Thoughtful, seductive, and entirely engrossing - Bellies is already a classic' Bryan Washington, author of Memorial and Lot It’s also hard to conceive of what audience I would’ve written for. Sure, the girls, the gays and the theys, but even that demands a reductive approach to a group with really distinct reading habits. Audiences can also surprise you. I wouldn’t want to limit myself from the get-go. Bellies has done quite well with a lot of boomers. Who knew?

I started writing full time after the book deal for Bellies came through and TV stuff as well, so it just makes sense to write and start working on something else, so that my self esteem wasn't so wound up in just one book. I like reminding myself how important it is to know that there are always more words to write. Creativity is sort of like a well, just because you've written one book, but it doesn't mean it ends there. And if things don't work out with that one book and things don't go as perfectly as you hope, there's always more you can write. There's no real drama. The story is simply told but gives a lot of insight into the kinds of compromises and decisions that need to be made when a person decides to become someone else - the someone they are happier being.The way Dinan writes about love, loss, growing up, transitioning and our bodies took my breath away. I can't wait for this novel to be published, so I can talk about it with everyone I know. Travis Alabanza, Guardian First of all, I just wanted to talk a bit about how things are going for you. I know you’re already adapting Bellies into a screenplay and are at a third draft stage with your second novel, Disappoint Me. It must be a bit of a whirlwind, what has all of this been like for you? With Bellies Nicola Dinan has written an intimate odyssey - full of warmth and humour... Offering a story about connection, loneliness, identity, and the many different forms that family can take. Thoughtful, seductive, and entirely engrossing - Bellies is already a classic. Bryan Washington, author of Lot and Memorial

As I said, Ghost Girl, Banana was really written in tribute to my mum and so from the start I was very much focussed on doing her story and her experiences justice, albeit through fiction. I think this also helped me write with a sense of nothing to lose, which is the unique gift of a debut author. There was no expectation there and therefore no cynicism to the process! A brilliantly tender depiction of male friendship at its best, and food descriptions so rich they'll leave you holding the book in one hand and looking up recipes with the other GQ MagazineI didn’t think too much about a target market or anything when I was writing the book, but I always had a reader in mind, and I tried to tell the story the way I’d share an anecdote or a piece of gossip with a friend; sharp, clear and funny. Moving from London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, Bellies follows two queer students, Tom and Ming, who fall in love at university and find their relationship dramatically upended when Ming comes out as trans and decides to transition. It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at a university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a charming young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom's awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming's orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he's already mapped out their future together. But, shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition. I’m not really someone who cries a lot, I wish I cried more. I often want to, but the tears just never flow. Yet when I finished an advance reading copy of Bellies by Nicola Dinan I had to sit down and let myself cry. Real tears. Not one singular tear to brush off, but embarrassing flood-gates-open crying tears. A loud crying in contrast to the quiet sadness of this book. The way Dinan writes about love, loss, growing up, transitioning and our bodies took my breath away. I can’t wait for this novel to be published, so I can talk about it with everyone I know. What has always fascinated me about London is that for such a densely populated place, with such a varied demographic, we still exist here more as subsets than a collective community. There’s still a lot of tribalism in London, whether that’s the territorialism of the north/south river divide, or the us versus them mentality of wealth and/or diaspora which provides real grist for a writer.

Dinan's debut had me sold on premise alone. Then it completely won me through its complex relationships, immersive travels, found family, honest conversations, and mouthwatering descriptions of Malaysian food. Paste Magazine What do I owe you as an author? A duty to not misinform, sure – I think we can agree on that. But what does that leave? As a trans author – in representing characters historically excluded from mainstream literature – what do I have to represent? I am perhaps overly conscious of the ways in which Bellies sounds like a Chat GPT novel for Gen Z or millennial readers. Queer love story? Slay. Trans narrator? Queen. Of colour? Confetti cannons. And yet, I’m also ever conscious that Bellies doesn’t fully represent the trans experience. I can’t help but worry Ming’s not the right trans person to learn from. In Happy Hour, we meet Isa and Gala, two carefree young women visiting New York for a summer. The friends are broke and get by on the favours of men who buy them free drinks, pay for their cabs and give them gifts. In Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, Lenu and Lila come of age in a violent postwar Naples, embroiled in fights between communists and fascists, with (unhappy) marriage being one of the only means of escaping poverty.

Dinan's prose is heartfelt and endlessly readable. She explores her characters with sympathy and patience, never casting villains, only complicated humans who are trying their best. It is an earnest and honest exploration of identity and connection that is sure to resonate. Reader’s Digest '5 Debut Books to Look Out For in 2023' We were immediately absorbed and transported by the love story between Tom and Ming — and by Nicola’s writing, which is in equal parts hilarious and heart-breaking,” said Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe and Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann, who will executive produce alongside Dinan. “We think the world is hungry for a love story like theirs — that authentically allows for the space and complexity of their changing dynamic, both as Ming transitions but also as the two of them grow into adulthood — while still honoring the excitement and intensity of first love. We are delighted to bring their story to the screen and couldn’t be happier that Nicola is adapting herself.” She said: “ Bellies has become a part of me, like an extra limb, or even a second belly. Bobby and the Doubleday team’s enthusiasm for the novel moved me so deeply—I can’t quite imagine a better home for it.”