By Maisha Hasan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A careful elastic band stretching between dynamic characters and leaving readers aching for more is Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s twisted specialty. Maehrer is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed series Assistant to the Villain, and is hosting a webinar in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium via Burlington Public Library to talk about her latest release in the series, Accomplice to the Villain.
Maehrer’s first novel of the series, Assistant to the Villain, came to life in the digital world of TikTok, particularly its “Booktok” community, which skyrocketed the video series-turned-book to fame.
“There are so many times where I will have a day where I just feel creatively stumped, and I’ll go to make a video…the [TikTok] series started as a really fun hobby, a skit series, and it turned into a way of showcasing what these books are about. Being connected with the online audience has been a huge part of this journey,” said Maehrer.
The “#assistanttothevillain” tag on TikTok has over 13,900 posts, and there are over 30 million likes on Maehrer’s account page, from readers eager to debate the series.
“I’ve definitely found more of a balance within myself and within social media in terms of what I can take and what I can leave for other people. I feel with everybody that’s been watching these videos for a really long time, it’s a really unique thing that I can recognize is very rare. I’m very fortunate to have that audience. It definitely can be intimidating,” she continued.
Fans of her work are invested in the dynamic between the main characters: Evie Sage, who is the titular assistant to the Villain, and Trystan, the Villain himself. Maehrer writes of subtle touches, glances, and comments, hinting at an eventual pairing…hopefully.
“These characters are so viscerally real to me that none of my decisions can possibly be influenced by anything else. I can’t even influence [the characters]. I truly can’t force them to do anything that they’re not prepared to do, which is why I’ve been forcing their heads together for three books, like, ‘Please! kiss! kiss!’ and they’re like no. Everything that happens within the books are things that happen organically for the characters, that they [the characters themselves] insist upon happening within the books. If somebody likes it or doesn’t like it, that’s part of the reading experience,” Maehrer explained.
Maehrer admitted that she tried writing a kissing scene in the second book of the series, at the suggestion of her editor, but couldn’t do it.
The characters of her world have a mind of their own, visions of them piercing into Maehrer’s mind at any given moment, so much so that she’s written enough content for bonus chapters, which are currently safely tucked away.
“I don’t know how to stop, actually. I think the process when it comes to writing, and writing characters in general, they come into my head fully formed, like real people. When you make a friend, obviously, you learn more and more and more about that person. It’s very similar for me in terms of character and story — sometimes when I’m just sitting and daydreaming, a scene will pop into my head and I’m so eager to get to the computer,” she said.
Not for much longer will these characters exist solely in the confines of Maehrer’s imagination or books, as the series has now been greenlit for a TV series adaptation, in development with Legendary Television.
“All I can really say is the team working on it is absolutely amazing. The excitement for it has been incredible. I can’t say how wild it is to have a group of very talented individuals talking about something that came from your brain and adapting it to a screen. It’s been an absolutely wild experience. I’m still learning a lot. As soon as I have things I can share, I’ll absolutely share them. But until then, my lips must remain sealed, unfortunately. They must remain sealed…or I’m going to break like Tom Holland,” Maehrer said.
When asked about the soundtrack, the suggestion of adding Taylor Swift songs came up, which promptly led her to pray that even one song would make it in. With Maehrer as the executive producer of the upcoming show, anything is possible.
The show, like the series, is predicted to be a success, especially in this age where historical romance pieces like Bridgerton are hugely popular. Maehrer discussed possible reasons for this resurgence in popular culture of the romance genre.
“Kennedy Ryan gave this amazing talk [where] she said that romance books give women agency over their desires, over their choices, over the way that they love, and the way that they express themselves. From a writing perspective, it’s really freeing for us: we get to take any avenue because women are not one thing. Writing Evie was really fun because she’s a character that I think is very smart, but not in the typical sense; her brain power and her intelligence come from her emotional intelligence, which I think is a very valuable form of intelligence,” she said.
Maehrer carries this sensitivity and care toward all of her characters, explaining why she, like many others, roots for an anti-hero as the main love interest, like Evie in her novels.
“Personally, when I’m reading these stories, I think, ‘I can fix them,’ finding humanity within any character, not even just in a romantic sense. I remember being really young and watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, with Zuko, the redemption arc. It’s so good because forgiveness and seeing people redeemed is such a hopeful feeling, and I think as human beings, we crave the ability to forgive if we can and move on from something, and have that person recover because at the end of the day, we’re all human beings. We know who and what they are. They know what they are. We can kind of feel free to make a mistake and not feel like that mistake is gonna bury us,” Maehrer continued.
With her own success blooming from TikTok, she hopes other writers on other digital platforms come to gain the same recognition.
“I think that creativity is born in so many places. I think anyone writing on AO3 [an open source repository for fan fiction] or doing fan fiction is a writer. Those are also authors, if they want to do original works and have them published and put out into the world. I get on my soapbox about this, but the boom of social media is that we have so many different ways of displaying creative works and so many ways of getting people to access them,” she said.
As for the next steps for her own work and success, she is in the midst of writing a fourth book for the series.
“I will never fully close the door on this world just because it means so much to me. I found this story and this series when I was going through a very, very low point in my life, and I can’t express what an anchor it was for me and remains [to be]. It’s consistently been the thing that’s brought me joy for the last four years. I don’t think I’ll ever fully let go of it,” Maehrer explained.
However, she would not let the series overstay its welcome.
“I would never push the series past a point where it no longer can comfortably continue, but when I say ‘never close the door,’ I mean on the universe. Evie and the Villain will always be a touchstone for me, even when we conclude their story. [Though] whether it’s a happily ever after, I don’t know,” she said.
Maehrer’s forthcoming live virtual talk, “On Writing Darkly Charming Villainous Love,” will be on Wednesday, September 3, at 7 p.m., with a video being posted afterwards. For registration and more information, head to the Burlington Public Library website.
