M. L. Rio has been an actor, a bookseller, an academic, and a music writer. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies and a PhD in English literature. She is the author of the internationally bestselling novel If We Were Villains and the USA Today bestselling novella Graveyard Shift. Her next novel, Hot Wax, will be published by Simon & Schuster in September 2025.
M. L. Rio holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe, and a PhD in English literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research explores representations of madness and mood disorder on the early modern stage. She never stays in one place for long, but keeps her books, records, and four-legged sidekick in south Philadelphia.
She is represented by Arielle Datz of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, Inc.
M. L. RIO 