#emily danforth

[books]

Writer Spotlight: Olivie Blake

Olivie Blake (@olivieblake) is the pseudonym of the writer Alexene Farol Follmuth, author of multiple novels, anthologies, graphic novels, and film scripts, many of which involve the fantastic, the paranormal, or the supernatural. Her works revolve around the collective experience, what it means to be human (or not), and the endlessly interesting complexities of life and love. Cult-favorite The Atlas Six was re-released in a revised hardcover edition last month with Tor Books. A sequel in October and a live-action series are forthcoming. Alexene lives and works in Los Angeles with her husband and new baby, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull.

Read on for Olivie’s favored medeian specialty, lessons learned from writing fanfic, her take on dark academia, and the process of self-publishing books people love.

Not to spoil anything for the three and a half people who maybe haven’t yet read The Atlas Six, but can you tell us a bit about the world of the series?

First of all, I appreciate the wording of this question. Thank you for that. Secondly, The Atlas Six is about the six uniquely talented magicians vying for initiation to the Alexandrian Society, a secret society of caretakers who protect and contribute to the archives of “lost” knowledge from the Library of Alexandria and throughout history. In the book’s contemporary setting, the question of how to combat climate change is answered politically and economically with magic, so the characters exist openly in a world where magicians, called medeians, are university-educated and contribute to a system of capitalism much like ours. These particular six candidates each have a rare magical specialty and a myriad of personal motivations for pursuing the Society’s promise of wealth, power, and knowledge—which drives their tendency to want to kiss or kill any of the others at any given moment. (Two of them already hate each other, and the rest are about to.) And there is obviously a catch to this extraordinary opportunity: only five of the six are guaranteed initiation.

What’s the journey been like writing, self-publishing, and re-releasing The Atlas Six? 

This is absolutely the weirdest timeline. I don’t know of any better way to put it. I wrote this book when I was starting to think that publishing wasn’t going to happen for me. I’ve always split myself in two, writing manuscripts to cold query to agents while also self-publishing the stories I wanted to tell that I didn’t feel were a good fit for the market. Basically, I was self-publishing for the handful of beloved weirdos willing to follow me wherever I went. (Find your flock, they say. Good advice.) 

I knew from my initial concept that this book wasn’t right for publishing en masse—it was too hard to explain in a quick pitch to an agent without sounding derivative. It was too character-driven for genre standards. It had a familiar setting and hook but with a very unconventional execution. There was no hero or villain. Every character was 100% sexually fluid. It was too quiet for spec fic. I was in a really think-y place, trying to figure out whether it was responsible to bring a baby into a world where it’s impossible to be ethical. In the end, I figured I could just write it for myself, exactly as I wanted to write it, while nobody cared enough about me to say no. 

So I wrote it. Released it. People seemed to like it, but it wasn’t doing numbers. Within a few months, I had finished another manuscript and finally gotten an agent for a completely separate project—my young adult rom-com, My Mechanical Romance. I figured, okay, I guess I’m a YA author now, at least until those obligations are fulfilled, so Atlas will have to wait. But, I reasoned, thankfully, only a few people were waiting.

Then I got pregnant. I wrote another YA manuscript. Something weird happened on Twitter. (A very “somehow, Palpatine returned” situation.) People started talking about the book. I gave birth to my son. Something weirder happened on TikTok. A LOT of people started talking about the book. Suddenly my book that had absolutely no commercial appeal was...commercially appealing? I signed with Tor to finish out the trilogy (!). Then…producers wanted to meet with me? So I was like? Okay? In between my baby’s naps, I wrote the sequel and optioned the book for TV. I…got on the NYT bestseller list? I went on tour in two countries? At this point, it all dissolves into a fever dream. Is this real? I really don’t know. I haven’t slept more than two consecutive hours in almost a year. 

On a serious note, revising The Atlas Six was such an incredible opportunity. I went from being a one-woman show (with the help of one or two friends and, of course, my beloved collaborator @littlechmura) to suddenly having the resources to actually make the book into what I wanted it to be. I got to stretch out a little, narratively speaking, and take up more space. New illustrations! New cover! New feedback! New ways to reach a new audience! Suddenly the book of my mind became the book of many minds and was all the better for it. It was then, and is now, a product of some kind of magic. For five years, I wrote ten to twelve hours a day, posting millions and millions of words for free, purely because I loved it—loved it to the point where it broke my heart to think of doing anything else. And now? 

Well, now I have imposter syndrome, of course. But my god, what a beautiful con.

Do you have a favorite character among the six? Why? What does their Tumblr look like?

I don’t have a favorite character—I personally think it’s detrimental for the author to have a favorite when creating an ensemble cast that relies so heavily on changing POVs for the narration—BUT I do feel strongly that Libby and Nico would be the most active on Tumblr. Libby writes poems and carefully curates her aesthetic. I sense a little cottagecore in her. Probably a lot of melancholy art, too. Nico definitely runs an absolute chaosphere of a blog depending on whatever his fixation is at the time. He’s one of those mutuals where you followed him five years ago and can’t remember why because he’s changed fandoms several times, but at least the GIF sets he reblogs are entertaining. 

This reissue includes illustrations from your longtime collaborator, illustrator Little Chmura (@littlechmura). What draws you to this kind of collaboration? 

If you were fortunate enough to become friends with a brilliant artist, wouldn’t you try to lure them in, any chance you got? I love art. I love storytelling as an art and writing as an art. I love the adrenaline rush of creativity I get from working with other artists who are equally passionate about their craft. Sometimes, brainstorming an illustration with Little Chmura makes me feel inspiration in its purest form. The incendiary kind. All of my books contain art from her because it just contributes that much more to the story. Or, at the very least, it helps the story vibe properly. 

You got your start writing Dramione fanfic. What did writing fanfic teach you about writing?

Okay, random start here, but go with me: I really loved this Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again oral history on Vulture where they said that the film was referred to as a crowd-pleaser in a way that was meant to be an insult. A crowd-pleaser, how meaningless. But the producers posed a critically important question: do you know how hard it is to please a crowd? Fanfic authors do. There is no other medium as dependent on audience enjoyment as fanfic. The entire medium is reliant on characterization and emotional beats. Imperfect plot or disrupted pacing can be forgiven if something sweet or hot happens along the way, but failing to be true to a character’s narrative arc or committing to a cheap bit like gratuitous character death is grounds for the proverbial guillotine. 

The number one thing I learned as a fanfic author is always to keep one eye on the audience’s heart. Should it be racing? Fluttering? Aching? Should it, dare I say it, break? Pleasing (or devastating) a crowd is best learned via the fanfic structure: episodic and evolving with constant feedback. Learning how to make someone keysmash in your reviews is a carefully honed skill.

You’re very active online, with copious amounts of asks answered on your Tumblr and a video series on Youtube. Do you have a favorite fan interaction? 

I have been more active in the past—this is a very busy year, what with the chaos goblin I birthed, a slightly unhinged production schedule, and three book releases! I’m feeling very guilty about my untended inbox, but I do love Tumblr. There, I said it! I love Tumblr! I love the multimedia curation! The possibility of long-form communication! The ads that do not, in any way, appear to be stealing my data! Anyway, no, I don’t think I could pick a favorite. There have been too many beautiful interactions, especially from people who’ve been reading my stuff for years. 

Well, I guess one that stands out is a seemingly small series of events: I wrote a short friends-to-lovers fic about two engineers. It sparked a conversation on Tumblr between women who were pushed out of STEM at an early age and women in STEM fields who had never seen themselves in fiction before. It led to my YA book, My Mechanical Romance, especially after one user told me she wished she’d had my writing when she was younger. I thought, okay, well, good point, I should tell a story specifically for our younger selves. And now here we are.

What would your specialty be if you were a medeian, and why?

Telepathy. I’m incredibly nosy. I’d love to have a more nuanced reason, but that’s honestly it.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve received?  

Potentially a bit overused, but the thing that has helped me most is the “you can edit a bad page, but you can’t edit a blank page” quote that Google is currently telling me comes from Jodi Picoult (I obviously first heard it on Tumblr). I have always been a pantser, meaning I fly by the seat of my pants when I write (fanfic is very conducive for such things), and I really had to learn to love revision. It doesn’t matter if you get the first draft right. The first draft is just the skeleton. To everyone who struggles with anxiety or creative blocks, I typically think it helps to tell yourself the first draft is allowed to suck. It’s kind of supposed to suck! Don’t romanticize this idea that writing is when the muse hands you the perfect words in perfect sequence. The craft of writing isn’t about the first draft. It’s about everything you do to bring the story to life. 

What fuels your interest in dark academia? Do you have a favorite dark academia book/film/series/game?

To me, The Atlas Six is true academia—very The Secret History in terms of having long philosophical discussions about the meaning of art and beauty, except I did it with physics and psychology. It’s dark, of course, because of all the gray morality and institutional rot and inadvisable sexual tension. That’s a feature, not a bug, and I love when authors get a little weird with it. I love Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas, Bunny by Mona Awad, Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth. Academia is weird and messed up by most standards, so the outsiders (BIPOC and queer authors) really do some fascinating work handling its darkness. 

The Atlas Paradox comes out in October. Is there anything you can tell us about it?

I personally think it is funnier in the way things are funny when the characters have all begun existentially melting. (I’m an empath, she says chaotically.) People who have read it tell me it’s better than the first book. My publishers tell me hearts will be broken. But I leave all that for others to determine, of course… 

Thanks @olivieblake! The Atlas Six is now available everywhere you can get books!

#writer spotlight #booklr #writers on tumblr #olivie blake #the atlas six #my mechanical romance #elisabeth thomas #mona awad #emily danforth #dark academia #fanfic #dramione #dramione fanfic #sff books #reading room #reading recs #tbr #long post

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Lister Bird- I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman

Skulldeath- Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

Percy Newton- The Montague Siblings by Mackenzi Lee

Cameron Post- The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

#Lister Bird #I Was Born For This #Alice Oseman #Skulldeath #Malazan Book of the Fallen #Steven Erikson #Percy Newton #The Gentleman's Guide to vice and virtue #tggtvav #Gentleman’s Guide #The Montague Siblings #Mackenzi Lee #Cameron Post #The Miseducation of Cameron Post #Emily Danforth #polls #lgbt books #queer book character tournament 2

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I'm 20% into Plain Bad Heroines and there are so many stories in this weirdly plain and yet totally creepy book. I love this narrator and am really interested to see if we find out who she is. I have a guess but I'm not sure it's going to tell us even tho she's clearly part of the story itself.

The early 1900s story being told by the narrator but adapted to a book in current time and following the writer and actors who will turn it into movie is going to be so interesting as I wonder how the story will change. I imagine we're not likely to focus too hard on that aspect tho as we've come this far before the first table read. But man the creepy elements innocuously inhabiting the story and lives of these various characters is so deliciously chilling.

It just feels so good to be so excited about a book where I have no clue what's going to happen but is so promising. So little has even happened?? I'm finding it so hard to describe why I'm liking it so much but man the vibes! Perfect for what I'm going for this time of year.

#the narrator helps a lot #she's doing an excellent job #plain bad heroines #Emily danforth #tf reads #horror #books #tfgoc

[doomedbythenarrator]

"i want to love something without having to apologise for it" - queerness, shame, desire

nelly arcan // richard siken // hozier // rené magritte // emily m danforth // richard siken // hala alyan

#webweaving #richard siken #hozier #shame #queerness #desire #tw homophobia #rené magritte #emily m danforth #hala alyan #this one i dont love #like its more what i was thinking about than something fully cohesive #but oh well

[ech0ech0ech0]

Becoming

Alice Oseman, Radio Silence // David Almond, The Tightrope Walkers // Will Wood, Marsha Thankk You for the Dialectics but I Need You to Leave // Dionne Brand, What We All Long For // Erin Morgenstern, The Starless Sea // Jeff VanderMeer, Acceptance // Emily M. Danforth, The Miseducation of Cameron Post

#onlyech0es #alice oseman #radio silence #david almond #will wood #dionne brand #erin morgenstern #the starless sea #jeff vandermeer #emily m danforth #the miseducation of cameron post #web weaving #book quotes #becoming #adulthood #growing up #self discovery

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

#plain bad heroines #emily m danforth #book poll #have you read this book poll #polls

[romantic-musings]

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Gothic | LGBT | Historical Fiction

Our story begins in 1902, at The Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it The Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, The Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way. Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer, Merritt Emmons, publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded-Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.

#plain bad heroines #emily m. danforth #books

[honey-from-hell]

Books to Read if You want to Look/Feel like a Literary Snob

AKA dark academia and literary novels that’ll make you look smart but are also enjoyable (in my option).

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Edited by Carmen Maria Machado

This is the OG vampire novel and also the OG toxic queer romance novel. Published in 1872, this book predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by 25 years. The story follows Carmilla and her increasingly possessive relationship with the protanganist, Laura, following a carraige incedent. So, yes, this is a classic, and I know these arn’t always the easiest to read. But is it less than 150 pages, it is queer, and Carmen Maria Machado’s commentary is hilarious and also helps with the reading process.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

I feel like everyone knows this book, and it is for sure popular—and for that reason alone, I debated not adding it to this list—but I’m not sure if I would consider it overrated. It is one of the prettiest books I have ever read and it is objectivly good. It is a retelling of the Trojan War told from Patroclus’ point-of-veiw and focuses on his relationship with Achilles. And for sure, if you get one of the pretty editions, you will look like a snob. 

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

This is the most pretenious novel I have ever read. It has its issues, don’t get me wrong, and its preteniouness is one of them. Regardless, it is quite the compelling novel with an interesting cast of characters and a solid twist at the end. TAS is about a group of six young adults who are in the process of becoming part of a secret society that protects the suposidly burned contents of the library of Alexandria. Their intiation process consists of eleminating one of the chosen six. 

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

This 600+ page book is not nearly as prentious as it appears, but I imagine if you’re just wanting to look like you’re into literary horror, this is the book for you. It follows two different timelines and is a bit trippy to think about. It is a book about a book that is in the process of being made into a movie based on real-life events. It is mildly creepy, very well written, and gloriously feminist and queer. 

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

I havn’t read many feminist books written by men, but this one does a solid job, and I’m kind of mad about it. This wonderfully atmostspheric tale takes place in 1666 Conneticuit. It is full of magic, witchcraft, demons, and staight white bible-thumpers getting what they deserve. Also, yes, we are all into the goat man. It’s okay.

These Violent delights by Micah Nemerever

Listen, it's bleak, but in a way that's fascinating and intriguing, and you don't want to put it down. It's about two boys who are the smartest people in the room—one alienated, grieving, and awkward, the other popular, personable, and easy-going. Their friendship turns towards an intense relationship where their toxic sensibilities take a turn for the violent. The question: can they get away with it?

These are not peak snob, but they are the ones I have read/listened to that I would recommend if you're in the mood for something a bit pretentious.

#carmilla #j sheridan le fanu #carmen maria machado #the song of achilles #soa #madeline miller #the atlas six #olivie blake #plain bad heroines #emily m danforth #slewfoot #slewfoot: a tale of bewitchery #brom #these violent delights #micah nemerever #books #queer books

[florence-nomachine]

↳˗ˏˋ MASTERLIST ˊˎ˗ ↴

FNAF

Mike Schmidt

William Afton / Steve Raglan

Henry Emily

Scream

Misc.

(Outer Banks, The Beekeeper, The Batman)

#florence writes!! #mike schmidt x reader #william afton x reader #steve raglan x reader #henry emily x reader #fnaf x reader #ghostface x reader #battinson x reader #derek danforth x reader #obx x reader #ethan landry x reader #mickey altieri x reader

[ink-pocket]

And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed Just to get it all out what's in my head And I, I'm feeling a little peculiar And so I wake in the morning and I step outside And I take a deep breath and I get real high And I scream from the top of my lungs "What's going on?"

#cameron post #the miseducation of cameron post #2018 movies #2018 film #4 non blondes #emily m danforth

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

JOMP BPC - May 15th - Time Period

I’m not a big fan of historical fiction but I love reading books set in the 1990s, especially about queer kids living in the 90s, because it helps me contextualise some of my experiences growing up as a queer kid in the 2000s and 2010s. I’d highly recommend these three 💖

#tucker shaw #andy mientus #emily m danforth #justonemorepage #jompbpc #booklr #bookblr #trcc original #portraits #when you call my name #fraternity #the miseducation of cameron post #lgbt books #gay #lesbian #bisexual

[alegriavida]

Plain Bad Heroines || Emily M. Danforth

My bright smile haunts no one. I shoot no opaque glances from my eyes, which are not like the sea by any means. I have never eaten any viands, and my appetite for what I do eat is most excellent. And my voice has never yet, to my knowledge, been full of tears. No, I am not a heroine.

#plain bad heroines #emily m danforth #books #mood board #aesthetic #mood boards

[sapphic-book-tournament]

#the miseducation of cameron post #emily m danforth #the color purple #alice walker #lesbian novels #lesbian books #lesbian stories #lesbian characters #lesbian #sapphic stories #sapphic characters #sapphic book tournament #sapphic fiction #sapphic books #lgbt characters #lgbt books #Lgbtq #Lgbt novels #lgbtq characters

[library-love-affair]

“Don’t find yourself regretting this. You’re much too young to haunt your own life.”

- Emily M. Danforth (Plain Bad Heroines)

#book quotes #plain bad heroines #Emily M. Danforth #Bookblr #booklr #book blog #bookish #bookworm #literature #books and literature #booknerd #bookaholic #dark academia

[thebanishedreader]

"It felt really good to do something that made no sense at all."

The Miseducation of Cameron Post | (Emily M. Danforth, 2012)

#books #literature #booklr #bookblr #book blog #book rec #book recommendation #reading #reading aesthetic #cameron post #emily m danforth #queer literature #lgbt #lgbtq literature #lgbtq books #libraries #books and libraries #bookshelf #currently reading #book quotes #chaotic academia #chaotic academia aesthetic #light academia #dark academia #lgbtq community #studycore #studyblr #censorship #book banning

[futureghost97]

if I finish this book tonight (i will) that’ll be 3 books in less than a week 🤓 a mentally well molly is a molly who reads!

#my stuff #molly reads #this week: #A Touch of Jen #Beth Morgan #Bunny #Mona Awad #Plain Bad Heroines #emily m danforth