Author Profile: Amrita Chatterjee

Something Or Other Publishing is proud to introduce Amrita Chatterjee, a creative force and winner of the 1st Prize in the Adventure Category of our 1st Annual Short Story Contest.

Amrita Chatterjee, creative writer. (Amrita Chatterjee)

Amrita Chatterjee is a writer, mother, creator, and doer. She believes in living life on her own rules. However, with a teenage daughter in the house, rules may sometimes have to be tweaked, but they remain her own, allowing her to be herself, always. She loves life and all its various nuances. A keen observer of human behavior, she likes to understand how this impacts our relationships with each other. She expertly weaves these learnings into her stories on her blog Amritawrites – The Story Loom. Her stories are close to life and have always touched a chord in the hearts of all her readers. 

In her first self-published novel, “Hiraeth – where the heart belongs,” she explored the unique and often ignored bond between humans and animals. In her inimitable style, she has shown how far we have moved away from the call of humanity and how critical it is to return home before it is too late. 

Amrita’s award-winning short story, Tales of Hunger in the Forest of Death, is part of SOOP’s forthcoming anthology titled “SOOPs finest.” In it, she has further explored this fragile human-animal relationship through Sheeba, a tigress, and Aroti, a widow. Both, though different, share the same vulnerability of being providers for their families in a society that has ostracised them. But, as they stare into each other’s eyes, will they be able to see that the same desperateness drives both?  

Jesus E. Bracho, SOOP’s Director of Marketing, sat down with Amrita to engage in a fun Q&A session to learn her initial reactions on this new journey:

JB: What inspired you to write “Tales of Hunger in the Forest of Death“?

AC: I love using the experiences I gather from my everyday life as the source for my stories. So on every occasion, I ask myself, “what if?” For example, during my visit to the Sunderbans, we traveled on the wild Matla river with the wilderness lurking all around us in search of the ever-elusive Bengal Tiger. It was then that I began to question myself, just like we are on the lookout for the beast, what if the tiger is also looking at us right now from behind the drooping Sundari trees? Besides, stories of people’s complicated lives in the Sunderbans floated on every lip. And I again questioned myself, what if the tiger had an equally challenging life in these harsh terrains driven by the indomitable adversary, hunger? Hence was born, The Tales of Hunger in the Forest of Death.

JB: What was the most challenging part of writing the story?

AC: I believe the most challenging part was shrugging off my city-bred mentality and getting into the worn-out clothes of Aroti, women who struggle with lack of education, finances and social acceptance and yet have the sensitivities that are often lacking in many educated urban mindset. Also, looking at the decrepit human population from the eyes of a threatened animal required some deep introspection.

JB: What genres do you personally like to read?

1st Prize in the Adventure Category of SOOP’s 1st Annual Short Story Contest. (SOOP)

AC: I like reading Mystery, Romance and genres that focus on human relationships.

JB: Do you have any other writing projects in the works?

AC: Currently, I am working on a fantasy adventure series. It is a three-part series, of which the first two are done. I have started on the third. 

JB: Who is your target audience?

AC: I would not say I like to limit my stories to any particular section of people. I believe the actual value of a good story is that it is accepted and interpreted by every age group in their own way. The story just needs to be told appealingly. Having said that, if I indeed have to identify a target audience, I would say that this story would be appreciated by the general audience who loves adventure and is interested in topics on man-animal conflict. 

JB: What do you hope readers take away from your story?

AC: Hope, the courage to be good, and the never-give-up spirit are some of the takeaways I have weaved into my story. I hope my readers can get a glimpse of these as they go through the pages. 

JB: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

AC: Read, observe, and feel. The more you read, the more you will be able to follow and understand the myriad colors of life. You will experience how it seeps into your soul as you observe closely and purposefully. The energy around you is full of prompts. You just need to grab the right one to weave into your story. Be honest, original, and sensitive. That is all you need to inspire the right words to flow. I wish you all the best!

Readers can pre-order “Tales of Hunger in the Forest of Death” through Amrita’s customized pre-order page right here.

Learn more about Amrita Chatterjee through the links below:

Facebook: AmritaWrites

Instagram: @rovingquill

Twitter: @AmritaChat77

Blog: amritawrites.com

 

Comments

  1. I have been an ardent follower of her writings since she started – be it the forest or a character as in one of her mystery stories – Amrita always narrates it so vividly – the reader can almost visualize the atmosphere. I wish her all the luck for her forthcoming projects – may we get to read loads of her beautifully crafted stories.

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