September 18, 2025
Provided Image/Adam Weiner
Author M.L. Rio traveled across the country and lived out of her car for 18 months to help with research for her newest novel 'Hot Wax.'
Bestselling author M.L. Rio took an 18-month cross-country road trip as research for her third novel. After finishing "Hot Wax," the writer with nomadic tendencies decided it was time to settle down, choosing Philadelphia as her final landing spot.
Rio describes her latest work as a "Thelma & Louise" meets "Almost Famous" tale of rock and roll and self-discovery — a diversion from the more gothic themes she explored in TikTok sensation "If We Were Villains" and "Graveyard Shift." But if she learned anything in her time living out of her car, it's that everyone can decide where their own home base is.
"I had really fallen in love with Philly as a city, and it's also just a great place to be for a writer," she said.
"Hot Wax," which was released earlier this month, follows 10-year old Suzanne who finds herself drawn to her father's rock-and-roll band's nationwide tour in the 1980s and jumps at the first opportunity to include herself in his adventures. But after witnessing an alarming act of violence and spending the following three decades secluded in the comforts of suburbia, she finds herself embarking on the very same kind of road trip that threatened to unravel her in the first place.
Rio, a self-proclaimed "method writer," said she wanted to travel to help develop themes and settings for her new book. She had lived all over the country — from Miami to North Carolina to Hawaii — and even spent time in the U.K. In 2019, she moved to Washington, D.C., but she said she spent more time crashing with friends in Philadelphia.
After four years of couch-surfing and train-hopping, she moved all of her belongings into a storage unit in South Jersey and lived out of her two-door 2012 Honda Accord from May 2023 through the end of 2024 to tap into her inner touring rock star voice. Most of "Hot Wax" takes place in the southwest deserts of New Mexico and Nevada, where Rio spent a majority of her road trip in music venues, museums, casinos and motels.
"It was just nice to immerse myself in the texture of this country and all the different places there are," she said. "One thing I really valued about spending as much time on the go as I have is just getting a taste of how all kinds of different people live, and 'Hot Wax' is about that in a lot of ways."
But a year and a half on the road began to weigh on her. Surrounded by the quirks of roadside diners and basement bars, she realized that Philly might be calling to her.
"Most of my found family, people I'm really close to, are in Philly ... and I love being on the road, but sometimes I'd start to get homesick," Rio said. "I went to 35 cities in two months and I listened to Phillies games on the radio obsessively because it felt like a little piece of home."
After returning from her travels, she signed a lease in South Philadelphia. For a writer, food lover, record collector and "ethical eavesdropper," Rio said there is no shortage of inspiration to be found in her new neighborhood.
"The diversity here is tremendous," she said. "It's really fun, vibrant and there's always stuff happening. ... It's a great city to be an artist in."
"Hot Wax," published by Simon & Schuster, is available in book stores and online.
