About | Olive Blake / AFF

ABOUT ME

BIO

Novelist and screenwriter,

Purveyor of internet romance,

Village witch.

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.

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. As Olivie, she has been published as the featured fiction contributor for Witch Way Magazine, as well as the writer for the graphic series Clara and the Devil and a variety of other books. The revised hardcover edition of her cult favorite The Atlas Six releases March 2022 from Tor Books. As Alexene, her debut YA novel, My Mechanical Romance, is coming May 2022 from Holiday House.

Alexene lives and works in Los Angeles, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull. She can be loosely defined as the sort of person who picked up sparring as a means to improve writing fight scenes.

CURRENTLY WRITING

THE ATLAS PARADOX, Book II of The Atlas Series. The sequel to The Atlas Six is forthcoming! As the new Society initiates prepare for their final year in residence, outside forces conspire; alliances shift; somebody lost gets found.

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

UNPUBLISHED WORKS

MY MECHANICAL ROMANCE, previously UNTITLED S.T.E.M. YA, in which I strive to convince young women everywhere that nerds are hot and being true to your own nerdy self is even hotter. Competitive robotics, AP Physics, opposites-attract romance, and a lot of me consulting Mr Blake's science curriculum. Coming May 31, 2022.

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. Currently under revision.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS, a short film written for Phineas Productions about two hyper-competitive college friends who are dared into a kiss. A playful exploration of what it means to love and be loved. Currently awaiting production.

AWE OF THE NIGHT APPROACHING, a high fantasy about women in a War of the Roses-type conflict. THE WHITE QUEEN or GAME OF THRONES, but MOANA-ed.

STARGAZING IS NECROPHILIA, a nonlinear exploration of love, sex, and the female experience. You can check out some excerpts here.

CURRENTLY READING

FAULT LINES by Emily Itami. This month's S.P.E.L.L. read! This is pitched as Bridget Jones meets Sally Rooney and that's exactly right. The voice is excellent and full of humor, but the story is bittersweet. I'm calling it a cozy slice-of-life story for those cold December nights.

PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee. This is an epic (literally) about a Korean family in Japan over the course of the twentieth century. It reminded me quite a bit of A LONG PETAL OF THE SEA by Isabel Allende, both in the emotional stakes of colonialism and war and in the gripping interpersonal family drama.

OUTLINE by Rachel Cusk. This book has a strange but fascinating format: a narrator reveals almost nothing about herself and instead goes into extreme detail about ten very strange conversations. It's very oddly funny, because Cusk herself is funny, and humanity is funny. It's incredibly slow, of course, but by the end I was so enraptured with the world as observed by the narrator that I can't wait to move on to the second book in the trilogy.

INTIMACIES by Katie Kitamura. This book (unbeknownst to me when I picked it up) has been recommended for fans of Rachel Cusk, which makes perfect sense. It has some extremely strange writing conceits (intentional comma splices??) but I'm finding myself oddly enthralled.

CURRENTLY LISTENING

Red (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift. I assume I don't have to explain this. It's all very, very good (I've said in a Not Writing video recently that I don't have much attachment to the original version of Red, so now I'm really enjoying it as if it's all new content) but I've very specifically had "The Very First Night" stuck in my head for days.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite by The Royal Philharmonic. Another one that probably doesn't require explanation. Also, I realize that since having a baby I've said almost nothing about my dog, who definitely still exists. As an informative insight, this is my dog's choice of bath time music.

Dreamland by Glass Animals. This is just one of my favorite albums in general, and since I don't have a lot of time to listen to music these days (I am usually carrying a sleeping baby) this is one I keep coming back to for almost any mood.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword OST by Daniel Pemberton. No spoilers for certain forthcoming sequels, but I routinely use this album for writing fight scenes. One listen will probably clue you in as to why. (And for the record, I love this movie. It may not be "good," but it IS perfect. No notes.)