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 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 releasing in 2025. 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 have a Facebook profile, and 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 revision.
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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 being drafted.
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UNTITLED ASSASSIN WIFE, a '90s inspired SFF action/adventure about a very healthy marriage. On deck.
Reading
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FATHOMFOLK by Eliza Chang. Eliza Chang was one of my conversation partners during the UK tour for GIRL DINNER, and I always make a point to read the books by authors I'm in conversation with. That being said, I don't always find myself this enthusiastic about the books I end up reading. This one is definitely a fantasy series that I think more people should be reading. It's clearly inspired by The Little Mermaid, which is great and so much fun—especially the sea witch character—basically, everyone who went to law school can sympathize with the sea witch; she did specify the terms of the contract and it's not her fault if Ariel didn't read the fine print—and it's also a very complex and interesting allegory for immigration. My guess is it was written in the aftermath of Brexit, but it's obviously very critical at this moment in the United States. I also found certain aspects of it to really speak to my experience as the child of an immigrant in such a powerful and clarifying way. It has interesting, complex characters as well as a propulsive plot, and I highly recommend it.
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HEART THE LOVER by Lily King. I really wanted to read this book because I loved Lily King's WRITERS AND LOVERS and the synopsis really spoke to me, but then I felt it was being sold to me so aggressively that it couldn't possibly be as good as it purported to be. I do occasionally make this mistake, because friends, despite putting it off for a bit, it really is very good. It would definitely appeal to people who enjoy Sally Rooney or, perhaps, ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER, but a warning: it has quite a devastating ending. It's more of a cathartic read than a romance, but totally left me with a book hangover (compliment). I will likely be reading more Lily King in the near future, though I worry I will succumb to the indulgence of writing about writers if I read too much of her work.
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THE EYES ARE THE BEST PART by Monika Kim. As I'm being associated with books classified as "femgore" or "glossy gothic," I've been reading a lot of things that also fit this description, and this one is one of the best for sure. It's compelling and propulsive and so, so very odd and eerie. This one has a lot more of a vengeful undertone that's very satisfying, and I loved the ending. I'd file it under the type of character-driven femgore that ends with the victimized character seizing agency, much like the next book on this list (versus a book like GIRL DINNER, which is more of a sociological allegory).
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SHY GIRL by Mia Ballard. This is for sure, for sure, a horror novel. Also definitely femgore. What's funny to me is that I read this book during the GIRL DINNER tour, a time when people were consistently asking me with an undertone of repulsion whether I really think anyone would consider cannibalism, so to read this particular main protagonist agreeing to be a dog for nine hours (it gets worse, you really have to have the stomach for atrocity) I could only laugh helplessly and gesture. Personally, I'd pick cannibalism given the choice. But! This is a very dark, very good novella that is certainly femgore in the context of restricted bodily autonomy for women. The act of becoming disgusting/finding the line between object/animal as an act of agency is an effective, glorious allegory.
Listening
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The Void by Nightly. It actually took me a beat to realize this album was released on Halloween for a reason—all the songs have to do with Halloween-associated creatures, like werewolves and vampires and haunted houses, et al. It is very much a Nightly album, so mainly alternative bops about romantic tragedy, but I was very tickled by the concept. My favorite on the album is "WANTED," but I really enjoyed the vaguely meta concept of "1989," which references a former lover via the song "Wildest Dreams" (say you'll remember me). I'd never really thought before about one song being an answer to another, so I quite enjoyed the idea of this song being a bit of... validation? Yes actually, I will remember you, if only in my wildest dreams and/or Halloween-themed albums.
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(((((ultraSOUND))))) by The Neighbourhood. This album seemed to reference Oasis sonically right from the start. It was a definite shift from what I expected, but very listenable. I like The Neighbourhood a lot; they're one of the bands I listened to a lot while writing DREAMLAND, and I enjoyed this album a lot.
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Everybody Scream by Florence + the Machine. I've found it hard to get into Florence's vibes in the past, though I don't really know why. This album was very easy to get into, with my hands-down favorite being "The Old Religion." The line "and I am wound so tightly / I hardly even breathe" caught my ear as I was puttering around doing dishes and then I just stood there and listened, which is a testament to basically any piece of art these days.
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Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (Soundtrack From & Inspired by the Motion Picture) by various artists. Every now and then I have to be honest about what is actually playing most of the time in my household, so here you go. My son's absolute favorite songs at this moment in time are the first two tracks, "What's Up, Danger" and "Sunflower," and there is really nothing like watching him get down to the latter. His other most requested songs at present are "3 Nights" by Dominic Fike, which is in the movie Peter Rabbit, and the song that I personally can't stop playing so thank goodness he also likes it: "White Keys" by Dominic Fike. I have a playlist called "Genre: Make the Judge Jump" that is basically just Dominic Fike songs and I think I did my entire run the other day to "White Keys" on repeat, so, you know. Things could be worse in terms of our musical tastes aligning.