BIO:

I'm Noreen! I am so excited to mentor this year in SmoochPit. I'm the author of the contemporary romance debut, THE SUMMERS BETWEEN US (RHC 2025). I've always been a voracious reader of many genres, but romance has always held my heart. I'm a second-generation immigrant from the Indian diaspora, and my own writing explores themes of identity, race, and belonging, wrapped in stories of romantic and familial love.

I am passionate about inclusive and diverse stories and always want them to end with a HEA. When I am not writing, reading, or generally fangirling over said reads, I can be found practicing as a physician, spending time with my partner and my little dog, and exploring local bookstores. I'm excited to work with a mentee in the Adult Space. I'm interested in writers who write rom-coms, contemporary romances, or fiction with strong romantic elements.

As much as I love to read romantasy and historical fiction, I am not the best fit for it editorially. I am interested in light speculative elements, however, so if your work includes that, feel free to send it over!

MSWL:

I'm looking for stories with big emotional journeys and complex characters I can root for as we make our way to their happily ever after.

What I am a good fit for:  

- All heat levels

- Diverse voices, BIPOC, LGBTQA+

- Books with themes of family and belonging

- Tropes! Special shout-outs to friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, THERE'S ONLY ONE BED, forced proximity 

- STEM romance

What I am NOT a good fit for

- I am not a big fan of the accidental pregnancy trope or secret baby trope  

- dark romance

-  big age gaps  

- power gaps in romance  

- I love romantasy as well as historical romance as a reader, but editorially I am not a good fit for this

MENTORING STYLE

I was one of the Word is Diversity mentee's in 2022 and want to give back to the community that helped me learn so much about writing. I am happy to share any experiences I have with my mentee, from query, sub and post-book deal life. I'm easily reachable over text or Discord. In fact, some may say I am overly glued to my phone. If you message me, I will get back to you usually within a day. I plan to do an initial Zoom check in and we can schedule further as needed, but since my day job is a bit all over the place scheduling wise, day to day I am best reachable via message. Because of said day job, I can only commit to a detailed read-through of the first fifty pages, synopsis and query with feedback as well as more general feedback on the full manuscript. Please keep this in mind when applying to me. I am not the best fit for a manuscript that needs heavy work at this time.

APPLICATIONS FROM CONNECTIONS

Please do not apply to me if we've ever beta-read for each other or have had conversations online. If we're in the same discord(s) or mutuals on social media but haven't talked more than a comment on a post here or there, feel free to apply! If we do know each other better and you want me to beta, just reach out :).