Laura Pedersen has told the world what it means to her to be from Buffalo. That was "Buffalo Gal."
She's recounted what it was like to work on Wall Street at a young age. That was "Play Money."
Pedersen's stories have won audiences because they have been deeply personal and eclectic - and funny - while covering ground that many people are familiar with. (We've all been adolescents, and we know, at last vaguely, what the stock market is like.)
Now, Pedersen is treading farther afield - and taking readers with her.
In her newest (and 11th) book, "Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws: A Journey Through Modern India," Pedersen captures the zeitgeist in exploring the personal side of India: land of colorful scenery, exotic scenes, friendly people, and sometimes challenging transportation options. The 209-page softcover book is available from Fulcrum press in Golden, Colo., for $16.
"India was ... an untold story," said Pedersen, an Amherst native who still owns a home in the town though she lives with her husband in Manhattan. As luck - always a big factor in Pedersen's career, as she tells it - would have it, India has been much on the mind of the public of late, due to the popular movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," which chronicles the humorous adventures of seniors who retire to India to take up residence in what they think is a luxury hotel.
The release of the hit movie, which stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy, was a fortuitous bit of timing for Pedersen, who was in Buffalo a few weeks ago to visit friends and met with The Buffalo News to talk about her latest book.
"That was lucky," said Pedersen, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, sipping juice and nibbling a cookie at a downtown coffee shop. "I had no idea that the movie was coming out. That turned out to be a great thing for me. I was so glad that they had shot it in India."
Of the film, Pedersen said this: "It was fun and upbeat, life-affirming. It's charming."
Pedersen said it's not the first time her work has been timed well to coincide with cultural preoccupations. Perhaps her sense of timing stems from her years as a trader on Wall Street, she mused.
"When I used to do Wall Street, I used to be always looking for the Next Big Thing," Pedersen said, laughing. "So maybe I do that subconsciously.
"But consciously, I just write about what I want."
The author spent five weeks in India during the summer of 2010 - alone, which was probably a good thing, she said with a smile.
"Nobody would want to travel with me," joked Pedersen, who is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister.
During her trip, she explored India's landscape, visiting the major cities and many of the tourist spots as well as some regular neighborhoods. She found a country as multifaceted as one of its beautiful carpets, woven with people and communities that were as different as the places in Western New York.
While traveling, Pedersen said she hoped to capture for readers the sort of detail that would make the stories of India's people - particularly its women - come alive.
"I'm interested in the women and children. Always have been," said the author. "Subversively speaking, the object is to make their cause - their stories - universally interesting. I tried to paint it in a broader context."
Pedersen said India impressed her as a place of differences.
"Everything is a contrast," she said. "Just when you think it is one way, you see that it's really totally another. I was continually surprised - which is a great thing."
Besides "Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws," Pedersen has a children's book called "Unplugged" coming out this autumn from Tilbury House, a Maine publisher. That book is about "overinvolvement in our devices," Pedersen said.
In addition, a new Pedersen play, "A Dozen Perfect Moments," will be produced in July at a Manhattan theater, as part of a theater festival in New York City.
And, she said, Medaille College has chosen another of her books - "Buffalo Unbound" - to be the college's selection for all incoming students to read this fall.
"That's nice, because they're young," said Pedersen.
Pedersen said what continues to give her the most pleasure is the idea that people not only relate to her books - but find them amusing.
"I want people to laugh when they read the books," she said. "I want people to have fun."
For more about Pedersen and her books, visit www.LauraPedersenBooks.com.
Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws: A Journey Through Modern IndiaPedersen recounts her travels through India two summers ago, with advice for others looking to trace the same journey.
Buffalo Gal
In this memoir, Pedersen told the world what it was like to grow up in Buffalo's suburbs in the 1970s.Play MoneyPedersen's first book was the tale of her real-life adventures as a precocious young professional working on Wall Street.Buffalo UnboundThis nonfiction title by Pedersen was chosen by a local college as the required reading for all incoming freshmen this fall.
