Hannah Nicole Maehrer first captured the world’s attention and laughter in 2020 with her TikTok videos about being an assistant to a morally gray fantasy villain.

PHOENIX — What if the morally gray villain in your favorite fantasy novel had a personal assistant?

That’s the question that New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Hannah Nicole Maehrer asked herself in 2020. Five years, more than 300,000 followers on TikTok and three books later, the answer is clear. 

It’s a whole lot of fun. 

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Maehrer turned viral videos she made during the pandemic into a bestselling book series: ‘Assistant to the Villain.’ The series follows The Villain, Trystan Maverine, his assistant, Evie Sage, and an office full of mythical creatures, magical humans, and fairly frightened interns who are working to save the Kingdom of Renendawn—but on the down low, of course, because The Villain has a reputation to uphold.

“I’m truly just a fangirl at heart…I love this series so much in these characters that they almost feel like outside of me, like they are their own entities at this point, and I am just like a vessel for their story to be told,” Maehrer said.

The third book in the series, ‘Accomplice to the Villain,’ hit shelves in August, and takes up where book two—’Apprentice to the Villain’—left off. Trystan and Evie, and the whole evil gang, are trying to figure out how to save the kingdom. While bloodshed is always a possibility, assassins in the breakroom and falling for the grumpy, evil overlord boss were not part of the plan. Soon, the merry, slightly evil band of adventurers readers have come to love and know are set off in different directions, trying to understand the prophecy that could just save the world. But at what cost?

Like many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Maehrer turned to TikTok to find pockets of joy and entertainment in lockdown. She was most drawn to the skits about books, Maehrer explained, so she started making some where she played the part of an assistant to the morally gray fantasy villain. 

While she had originally been writing an entirely different manuscript, Maehrer said she was getting so much joy from the skits she was creating, she decided to switch gears and write ‘Assistant to the Villain’ instead.

“I had accumulated this lovely audience watching along with the skits that I got to share writing the book with, and the journey to publishing, and through each book,” Maehrer said. “And now we have three books! It’s crazy.”

The pivot from filming skits for social media to writing the book wasn’t as big a change as readers may think. 

“It’s kind of like different but the same,” Maehrer said. “It’s the same feeling, like I feel the same about it, that I feel making the skits versus writing the books, because it’s just another step back into that world for me.”

Maehrer originally only made skits playing Evie, but now readers can see her play a full lineup of characters, from the Villain to the office workers—and leave Easter eggs along the way.

It’s not unheard of for an author to interact with readers on social media; many authors share updates on their books online or make Q&A videos. But the audience on social media for Maehrer has been there for every step of the way: from content creation to story ideas to having book three in their hands.

What does that mean to Maehrer? 

“Oh my gosh, it’s everything. It’s truly everything,” Maehrer tells 12News with a big smile.

“My biggest joy from the time I started the skits was going through the comments and reading, because my comment section is hilarious. It’s also filled with the loveliest people, like the interactions between people in the comment section are so wholesome.”

And while the third book has hit shelves, Maehrer said she isn’t done with Renendawn, the Villain, or Evie quite yet. 

“I truly love this world so much and I respect it so much that I can’t, I couldn’t force a wrap-up in the third book that just couldn’t happen,” Maehrer said. “I love this world so much, so like playing in it for longer is a privilege, and I am very excited, and I apologize to everybody that didn’t know the third wasn’t the last one.”

To keep up with Maehrer’s writing and to learn more about Assistant to the Villain, check out Maehrer’s social media pages.

For more book and literacy stories, check out “Reading Arizona” on YouTube and 12News.com. If you have a story pitch for Reading Arizona, email koconnor@12news.com or reach out via Instagram, @thatjournalistwhoreads. 


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