On Thursday night, my sister-in-law and I got to see V.E. Schwab on her Victorious tour at NC State's Stewart Theatre in Raleigh, hosted by Quail Ridge Books. It was a ninety-minute conversation with Raleigh journalist and author Cate Lineberry, followed by audience questions, and I took all the notes so I could do my best to share it with all of you.

It was a little over an hour's drive for me, but my sister-in-law lives nearby, so we met up early and grabbed dinner on campus to get ahead of the crowd. According to Schwab herself, ours was the first stop on the tour to sell out. I'm very proud of us as a region for showing proper enthusiasm.

Schwab shared this reel from the Raleigh stop on Instagram.

Here is everything she said that stuck with me. No spoilers for Victorious, I promise.

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On Writing Victorious

Victorious has been eight years in the making, and Schwab was honest about why. In her words, sometimes she is not the right version of herself to write a book yet. Considering everything she has given us in between, I think we can forgive the wait.

She always knew how she wanted the book to end, but one important piece was missing. The thing that finally unlocked it? Watching WandaVision.

She also joked that finishing this book almost killed her, but she figured at least if she finished it first, fewer people would be disappointed.

And without spoiling anything, Victorious starts at the end. She loves a cold open. She loves a good body drop. If you have read Vicious, you know exactly what that means.

What the Villains Trilogy Is Really About

This was my favorite part of the night. Schwab laid out the arc of the whole series in three lines:

  • Vicious is about clawing for power.
  • Vengeful is about what happens when you lose it.
  • Victorious is about what happens when you have too much.

She wanted to push back on the idea we see everywhere, that getting superpowers turns you into a superhero. When in our world, she asked, has getting enormous power ever made someone behave better? So she set herself a challenge: write two bad people, and see if she could make you root for one of them anyway.

If you need a refresher before you start Victorious, my Vicious recap and Vengeful recap have everything you need.

Signed and Stamped Tour Edition of Victorious by VE Schwab

Her Mind Is a Six-Burner Stove

It will come as no surprise to any Schwab reader that she loves an extended metaphor. She described her mind as a six-burner stove. Some ideas get left to simmer on the back burner, and sometimes the need to make them perfect keeps them simmering a lot longer than she means to.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was one of those back-burner books. The idea first came to her when she was twenty-two. But she wasn't ready to write it.

Then, at 29 realized she may never feel ready to write it.

"Ideas get impatient."

If you wait too long they might go away. A fear brought on by reading Big Magic where Elizabeth Gilbert shares her belief that ideas are alive and looking for human collaborators; if you ignore or wait too long on an idea, it will move on to find someone else who will actually write it.

She talked openly about perfectionism. On good days it pushes her, and on other days it paralyzes her. Her workaround is to trick herself with outlining. It's fine, we aren't writing, it's just an outline. No big deal.

"The joy is in the work, not the reward for the work."

A Moment vs. a Movement

She described this tour as a victory lap, and it really felt like one. She talked about how hard it was early in her career when one of her early YA series was cut short. In YA, she explained, you have about sixty days to make sales before you are considered a flop.

You get a moment, she said, but she wanted a movement. All I can say is mission accomplished.

The Genre Ceiling

Schwab called this one her "villain origin story." The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was her first book shelved in general fiction instead of the fantasy section, and suddenly the ceiling she had as a fantasy writer lifted and all kinds of opportunities opened up. Then her next book was fantasy, and she went from no ceiling to an even lower one.

Meanwhile, she pointed out, male fantasy authors are shelved in general fiction all the time.

Why She Goes by V.E. Schwab

When asked why she publishes as V.E. Schwab, her answer was one word: sexism. She said it was not even a question, just an obvious conclusion that a woman writing fantasy would use initials.

And she was candid about the strategy behind it. She wanted people to read the book first, and only find out afterward who wrote it, so they would have to process the fact that the thing they did not think they would like, they maybe did.

How She Became a Writer

When she was eleven, she had her first experience of forgetting she was reading. The ink disappeared, and it was like a movie playing in her head. And she realized, wait, I can make people hallucinate. Not only that, I can make groups of people hallucinate the same thing. That's a superpower. I want that.

My favorite story of the night was about her name. When she was born, her parents did not name her right away, because they wanted to live with her first. During that time, her grandmother had a prophecy read over her, and her mom would not let her see it until her eighteenth birthday. It said:

"Your daughter will have a way with words. She will either be a writer or a cult leader."

Her response? Why "or"? What is a good author but someone people follow? She is, in her words, a benevolent cult leader.

What Still Scares Her

For someone this successful, it was striking how openly she talked about fear. She said she is driven by a deep fear of letting readers down, that we will say her last book was better, or that she will lose her spark.

She also said her head is a haunted house of every character she has ever written. She has to live with them forever, so she would never write someone she did not want to live with.

What's Next: A January Secret

Schwab teased that something secret is being announced in January, coming out later that year. All she would say is that it is in a new genre, one she has only touched on in the past.

My theory? Black Tabs (working title), the science fiction project she announced years ago about a female assassin in futuristic NYC is finally happening. We will find out in January!

In the meantime, my V.E. Schwab books in order guide covers every book she has written, and where to start.

The Best Audience Question

Someone asked what movie would be improved by adding zombies. Without missing a beat, she said The Devil Wears Prada.

Going to a Victorious Tour Stop? What to Expect

Ours was the first stop to sell out, but plenty of others are selling out now too, so check your venue's event page early, and look up the parking situation ahead of time. Here is how ours worked:

  • Tickets included a copy of Victorious, already signed and embossed with a custom seal, handed out when you arrived.
  • Schwab no longer does signing lines, so there was no signing, photo line, or personalization after the event.
  • Instead, you get a card with your book where you can write her a note. The cards are mailed to her home in Scotland so she can read them after the tour, when she is in a better headspace to really take them in, instead of in the middle of a hectic tour. I think that is such a thoughtful solution.
  • If you want signed copies of her other books, arrive early. I heard several of the titles they had available sold out.
  • The program was a moderated conversation followed by pre submitted audience questions, about ninety minutes total.
  • It sold out, so if your stop has a waitlist, get on it asap.

My biggest tip is to get there early. We met up ahead of time and had dinner nearby, so we were ahead of the parking and the crowd.

Victorious by V.E. Schwab Book Cover

📖 Amazon | Bookshop | 🎧 Audible

Victorious is out now. See everything else new this month in my October 2026 new releases.

Frequently Asked Questions

What inspired the ending of Victorious?

At her Raleigh tour stop, V.E. Schwab said she always knew how she wanted Victorious to end, but one piece was missing until she watched WandaVision.

How long did Victorious take to write?

Victorious came eight years after Vengeful. Schwab said that sometimes she is not yet the right version of herself to write a particular book.

Why does V.E. Schwab use her initials?

She said the reason was sexism. As a woman writing fantasy, using initials felt like an obvious choice, and she wanted readers to discover the book before they found out who wrote it.

Is V.E. Schwab working on a new book?

At her October 2026 Raleigh event, she teased a secret project to be announced in January, coming out later that year, in a genre she has only touched on before.

Is there a signing line at V.E. Schwab's Victorious tour events?

Schwab no longer does signing lines. At the Raleigh event, books were pre-signed and embossed and handed out on arrival, and attendees could write her a note on a card that is mailed to her to read after the tour. Check your venue's event page for details.

Were you at a Victorious tour stop? Tell me your favorite moment in the comments, and what you think the January secret is.