Malladi, Amulya 1974-

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MALLADI, Amulya 1974-

PERSONAL: Born September 21, 1974, in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India; married Soren Rasmussen (a marketing manager), May 9, 1998; children: Tobias. Ethnicity: "Indian." Education: Osmania University, B.E., 1995; University of Memphis, M.A., 1997.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Mildred Marmur, Mildred Marmur Associates, 2005 Palmer Ave., P.O. Box 127, Larchmont, NY 10036. E-mail—amulya@ amulyamalladi.com.

CAREER: Worked as online editor for a publishing house in San Francisco, CA, and as a marketing manager for a California software company; currently a writer living in Denmark.

WRITINGS:

A Breath of Fresh Air (novel), Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Mango Season (fiction), Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including Deccan Chronicle.

SIDELIGHTS: Amulya Malladi told CA: "I started writing when I was eleven years old. So, today, when people ask me why I started writing or how, I can't answer the question because I don't remember. I have always written, since I can remember. As a child, I filled up ruled notebooks with stories about adventures of other children. Then my favorite writer and biggest influence was the British writer Enid Blyton. I wanted to be Enid Blyton.

"As I grew, my focus changed. I started writing about the Indian woman and six of my short stories got published in the Sunday edition of an English daily, the Deccan Chronicle. The stories were about women having extra-marital affairs, rape, independent women, and so on.

"Even now I find myself writing about Indian women, their different shades, their strengths, and their weaknesses. As an Indian woman who married a European and lived in the United States and now in Europe, I see India in many different lights, some good and some not so good. My perception of India, I feel, is very clear because I don't live there anymore.

"I think of myself as a storyteller. I am here to tell a good story, an entertaining one. My goal is to have fun writing a story and have the reader have fun reading it as well.

"My first book, A Breath of Fresh Air, was a sad story, I think. But it is a story about hope, love, and human courage. My next book, The Mango Season, is about India, arranged marriage, foreign returned daughters, and mangoes. It is a funny story, a story about fighting against the system and winning.

"I hope as I evolve as a storyteller, to tell stories with more layers, in exciting voices and with vivid colors."