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 fantasy and sci-fi crossover titles 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.
​
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 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 Gifted & Talented and Girl Dinner to release in 2025. She has also been published as the writer for the graphic series Clara and the Devil and a variety of other adult SFF books. 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.
​
Please note: I will never solicit you via social media, I do not have a Facebook profile, and I do not offer any paid services—all of my writing advice is free.
Author Photo © Michelle Terris​
​
Represented by
Amelia Appel, Triada US
Keep in touch
Currently . . .
Writing
-
NEWPHORIA!, a standalone SFF 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.
​
-
STARGAZING IS NECROPHILIA, an Alone with You in the Ether-esque romantic narrative about life, disappointment, desire, and the uncertainty of art.
​
-
UNTITLED ASSASSIN WIFE, a '90s inspired SFF action/adventure about a very healthy marriage.
Reading
-
PERFECTION by Vincenzo Latronico. This little novel is translated from the original Italian by Sophie Hughes and boy, is it depressing. It is certainly satirical on some level—many things were dryly funny—but it was also... how else to say depressing? The characters don't actually have histories, really, nor do they speak or emote as individuals. It's more about the nature of contemporary existence. I don't really know how to explain my profound malaise over this book except to note it's basically captured the ennui of everything in the Western world gradually turning into some kind of sterile, same-y Instagram feed.
​​
-
INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney. I finally (!) got around to reading this; I feel I should preface by saying that my favorite Sally Rooney is BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU? because I love a lengthy rumination. Which means Rooney's style often suits my sensibilities, although I felt this book needed... a bit more mess. I know, I know! The thing is, I didn't buy one very necessary leg of the love story, perhaps because our resident wet cat (Peter) didn't really crawl back to Naomi so much as was dragged back by exigent moral circumstances. But the style, of course—plus the brothers were brutal, and incredibly fleshed out. I also particularly liked each brother's relationship with the mother. All in all, much more interesting to me as an exploration of family and convention than romance. (Ivan and Margaret, though? No notes.)
​
-
YOUTHJUICE by E. K. Sathue. This is one I've had on my list for a while, so it was convenient to have an excuse to move it up thanks to the Female Rage event I'm doing with Liz Kerin, Sarah Langan, and E.K. Sathue for Silver Lake Reading Club this month. YOUTHJUICE definitely shares some thematic elements with GIRL DINNER and NATURAL BEAUTY by Ling Ling Huang, but both the plot and horror elements are particularly grounded and augmented by Sathue's career as a beauty editor. Where Huang was fantastically incisive about the wellness industry from the perspective of its emphasis on whiteness, here the industry's effects on allegorical self-hatred and feminine aging felt especially charged and effective. I flew through it—it's gruesome, brutal, and great.
​
-
A BETTER WORLD by Sarah Langan. I had a really good reading month, with a LOT more books worth mentioning (dude, how depressing was SUNRISE ON THE REAPING, wow!!, plus I read a bunch of really good ARCs), but I'm excited to be starting July halfway through this one, which is about a very creepy "company town" in a dystopian future where everything has gone predictably to shit. Company towns are one of those random things that have been living in my head since I took US history in high school, and then we studied them again when I was an urban planning student. Planned communities interest me in general—they're all a bit creepy, even at the best of times—and I absolutely love what Langan is doing with it so far. This is one of those reads I can't stop thinking about whenever I'm not living in the pages.
Listening
-
Red Hearse by Red Hearse. I've had "Half Love" (GREAT song) stuck in my head since I was reminded of its existence while watching Mike Birbiglia's latest stand-up special, "The Good Life." First of all, it's a really good special. What a way to reckon with your unresolved feelings about an ailing parent while also being very funny; I laughed often and very hard. And as a fun bonus, I just love this album and was happy to revisit it. "I'll dive in it, headfirst / like I'm riding in a red hearse" has been playing in my head for days. Also, "cause everyone's playing it loose, but / what if we were real with it?" is honestly, 100% seriously, a great question.
​​
-
Reputation by Taylor Swift. Once I realized it was ethical to consume this album again, I also realized I didn't remember it that well. Man, not a chance on earth you could get me to re-record an entire album speculating about whether the guy I'm no longer in a relationship with might be "the end of all my endings." "I don't want to miss you" ??? GOODBYE. I, too, would spend multiple millions doing everything in my power not to re-record this. Just kidding, but also, I'm being completely serious. When it came out, I remember telling a friend I couldn't relate to this kind of certainty; my mindset on everything has always edged more 1989, very "hey, once you inevitably discover I'm a fraud, just say you'll remember me." Anyway, a lot of these songs were better than I remembered. I know people have feelings about "Getaway Car" but I wasn't one of them before now. It's fun!
​
-
FATHER FIGURE by Jon Bellion. You'll kind of just have to take my word for this, but in many ways, FATHER FIGURE is to fatherhood as GIRL DINNER is to motherhood. In all the ways that GIRL DINNER probes at what it means to be a good woman, FATHER FIGURE explores what it means to be a man. I love Jon Bellion and have for years (I've been listening to "One More Time" lately just for the "screw your pops, let's get some IHOP" bridge), and this, his first album under his own label, is definitely a departure from his previous work while also having his sonic and philosophical signature on it. I particularly like the opening track, "HOROSCOPE," and the collaboration with Jon Batiste, "MODERN TIMES."
​
-
Blush by Kevin Abstract. I loved Kevin Abstract's last album and I'm excited for this one—Dominic Fike is on it twice! I haven't actually listened at the time I'm typing this but relax, it's very high on my list, and I haven't listened to Lorde's new album yet either.