About Olivie
For an official bio, find my press kit.
Olivie Blake, the pen name of Alexene Farol Follmuth, is the author of internationally bestselling speculative fiction for adults. She is a lover and writer of stories, many of which involve the fantastic, the paranormal, or the supernatural, but not always. More often, her works revolve around the collective experience, what it means to be human (or not), and the endlessly interesting complexities of life and love.
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Olivie tripped and fell into writing after abandoning her long-premeditated track for Optimum Life Achievement while attending law school, and now focuses primarily on the craft and occasional headache of creating fiction. Her New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling The Atlas Six released in 2022 from Tor Books, with The Atlas Paradox and The Atlas Complex rounding out the internationally bestselling trilogy in 2024. The re-release of her viral literary romance Alone With You in the Ether was followed by backlist titles One for My Enemy and New York Times bestselling Masters of Death, with brand new titles such as Gifted & Talented, Girl Dinner, and Dreamland releasing in 2025 and beyond. Several of her works are currently be adapted for film. She is also the writer for the graphic series Clara and the Devil with co-creator Little Chmura. As Alexene, she is the author of young adult fiction (alexenefarolfollmuth.com).
Olivie lives and works in Los Angeles with her husband and son. She has trained in boxing for the last seven years and enjoys dinner conversation, art made by humans, and overindulging her sweet tooth.
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Please note: I will never solicit you via social media on any platform. I do not use or offer any paid services—all of my writing advice is free.
Author Photo © Michelle Terris​
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Represented by
Amelia Appel, Triada US
Keep in touch
Currently . . .
Writing
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NEWPHORIA!, a dystopian satire set three generations in the future of Western technocracy about an archivist, a pop star, a neo-Luddite cult, and clicktivism in the digital dark age. Currently in production.
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Dead Weight, a play about a complicated pair of frenemies and some priests on LSD. Currently in revision.
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CALL ME WHEN YOU MAKE IT, formerly STARGAZING IS NECROPHILIA, an Alone with You in the Ether-esque romantic narrative about life, disappointment, desire, and the uncertainty of art. Currently in revision.
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UNTITLED ASSASSIN WIFE, a '90s inspired SFF action/adventure about a very healthy marriage. Currently drafting.
Reading
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NOTHING TO SEE HERE by Kevin Wilson. I picked this book up as an ebook from my library one night when I couldn't sleep, and SURPRISE, I read the entire thing in one sitting. I would describe it as being primarily a comedy, though there is also (SURPRISE!) a speculative element. Basically, an unusual (and very voicey) protagonist is recruited by her former boarding school best friend, who is now very rich, to be the governess of her step-children. The catch? The kids spontaneously combust for no apparent reason. Yeah, they light themselves on fire. No, it doesn't make sense. It's fine, just go with it. In fact, forget I said it, just read the book blind! It's an incredibly funny, tender story and I cannot recommend it highly enough. An excellent, satisfying read.
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SUBLIMATION by Isabel J. Kim. I was so excited to read Isabel J. Kim's debut after reading her short stories for the 2026 Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy anthology, and as I anticipated, it's a sophisticated, deftly interpolated exploration of a very big idea. SUBLIMATION is essentially a corporate espionage thriller in a world where immigration causes you to split in two—one half of you stays behind while the other half of you goes. (I'm simplifying a lot.) I will say that the story strikes me as being specifically South Korean—I found myself thinking about FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi, and, as of recently, the story "Testing" by Min Jin Lee. The two separate parts of the protagonists create a Sliding Doors situation, where the two halves live parallel lives and can argue the merits of which is "better" in complex ways because the motivation for emigration is economic opportunity or social mobility rather than necessity or safety. But it did speak intimately to the diaspora feeling that you can never really go "home" again.
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LOST LAMBS by Madeline Cash. Everything about this book's marketing was designed to reach me, specifically, for good reason. I know there has been discourse flying around everywhere about this one—I don't know or care about where it fits into the "internet novel" and/or "Dimes Square" literary trends—but it is genuinely, extremely good, especially if you enjoy things like GIFTED & TALENTED or my much-maligned story about time-traveling vampires. The absurdity is high and the characters are only barely restrained by reality. Also, the sense of humor lends it a swagger that runs refreshingly counter to what can often feel like fearfulness of bad-faith takes on behalf of the author (a defensive maneuver that I can certainly relate to). So in that sense it does feel both very chic and audacious. Stylistically it reminded me a bit of WHITE TEETH by Zadie Smith—which was also, importantly, a debut (read: no defensiveness yet). But mainly it's just incredibly funny and fun to read, and the nihilism streaked throughout the novel reaches a surprising wholesomeness by the end.
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BEST OFFER WINS by Marisa Kashino. I read two books recently that made me feel like I was made so physically uncomfortable by the choices the protagonists were making that I had to briefly leave the room: this one and POOL HOUSE by Mary H.K. Choi. (I'm choosing to focus on this one because I think if you've never read Mary H.K. Choi before, you might want to start somewhere gentler, like EMERGENCY CONTACT or YOLK.) I'm focusing on BEST OFFER WINS because it's true to the genre of thriller and damn, it's really good at making you think where can this possibly be going. If you thought the protagonists in LISTEN FOR THE LIE or YELLOWFACE were messy, hold on to your butts. The protagonist of BEST OFFER WINS is certifiable and oh my god, it's glorious. By that I mean it made my stomach hurt. You will never know where the book is going. It's amazing. It's awful. Read it right now.
Listening
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the official DREAMLAND playlist by various artists. If I had to choose one song that really encapsulates this book for me, it would be "How I Learned to Love the Bomb" by Glass Animals, which is about being in a relationship with a volatile person. That's all I have to say about that. I was definitely going for something specific with this playlist, sonically speaking. I hope it successfully crafts a vibe.
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Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by Anaïs Mitchell. I was supposed to go see Hadestown with my close personal friend Alix E. Harrow in New York when we were both there in April, and then my plane decided to circle JFK instead, and I missed the entire show. A devastating loss. I'm still grieving. But I did go see the limited run of Hadestown: The Musical when it was playing last month in AMC theaters, and oh man!!! I don't think I've stopped singing "Waaaaaaaaait for me" to myself since the moment I got out of the theater. So much of what's in this show is just... total catnip to me. I also listened to the original concept album with Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver, but I can't shake the magic of the show. I mean—I really thought for a second that those two crazy kids might actually get away with it. I know the ending and still I— I mean!!! What witchcraft is that? So it's the Broadway version for me.
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Music, Fashion, Film by Charli XCX. I didn't totally get BRAT. I liked certain songs, I thought it was all, you know, interesting, as phenomena go, but the music itself... I was never like damn, some BRAT would really hit right now. I don't know, maybe I'm just old and dehydrated. I didn't even really intend to listen to this album, but I'm glad I did. I think what Charli XCX is toying with in terms of, like, "how to be a working artist who will hopefully keep working for a long time and not be defined by their one hit" feels like a familiar thought exercise, and I also really like a lot of these songs. There's more intimacy here than I expected, purely in terms of the production. I mean, "SS26"? I would never have guessed that was her. "Camera"? Okay, that one does sound like her. But anyway, I enjoy both those songs a lot.
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soft pop by Amy Shark. I was so looking forward to this album because "The Biggest Dick" and "Our Last Fight" were on repeat for ages—those songs are basically what I would offer someone as examples of my overall music taste. The album as a whole... Listen, I don't think it's fair for me to enjoy diaristic song writing and then be like, I don't know, maybe this one should have stayed in the diary. But Daughter from Hell Gracie Abrams, TTPD Taylor, these are albums that have great highlights but also need some tone modulation. And I recognize that it's very pot calling the kettle black to be like, maybe some edits? Maybe too many words? But here we are. Anyway, I like this album! For me the opening singles were definitely the highlights.