Category: If We Were Villains

US Tour Dates and Graveyard News

~ M. L. Rio

It’s been a busy couple of weeks behind the scenes for the Rio team but we have some great news. Graveyard Shift is an IndieNext pick for October and one of Amazon’s Best Mysteries & Thrillers of the month!

It’s so exciting to see this little book getting so much love from the bookselling community. We can’t wait to share it with readers, which brings me to our next piece of good news: we finally have our US tour finalized. You can find all the dates and relevant links on the Events page, or below. Some events are already sold out, so if you want to come get a book signed, grab your ticket now. (Be sure to check the links for the full lists, as some of our West Coast stops aren’t included on the graphic.) These events won’t be your typical book readings–we’ll have great conversation partners, prize drawings, and goodies for everyone–so I hope you’ll come and join the fun.

You can also catch me at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 29, or at the Southern Festival of Books on October 26-7. If you can’t make it to any of these dates or I’m not coming to your city, never fear: at least one of these events will be taped and watchable online. Details to come.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll consider preordering the book! Preorders go a long way to giving a book a healthy launch, and making sure enough copies are in circulation ahead of pub day to prevent supply chain problems. This one will go down fast, so don’t want to make you wait. And don’t forget, the fresh new paperback of If We Were Villains drops the same day. My hard copies arrived last week, and they are a sight to behold. Don’t sleep on those scarlet spredges.

Finally, if you’re interested in writing craft conversations and more regular behind-the-scenes updates, you can always keep track of me on socials and on Substack.

Wishing you some fall weather, finally. More soon.

New US Edition of IWWV

~ M. L. Rio

Excited to share the cover art for the new US paperback edition of If We Were Villains. It’ll be available on the same day as Graveyard Shift: September 24 of this year. It’s been a long time in the works, but we wanted to update the original black-and-white paperback, which will be discontinued once the new version hits the shelves–with those sexy red spredges and everything. If you want one of the originals and haven’t grabbed it yet, now would be a good time! And if you’re as enamored with the new version as we are, you can pre-order it wherever you buy your books.

Thanks for coming on this journey with us.

M

Upcoming Events

~ M. L. Rio

Checking in with a quick update from the first stop of my eight-week conference/wedding/speaking/research tour. I’m in Chicago at the moment for the Renaissance Society of America Conference, and really looking forward to continuing the scholastic conversation at Arizona State University next month. I’ll be making a few classroom appearances as well as doing a larger event open to the public on April 17, so if you’re in the Phoenix/Tempe area I hope you’ll come out and join us. This will be a rare opportunity to hear me talk about my creative writing and my academic research in tandem. I promise, not as boring as it sounds! You can find more info here.

I’ll also be making an appearance this Wednesday at the Charleston Craft & Canvas book club. If you can’t get enough of the Villains, this is a great opportunity to discuss the book with other fans of crime and mystery, and to do some collective crafting inspired by the story. Just to sweeten the deal, the organizer also happens to be the person who directed me in my first Shakespeare play when I was fourteen. It promises to be a great hang, so if you’re in or around Charleston, SC, I hope you’ll sign up. You can do that–and find more info–here.

Can’t wait to meet you.

M

New York, New Events, and New Releases

~ M. L. Rio

A few quick updates as we approach the end of September. Firstly, the In These Hallowed Halls anthology is finally out in the world. You can buy it from many bookstores, or find your preferred online retailer here. To help celebrate the release, I signed stock of both Villains and the anthology at eight different bookstores in New York City this past week. You can find a list of them on this thread on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Finally, I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be helping kick off Spooky Season at one of my favorite indie bookstores. I hope you’ll join us at the Book & Cover (Chattanooga, TN) on October 2 at 7pm. Please note this is a ticketed event and tickets are going fast, so grab yours before they’re gone.

Hope to see you soon.

M

Reddit AMA

~ M. L. Rio

Missed my last AMA? Never fear, because we’ve got a new one on the books for Friday, May 5 at 12 pm ET on the r/books thread. (You can find me under the username M-L-Rio.) Mark your calendars and bring your questions!

M

Upcoming Events

~ M. L. Rio

Mark your calendars for May. I’ll be making two appearances on the East Coast to launch the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition of If We Were Villains. You can catch me in Rockville, MD on May 5, or at Union Square in New York City on May 8. I’ll be in conversation with two fabulous authors, Elyse Martin and Elisabeth Thomas, and signing books after the chat. Please note that the Union Square event is ticketed, so be sure to snag a stub before they’re gone. You can find more event details here for Rockville, here for Union Square, and on my events page.

See you soon.

M

London Calling

~ M. L. Rio

Writing with a quick update to say we’ve added a second night at Waterstones Trafalgar Square next week, since so many people missed out on the first batch. You can snag tickets for my Wednesday appearance here.

Hope to see you soon! But if you can’t make it, don’t worry–I’ll be leaving signed stock with a couple other bookshops around the city. Follow me on socials for the most up-to-the-minute updates.

M

5th Anniversary Edition Release

~ M. L. Rio

Well, it’s here.

A lot of people have been working together to make this special edition a reality, since way back in December of 2021. Our marvelous illustrator, Angie Hoffmeister, really captured the atmosphere of the story, and the good people at Titan Books gave it a dust jacket worthy to contain the artwork inside. As for me, I’ve spent hours at my desk, or my coffee table, and even hotel bars or elsewhere on the road, signing 25,000 tip-ins. It’s humbling to think that that many people might want to have a piece of paper I scribbled and creased and spilled coffee on; it’s surreal to see all our efforts come together in a physical object you can have and hold.

Of course, since I’m still in the States, many readers will get their hands on it before I do. But that’s okay–this book really belongs to you. Without the readers who rallied behind it, there would have been no reason to do this thing in the first place. So thanks, from me and everybody on the UK Villains team.

Time for the inevitable plug: if you haven’t ordered yours yet, you can do that here. Because they’re signed and my arms can only withstand so much, quantities are limited.

Happy reading.

M

IWWV Screen Adaptation

~ M. L. Rio

Some big news today.

My agents and I have been working on this quietly for some months, and it’s surreal to finally be able to share. We waited a long time for the right offer from the right people, and this promises to be an incredible collaboration.

To be clear, an option is just that–an option–but it’s a pretty groovy one and I’m excited to be a part of the team trying to bring this thing to life. You can read more about the project and the team here, here, and here, but the best way to keep up with news is to follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

More to come.

M