A literary agent in a major Indian publishing house is facing a new challenge as she seeks to build her portfolio by writing nonfiction.
Laurie Blanchard, a former executive editor of The New Yorker magazine, is the latest writer to come up with a novel, novelistic work that can be marketed to the general public.
Her novel, titled Paradix, is set in a fictional universe in which the world is a post-apocalyptic reality and the human race is extinct.
The protagonist, Rama, is an aspiring writer who is the son of a billionaire who died in a car accident.
She is driven to seek a career in journalism, where she must navigate a series of crises and dilemmas that will determine the future of her world.
Blanchards novel is being marketed as an anthology of short stories by Penguin Random House India, and she is also pursuing an adaptation in a film by Warner Bros.
Blanchard is a former editor-in-chief at Penguin Random Press, a division of Penguin Random Associates, a subsidiary of Penguin Group Plc.
She was hired in 2012 as a senior editor and has a full-time position with Penguin Random, which focuses on fiction.
She has written for the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, HarperCollins, and HarperCollins India.
Blancheards new novel, Paradux, is being published in paperback by Penguin India.
The title of the book is a pun on the phrase “paradise island,” which means “world without limits.”
Blanchars novel, which is about a young writer who discovers a new kind of novel in a postapocalyptic world, is about Rama and her quest for a better life.
Her book has been translated into more than 30 languages, including the Russian language.
In India, Blanchart is a household name.
Her novel, Blanche’s World, has been hailed by literary critics and booksellers.
“Paradix is an exciting book for India,” said a Penguin Random India spokesperson.
“We are looking forward to publishing it in India.”
Blanche is not alone in exploring the possibilities of a novel as a literary agent.
In 2014, New York University’s literary agent Anand Bhandari launched a novelization project titled The Paradossa Trilogy, in which he aims to help nonfiction writers write and publish their own novels.
Blanches novel, the first novel by her, is part of the Paradostatic Trilogy, which includes the short story “The First” by Shanti Mehta.
Blans novel, “The Paradax,” is also part of that series, published in 2019 by Penguin Group India.
Blanche Blanchar is a writer and publisher based in the United Kingdom, and is the author of several books, including “The Girl in the Park” (Penguin Random House) and “The Lost City of Cagliostro” (Knopf).
She also runs an online publishing company, called Blanche Books, which has a global footprint.
She can be reached at [email protected]
