating’ dialogue (Cosmo & Good Housekeeping said it) & Bridgerton-level heat. 99p for a limited time. amazon.co.uk/Unladylike-Less…

Are even keel emotions all they’re cracked up to be? As a creative gal, I thrive on (& channel) my highs & lows instead of fighting them. But it took me years to figure this out. I love how my Barbie dress matches the gorgeous Richard Woods studio! creativehunger.substack.com/…

99p KINDLE KLAXON ALERT! The first book in the Unladylike series is now cheaper than - well everything. See how it began. Lila, one of my favourite heroines never shows when she’s feeling vulnerable & Ivor is possibly the most enraging man in London amazon.co.uk/Unladylike-Less…

So many women I know struggle with disordered eating. We manage anxiety, difficult emotions, desires and longings and inner monsters that seem out of step with the world by trying to control our eating and our weight. creativehunger.substack.com/…

This happened.

In which I talk about crushes, disordered eating, creative longing and writing. It’s so exposing to write non-fiction but is also the truest thing I’ve ever written Subscribe for free: creativehunger.substack.com/…

Sorry for the late response! I’m not here much. Big thank you, more Arya books coming soon but meantime I have a similar tone in creativehunger.substack.com/… Where I talk crushes, cake, desire, disordered eating and more. To subscribe is free. Please share! ❤️

the annual realisation that all the time you were feeling low or anxious in the last few months it was largely because the goddamn sun was missing

In time for Valentine’s Day a gorgeous list from @GHmagazine. Mine is fun, steamy, often hilarious (can I say that, readers? 😍) & dives deep into complicated colonial histories. On a limited time £1.99 deal & 3rd comes out soon! Grab it before it’s gone amazon.co.uk/Unladylike-Less…

My 12yo daughter had been asking for a ‘date night’ for her & me. So I surprised her with nachos & the shit hot production of Ballet Shoes at @NationalTheatre, which turned out to be funnier, wilder, & dare I say more feminist-leaning, fun & diverse than the original.

I’m so burnt out from the last two years that I’m actually eating lunch these days and not simultaneously working, writing or on social media. Does anyone have any experience of this phenomenon?

Well if the walls are wishing me a happy birthday….thank you wall.

People say weird things to writers. Someone said to me that they’d chosen not to follow their art as ‘you can either be a successful creative or a good mum.’ Reader, I had to stop myself from giving them a fucking big lecture about creativity, good parenting & sour grapes

In other exciting news we had enough snow in parts of london for it to settle. I’m expecting train delays

What are you doing to help you face the world right now? I have to be at work today after 3 weeks of severe hibernation. Finding it very hard to get my head going. Though wearing a pink skirt and scorpions on my shirt is helping a little bit. But - help!

I’m doing my dreaded taxes & tallying up expenses. Turns out that in my head this plays out as an AC12 full-out Line of Duty interrogation. ‘According to Log168, under Article75, within the parameters of Point5493, on date 15.07.23, can you explain why you spent £12.36 in Costa?’