ABOUT ME

Bio

    Events

    Currently Writing

    Currently Reading

    Currently Listening

BIO

Novelist and screenwriter,

Purveyor of internet romance,

Village witch.

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Alexene Farol Follmuth, also known under the pen name Olivie Blake, 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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Alexene 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. Under her Olivie byline, New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling The Atlas Six released 2022 from Tor Books, followed by its sequel The Atlas Paradox and the re-release of her viral literary romance Alone With You in the Ether. She has also been published as well as the writer for the graphic series Clara and the Devil and a variety of other books. As Alexene, her debut YA novel My Mechanical Romance released May 2022 from Holiday House (US) and Macmillan Children's (UK).

 

Alexene lives and works in Los Angeles with her husband and goblin prince/toddler, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

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  • Dec. 1-3, 2022: In Person Festival Attendance - FIL, Guadalajara, Mexico

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  • March 4-5, 2023 as Alexene Farol Follmuth: In Person Festival Attendance - Tucson Festival of Books, University of Arizona, AZ (details TK)

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  • April 11, 2023: In Conversation with Emily Tesh to celebrate the release of SOME DESPERATE GLORY - Vroman's Books, Pasadena, CA (registration link TK)

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CURRENTLY WRITING

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  • THE ATLAS COMPLEX, Book III of The Atlas Series. The final installment of The Atlas Six is forthcoming and currently under revision! Releasing January 9, 2024, in what is a very standard lead time (The Atlas Paradox had only 6 months and I nearly killed everyone in production, so, you know. An achievable release this time.)

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  • UNTITLED HOLLYWOOD GOTHIC, a young adult romance featuring the noble sport of pigeon seduction and some demonic Santa Ana winds.

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  • GIFTED AND TALENTED, The Royal Tenenbaums meets Succession meets hot magic nerds in a family dramedy about three magical siblings on the prodigies-to-clinical depression pipeline. 

FORTHCOMING RELEASES

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  • ONE FOR MY ENEMY, revised hardcover and audio with new illustrations from Little Chmura and end pages by Lasq Draws coming April 4, 2023 from Tor.

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  • MASTERS OF DEATH, revised hardcover and audio with new illustrations from Little Chmura and end pages by Polarts coming August 8, 2023 from Tor.​

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  • TWELFTH KNIGHT, a YA homage to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Another dual POV rom-com, this one features the gender politics of fandom, RPGs, and gaming. Coming 2024 from Tor Teen under my Alexene Farol Follmuth byline.

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CURRENTLY READING

  • VITA NOSTRA by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko. I was casually chatting with Victoria Lee, author of A LESSON IN VENGEANCE, about what dark academia is or isn't when she recommended I try this book. I was told it was so head-fucky she felt nauseated, so I was like great, sign me up! I love the opening line. It's so instantly voicey. Obviously though I have a lot farther to go...

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  • TREAD OF ANGELS by Rebecca Roanhorse. Rebecca Roanhorse is an author I've heard of (cough, she's a multi-award winning SFF author) but this was my first time trying her work, and holy crap, right from the start the writing is smooth and flawless. This one is such a cool world, too. It feels to me like a western, though Roanhorse describes it as noir, and it has a beautifully unreliable protagonist suffering from eldest daughter syndrome. Plus lovers to enemies and some amazing lines for your Bookstagram captions.

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  • LOOKING GLASS SOUND by Catriona Ward. I'm sure if you've been paying any attention whatsoever to me and my reading habits you're aware that I fell in love with Cat Ward's oeuvre this year, and finally me not being able to shut up about a book has paid off! I've been asked to blurb her next book, which is set in Maine in a windswept cottage overlooking the sea. (!) It comes out in April and I'm a thousand percent sure I'm going to love it, so I'm saving it for a holiday read. (I'm also saving DANIEL CABOT PUTS DOWN ROOTS by Cat Sebastian for this purpose.)

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  • DELE WEDS DESTINY by Tomi Obara. This is exactly the kind of book I'm drawn to. I don't necessarily know how to describe it. Something about complex relationships and complicated histories and what people mean to each other. I'm really hoping to get in some for pleasure reading since I plan to take some time off other things, so this one is high on my list!

 

CURRENTLY LISTENING

  • American Bollywood by Young the Giant. I love Young the Giant so much. I am obsessed with Sameer Gadhia's voice. I already listened to this in pieces when they released it in four parts, and already two of the songs have featured on various Atlas playlists. (Spoiler: "Tomorrow" is on the playlist for book III.)

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  • Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Tis the damn season, am I right? I actually put on classic holiday instead of classicAL holiday this morning for my son and he heard "All I Want for Christmas is You" for the first time. He immediately stopped what he was doing to get down with his bad self. It was amazing, 12/10.

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  • Thin Ice on the Cake by Cautious Clay. A lot of predictable stuff this month. Basically, if Cautious Clay has released something, I will listen to it. This EP is marked indie pop instead of the usual R&B/Soul, which is interesting. Marketing technique or actual shift in style? I shall investigate and report back. (I mean to be honest what I'm actually listening to is the Frozen soundtracks, but I hope to listen to other things soon. And/or someday.)

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  • Una Mattina by Ludovico Einaudi. I did an interview with Scala Radio, which is a classical station, and they asked me to choose a song for them to play. I do listen to a variety of classical music with the goblin every morning as a way of easing into the day, but for this I chose "Nuvole Bianche," which I think is one of the loveliest melodies in the entire world. (Maybe a toss-up between that and "Nessun Dorma.")