M. L. Rio

Melanie Rio was born in Miami and raised in North Carolina. She is a lifelong actor and lover of Shakespeare. At age six, she acted in her first show. She read her first Shakespearean play at age nine. And at age 12, she drafted her first novel. After earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rio went on to receive a master’s degree in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and a PhD in English literature from the University of Maryland. Her dissertation explores notions of madness and early modern representations of mood disorders. If We Were Villains, which she wrote and revised while in school, is her first published novel. Her next work, a novella entitled Graveyard Shift, is expected in September of 2024. Rio currently lives in Washington, D.C.