Dorothy Koomson: All The Pretty Books

((  Written By:  Nani Hapa  ))  Novelist and journalist Dorothy Koomson wrote her first novel, There’s A Thin Line Between Love And Hate, when she was 13 years old, and she has only been honing on her literary craft since.  She says about her passion:

My mum taught me to read and write when I was in nursery, and my older brother used to read to me a lot before I started school. These two things meant that from an early age I had access to the fantastical worlds you find inside the pages of a book.  From the age of about ten, I used to stop off at the library on my way home from school and read stories. I basked in the peace and tranquillity of the library. At home I would read in bed from the light that could come into my bedroom from the corridor. I would devour books by Judy Blume and Jackie Collins (even though I was too young to read Collins’s stories!).  I would also read the novels of films in the cinema because I was too young to see them—I remember reading Lethal Weapon and Witness over and over again.  My love of experiencing stories grew into a passionate desire to tell stories, especially when I discovered people as young as me could write books. 

After completing her Masters Degrees (Psychology and Journalism), Dorothy took up various temping jobs and eventually got her big break writing, editing and subbing for magazines and newspapers.  She says, "fiction and storytelling were still a huge passion of mine and I continued to write short stories and novels every spare moment that I got.  In 2001 I had the idea for [my first published novel,] The Cupid Effect and my career as a published novelist began.  And it’s been fantastic."  

Dorothy (or Superwoman as I like to think of her) is now the author of seven novels, including, The Woman He Loved Before, The Ice Cream Girls, Goodnight, Beautiful, Marshmallows for Breakfast, My Best Friend's Girl, The Chocolate Run and The Cupid Effect, and has had her work translated into more than 28 languages across the world.  

To read more about Dorothy (and undoubtedly be inspired to follow your passion), visit her official website www.dorothykoomson.co.uk.

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You may also enjoy reading these articles from MIMI Magazine  (( 1 )) Adaboi Tricia Nwaubani: Literary Lady, (( 2 )) Nigerian Fiction By Design, (( 3 )) What We're Reading Now.

((  Photo Credits:  Book Cover Art ))