(April 24, 2025) Lakshmi Priya – known as Ell P – can blend in just about anywhere. Her ability to quickly adapt to new places, people and cultures is exceptional. A quality she imbibed quite early in life — studying in 13 different schools and colleges across India, thanks to her father’s transferable job which took her to a new city every two-three years.
The experiences made her adept at observing her surroundings, understanding the dynamics and integrating better. It served her well when she left India to study and write in the UK, returned to Bangalore for her first corporate role, and eventually settled in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Today she balances two very different worlds: by day, she designs and runs global learning programs for a multinational corporation; by night, she’s an award-winning author whose work spans 18 short-story anthologies, a horror novella, and her debut novel, Shameless in Stilettos.
“Where do I belong?” is a question she asks herself every day. “I feel like a circus performer juggling more than I can handle,” Lakshmi Priya tells Global Indian.
Shameless in Stilettos
A gripping crime novel that weaves together suspense, intricate characters, and emotional depth — Shameless in Stilettos has captivated the readers worldwide with its unexpected twists, intense tension, and daring erotic elements.
Set in an Indian middle-class neighbourhood, the story follows the investigation of a brutal murder, filled with unexpected turns. The book explores themes of grief, trauma, and self-discovery while addressing taboo topics like BDSM, voyeurism, and unconventional desires, challenging societal norms. “I wanted to write what I wanted to read. A thriller, a whodunnit, complete with all the spice and drama,” says the author, who took two years to write and another year and a half to edit the novel.
The author says it’s an addictive read for fans of dark crime fiction and emotional, thought-provoking stories. “Readers who enjoy Big Little Lies and Fifty Shades of Grey will be captivated by it,” she insists.
Writing her first full length novel (Shameless in Stilettos) was an exercise in patience for Ell P. “Consistency and I have a complicated relationship,” she admits. During COVID, she turned her home into both office and writing studio. Every evening at 7, she’d close her work laptop, open her writing one, and spend an hour or two writing.
Finding Her Tribe: From Write Club Bangalore to Women’s Web Stardom
Writing has been her constant companion since childhood, but things got serious in August 2014 when she joined Write Club Bangalore, a breeding ground for literary talent, through Meetup.com. “At that point in life, I needed a tribe, and this gang of passionate writers was just that.”
Every Saturday, she and other writers would gather, tackle a new theme, topic, or writing technique, pour their hearts onto paper, and then read them aloud for feedback. “I soon realised that I had miles to go before I could call myself a writer without wincing. So, I showed up every single week, wrote, read, got critiqued, sometimes brutally, and slowly found my voice,” she recalls.
Along the way, many writers became Ell’s lifelong friends who cheered her on and challenged her to be better. “Writing books was not easy at all. After joining the Write Club, I had mastered the art of writing short stories. But converting an idea into a 80,000 worded book was another thing altogether.”
Meanwhile, she built her online presence by writing for WomensWeb.in, lending her voice to powerful narratives about women’s experiences. She was named Women’s Web Author of the Month” multiple times and even won the Orange Flower Award, run by Women’s Web, in the short fiction category for her story “Who killed Balasubramanium?” in the Orange Flower Festival 2021.
Forging New Paths in Publishing: From LitLatte’s Anthologies to The Hive’s Indie Ventures
She then teamed up with four fellow Write Club members to co-found LitLatte, a publishing platform – releasing two anthologies — The Ghostwalk and The Case of the Punctual Phantom and Other Stories.
When COVID hit, her online writing circle grew through Women’s Web, and out of that energy came The Hive. “It was a lot more active and vibrant. We put out anthologies and dipped our toes into the chaotic, wonderful world of Indie publishing and KDP,” she says.
The Hive launched five anthologies, four featuring her work. “While both the publishing platforms are inactive now, it was a great learning experience, most important I made connections for life,” says Ell.
View this post on Instagram
From Seven-Year-Old Scribbles to Dark Inspirations
Ell has been weaving stories since childhood. Her first story was a whopping 12000-word supernatural adventure of a little girl in a haunted house. She was seven then. “It made me feel like a literary genius until I reread them years later and cringed,” laughs the writer, who always had a thing for the mysterious, the eerie, and the supernatural.
She describes her childhood home as a ‘thriller and horror paradise’ thanks to her father, who devoured Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Frederick Forsyth, Arthur Hailey, and James Hadley Chase. “Naturally, I inherited his taste.”
Academically, she was an average student – “excellent in languages and literature, but math felt like a punishment,” admits Ell. Yet she always shone outside the classroom, whether in debates, theatre, public speaking, writing or even on the sports field.
From Bangalore to Netherlands: Learning Dutch and Finding Community
She moved to the Netherlands in late 2023. “New country, new language, new existential crisis,” smiles Ell, who lived in the UK in 2006 before moving to Bangalore in 2008.
In Bangalore, she had an exciting job and had built a solid social circle, and the best support system (human and canine). But her first year in Netherlands had her second-guessing everything. But survival instincts kicked in. “Me and my partner started learning Dutch religiously, forced ourselves into social and networking events until we actually made friends,” she says.
They went onto launch the Rotterdam Writer’s Circle, joined book clubs and karaoke communities, hit the gym regularly – so they could keep up with the Dutch love for cycling everywhere.
After one and a half years in the Netherlands, Ell says she has finally stopped looking like a lost tourist in her own neighborhood. “Are we fully integrated? Not quite. But at least now I know the difference between “doei” (bye) and “doi” (oops, embarrassing mistake).”
Boardrooms to Books: Ell P’s Corporate Climb and Creative Drive
“I never moved away from the corporate world,” she says when asked why she did not take up writing full time.
She started her corporate journey in Learning and Development, moved into operations and Chief of Staff roles, and then again moved back to managing global learning programs.
“Corporate life is challenging and exciting, it creates the same sense of accomplishment that writing does.”
Next Thrillers, Favorite Authors, and a Worldly Lens
Ell is currently writing two new books—one a horror tale, the other a chick-lit thriller. “But who knows, may be my next thriller will feature a protagonist who moves to the Netherlands and has an existential crisis at the Tulip Fields,” smiles the author.
Her go-to authors have changed as her reading tastes have evolved with time. Internationally, she loves Tana French, C.J. Tudor, Elif Shafak, Jussi Adler-Olsen, Matthew Reilly, and Salman Rushdie. In India, she’s inspired by Damyanti Biswas, Apeksha Rao, Andaleeb Wajid, and Richa Srivastava Mukherjee.
View this post on Instagram
The author, calls her pets – Puffy and Wally – the two great loves of her life. Apart from being a voracious reader, she loves to workout, run, cycle, box and dance.
Ell’s moves — from India to the UK, Bangalore to Netherlands — have given her fresh perspectives at every turn. Living in different cultures and learning new languages has filled her stories with unique voices and settings. Those experiences shine through in her anthologies and thrillers, making her work truly global.
- Follow Ell P on Instagram
