Bio
Mintie Das was born in Assam, India, raised in Macomb, Illinois and now lives in Helsinki, Finland. She’s been traveling the globe since childhood and always finds inspiration in the discovery of the unknown. Mintie spent twelve years organizing international events for governments around the world and the UN. Her first YA series, Storm Sisters, was translated into eight languages. Mintie marks her US debut with Brown Girl Ghosted which comes out in March 2020 from Versify/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian and she has been featured in media throughout the world including an appearance on BBC’s Woman’s Hour. Mintie loves binge-watching her favorite shows and being a total tourist anywhere.
Essays
Frequent Answers
Yup, Mintie is my real name. Aiedeo is my first name and I always hated it until I discovered it means ‘queen’ in ancient Assamese (the language they speak in the place that I was born). That not only made me love the name, it made my imagination go crazy and so I created the Aiedeo in Brown Girl Ghosted.
TV. I have a lot of hobbies like traveling, cooking, reading and karaoking but hands down, my favorite thing in the world is binge-watching my favorite shows. From 90210 to Euphoria, Buffy to Breaking Bad and everything Shonda Rhimes, my happy place has always been in front of a screen.
Yes, I really live in Helsinki, Finland. The first time I came here was when I was thirteen years old. There weren’t a lot of brown people at the time and I very much felt like the lone chocolate chip in a really vanilla landscape. That year in Helsinki turned out to be one of the most impactful in my life and I always wanted to go back. So nearly ten years ago, I moved here because I totally dig the humility, honesty, melancholy and dark humor of the Finns.
Yes, I really grew up with a bad ass Nepalese nanny. And just like in Brown Girl Ghosted, my Dede was a Jack Sparrow-Miyagi hustler-guru too.
I encourage anyone who is thinking of being a writer to just write. Don’t worry about if it sucks. Try all kinds of voices and all types of styles. And read, read, read.
Some of my favorite authors: Laura Lippman, Agatha Christie, Gillian Flynn, Jeffrey Eugenides, Rainbow Rowell, Lauren Groff, Angie Thomas, Donna Tartt and Kazuo Ishiguro.
