Little Chmura

😈 Clara and the Devil creator 📚 The Atlas Six illustrator

[torpublishinggroup]

Masters of Death Interior Art

There is a game that the immortals play and there’s only one rule: Don’t lose. 

Don’t miss out on Masters of Death by Olivie Blake! Also check out it's incredible Tarot-inspired interior art from LittleChmura!

The Hanged Man & The Fool

The Hermit & Death

Judgement

The Devil

The Lovers

The Wheel of Fortune

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for a dark urban fantasy romance called ONE FOR MY ENEMY by Olivie Blake​, with interior art from @littlechmura!

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Our stage is Manhattan in the modern day, where rival syndicates run by criminal witches tolerate uneasy peace, until fresh blood opens old wounds. Now, the descendants of bitter adversaries must navigate a treacherous crossroads.

The Antonova sisters—beautiful, cunning, and ruthless—serve their mother, the elusive Baba Yaga. The Federov brothers serve Koschei the Deathless, a shadow-kingpin of magical Manhattan…and their father. Star-crossed lovers, wayward scions, the angry, and the hurt—all must choose where they stand.

This is a story of the struggle between siblings, lethal magic, and tangled love. It’s Shakespeare run afoul of Slavic Folklore’s more treacherous specters, emerging shaking and bloody.

[littlechmura]

One For My Enemy illustrations and the meaning of Slavic Patterns

Illustrations from One For My Enemy by stupendous @olivieblake​

[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!

[olivieblake]

hii olivie i was looking at some other asks and got a bit confused on some topics i'd really appreciate it if you could clear it up for me :)

1. are the illustrations going to change on the revised version/hardback version of the book?

2. will your other books besides the atlas six be available internationally soon? (the physical copies)

3. is the atlas paradox illustrated as well?

i absolutely love your writing <3

1) yes! the new illustrations and endpapers are completely new art by @littlechmura and they're amazing

2) this is in my faq—which I just updated because yeah, my bad, it was a little outdated—but expanding distribution on my self-published work (which is what allows them to be distributed by book depository and other distributors aside from amazon) requires me to raise the prices across the board, which is something I only do if I think there's demand for it. I did this with Alone With You in the Ether, but I've never had any requests to do it for any other books. and when I say price increase I mean like $5 or so per book, which is kind of a lot and why I hesitate to do it unless people want me to

3) I don't know, we're not there yet! it's up to tor

thanks so much anon, hope this helps!

[littlechmura]

the Happy New Year Illo I made specifically with my Clara and the Devil readers in mind for being super patient with me these last three months 💚✨ THE BIGGEST THANK YOUs to my patrons who were with me the whole year - I can't stress enough how much I appreciate you all. Cheers! 

[i-can-stab-you-in-the-eye]

C L A R A A N D T H E D E V I L

written by @olivieblake

illustrated by @littlechmura

my dream is to be the town librarian.

was, anyway.

[littlechmura]

Oh! This fancast is everything.

[saintsandyouraunteva]

This is Clara talking about the Devil (Clara and the Devil) and that's his 'reflection' in the window pane.

This is the official art of Callum (The Atlas Six).

Both stories were written by @olivieblake and illustrated by @littlechmura.

Looking at them side by side, the Devil sort of looks like Callum.

Is this to imply that Callum can be compared to the Devil as written by Olivie Blake??

And in that case, not only would it explain his personality and actions, but wouldn't it make Callum (a representation of) 'the Devil' in the Atlas Six??

[littlechmura]

loving fan theories😈😈😈

[littlechmura]

Are you a fan of Harry Potter but at the same time disappointed with JKR? Same, Bestie 😤 

@hermionegrangerzine​ is a fanzine which profits go to Mermaids - a charity and advocacy organisation that supports gender variant and transgender youth. Preorders for the zine end in 4 days! (link)

@hermionegrangerzine asked me to be a guest artist on this project and I was honoured to illustrate the cover art. Spectacular team of creative individuals worked hard to make this zine happen ✨💚 so proud of this community

[littlechmura]

Preorders are extended for one extra week before the official closing! We need 15 more sales to unlock our second stretch goal (cover and enamel pin upgrade)✨ Please support @hermionegrangerzine and  Mermaids 🧙‍♀️✨ Reblogs much appreciated!

[littlechmura]

Happy Halloween! What were you dressed up as this year?

[littlechmura]

Are you a fan of Harry Potter but at the same time disappointed with JKR? Same, Bestie 😤 

@hermionegrangerzine​ is a fanzine which profits go to Mermaids - a charity and advocacy organisation that supports gender variant and transgender youth. Preorders for the zine end in 4 days! (link)

@hermionegrangerzine asked me to be a guest artist on this project and I was honoured to illustrate the cover art. Spectacular team of creative individuals worked hard to make this zine happen ✨💚 so proud of this community

[littlechmura]

Libby Rhodes from the Atlas Six by the stupendous @olivieblake (preorder reprint for new spicy illustrations *winkwink*). Also, big thank you to my doodles supporting me over on Patreon - I hope you liked the September rewards 😌

[littlechmura]

ℌ𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬 𝔇𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔩 𝔖𝔦𝔪𝔭𝔰 😈 a new Clara and the Devil chapter has been served 🍰

 illustrated by @littlechmura written by @olivieblake

[littlechmura]

I finally got around to painting Tristan Caine from the Atlas Six (written by the lovely @olivieblake). 

 That being said, Patreon rewards will be sent tomorrow - thank you for your patience! https://patreon.com/littlechmura

[littlechmura]

Reina Mori from the Atlas Six by @olivieblake illustrated by yours truly 🌿☘🌱

[littlechmura]

Clara (and the Devil). Is it spooky? Is it cute?

[littlechmura]

I'm fashionably late with sending my Patreon rewards but I finally did https://patreon.com/posts/54758318 

Also, don't tell anyone but Reina Mori (from the Atlas Six by @olivieblake) is my favourite 🌿🌱🍏💚