The Conversation with Nadine Matheson

Thorajax Studios
Thorajax Studios
  • 4.7 (3)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

What really happens behind the book? What does it take to write the story you’ve been carrying for years and then survive the publishing process that follows? The Conversation with Nadine Matheson is the podcast where authors tell the truth. Over 200 episodes, crime and thriller writer Nadine Matheson, author of the Inspector Anjelica Henley series, published by HQ (HarperCollins), has sat down with authors from around the world for conversations that go far beyond the usual author interview. Each episode moves through two parts: a deep, free-flowing conversation about the guest’s writing life, creative process, and journey through publishing and then a dedicated focus on their latest book. Expect honesty, humour, and the kind of candid insight you won’t find in a five-minute press junket. Past guests have included New York Times bestselling authors Linwood Barclay, S.A. Cosby, and Ruth Ware, Booker Prize-longlisted Tayari Jones, Jennie Godfrey, and many more acclaimed writers across crime, romance, literary fiction, fantasy and nonfiction. Whether you’re a reader who wants to understand the world behind the books you love, or a writer looking for guidance, community, and inspiration, this is the podcast for you. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. 📩 Want to be a guest? Email theconversation@nadinematheson.com Finalist -Independent Podcast Awards 2024 *music: the coffee jam ©stereo_jam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 1d ago

    Arvind Ethan David on Doors, Dice and The Great Game

    Arvind Ethan David is a playwright, screenwriter, comic book writer, and novelist whose career has spanned theatre, film, television, and prose. In this wide-ranging conversation with Nadine Matheson, he traces his journey from a Malaysian childhood through UK boarding school, a strategic detour through law (to secure a work visa), and into a creative life that has included an Olivier nomination, a Broadway show, seven graphic novels, and his debut novel The Great Game. Along the way, he shares practical wisdom for aspiring writers, candid reflections on the pandemic, and a remarkable story about how Douglas Adams launched his career. About Arvind Ethan DavidArvind Ethan David is a writer working across theatre, film, television, comics, and prose. Born in Malaysia and educated in the UK, he studied law at university and qualified as a lawyer before transitioning to full-time creative work. His credits include the film The Infidel(with David Baddiel), the Audible radio play series Earworms, the Olivier-nominated stage adaptation The Boy With Wings (based on Lenny Henry's children's books), and seven graphic novels. His debut novel The Great Game, a historical thriller set in 1905 London featuring Sherlock Holmes, Winston Churchill, and a cat burglar named Bal — is published by Thomas & Mercer (Amazon Publishing). He divides his time between London and Los Angeles. Buy 'The Great Game' Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Arvind Ethan David on Doors, Dice and The Great Game

  2. Oct 19

    Chelsea Curto | Eight Books Before Success: Perseverance & Stormy Weather

    Want to read books by guests of The Conversation? Find them all in my Bookshop.org shop Romance author Chelsea Curto joins Nadine Matheson to discuss her journey from flight attendant to hybrid author with 16+ books. Chelsea opens up about the lack of transparency in indie publishing, the full-time reality of self-publishing, almost quitting in 2023, and how a note scribbled during a hurricane became a New York Times bestseller. Chelsea Curto began writing during the COVID pandemic while on leave from her job as a flight attendant and has since published over 16 books, including indie titles and traditionally published works. She writes sports romance (hockey series) and weather-themed romance. Her new novel 'In Stormy Weather' about two meteorologists chasing storms in Florida became a instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller and marked her entry into traditional publishing. Chelsea is a hybrid author, maintaining both indie and traditional publishing careers. Follow Chelsea Curto Buy 'In Stormy Weather' Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Chelsea Curto | Eight Books Before Success: Perseverance & Stormy Weather

  3. Oct 12

    Three Agents, 24 Hours, and a Lot of Luck | Rebecca Spargo

    Want to read books by guests of 'The Conversation'? Find them all in my Bookshop.org shop "I'd just finished my final draft and I was writing my letter and I'd planned who to send out to agents... and then Adolescence came on the TV. This is either gonna go one way or the other. It's either gonna be good or bad for me. I sent it out and I had three agents jump on it in 24 hours." Rebecca Spargo Former BBC journalist and debut author Rebecca Spargo joins Nadine to discuss the road to publishing her first novel, Such a Nice Boy — the story of a feminist mother who discovers her son is part of a group sexually bullying girls at school. They explore the serendipitous timing of Netflix's Adolescence, the brutal reality of rejection in publishing, why children's online worlds demand urgent parental attention, and what success really means when you've poured years of your life into a book. Follow Rebecca Spargo Rebecca Spargo is a debut novelist and former BBC journalist who spent years writing in secret while working as a broadcast journalist and copywriter. Her debut novel, Such a Nice Boy, is published on October 8th and tells the story of a feminist mother confronting the reality that her son has been involved in sexually bullying girls at their school. Buy 'Such A Nice Boy' Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Three Agents, 24 Hours, and a Lot of Luck | Rebecca Spargo

  4. Oct 7

    The Ghosts of Exes Past | Katie Snooks

    "Black History Month is the perfect time to discover your next favourite Black author. Browse my picks on Bookshop.org - Celebrating Black Voices ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I always looked at that relationship and I was like, what a waste of my time that was. But now I try to rephrase it like, well, that has taught me what I do want and what I don't want going forward. And that has been really helpful." Katie Snooks Content creator and debut author Katie Snooks joins Nadine Matheson for a Coffee Break episode to discuss her forthcoming paranormal romance novel, The Ghost of Exes Past. Katie shares the emotional rollercoaster of publishing a first book, how a rejected earlier manuscript became the foundation for her debut, and the year she spent at university attempting to photograph ghosts, séances and all. The conversation spans writing resilience, spice levels in romance, audiobook casting, and the lessons we carry from past relationships. Katie Snook is a content creator with 15 years of experience, having started in beauty content before expanding into relationships, dating, and lifestyle. She has built a large following sharing the ups and downs of modern dating on her YouTube channel. The Ghost of Ex's Past, a paranormal romance, is her debut novel. And for the gamers 🎮: You can find Nadine on Xbox and Playstation Buy 'The Ghosts of Exes Past' Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Ghosts of Exes Past | Katie Snooks

  5. Oct 5

    Roz Watkins | How to Explode Your Life and Write a Better Book

    "Black History Month is the perfect time to discover your next favourite Black author. Browse my picks on Bookshop.org - Celebrating Black Voices ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Everyone should be able to carry the weight of a grown man just in case they need to dispose of a body." Roz Watkins Crime author Roz Watkins joins Nadine Matheson to trace her unlikely path from engineering student to patent attorney to acclaimed crime writer. From childhood stories dark enough to warrant a trigger warning, to the surreal experience of finding an agent at the York Festival of Writing, to blowing up her entire life in her forties. Roz shares the persistence, community, and dark humour behind her career. She also introduces her latest novel, The Wicked Girls, a gothic psychological thriller set in a Cornish village where girls keep dying on their 17th birthdays. About Roz Watkins Roz Watkins is a crime thriller author based in Cornwall. Before becoming a writer, she studied engineering and natural sciences at university, then trained as a patent attorney, a career she eventually left behind in her early forties to pursue creative writing. She is the author of the DI Meg Dalziel police procedural series (including her debut The Red House) and the standalone gothic psychological thriller The Wicked Girls. Roz is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow and a former resident of Derby before relocating to Falmouth, Cornwall. Find her at rozwatkins.co.uk Buy 'The Wicked Girls' "Black History Month is the perfect time to discover your next favourite Black author. Browse my picks on Bookshop.org. [link]" Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Roz Watkins | How to Explode Your Life and Write a Better Book

  6. Oct 5 ·  Bonus

    Adventures in Publishing-land: Memoir Myths, Broken Publisher PR Promises and Ethics in Agency

    Watch as a full video episode on YouTube On this week’s episode, we are talking about MrBeast & James Patterson’s apparent book flop, and wondering if publishers will learn that social media following doesn’t translate into book sales. Plus, we talk about the Self-Publishing Partnership’s collapse, and discuss how NOT to behave at conventions after stories of a very pushy author came out of WorldCon. 00:00 Intro 01:06 From the Slush Pile - Listener Comments 11:03 Pay to Play? US Agents Ethics Row 18:35 Marketing Myths - Publishing's Empty Promises 27:33 Memoir or Myth - Does Truth Matter? 43:32 Stranger Than Fiction - Nadine's Idea Factory 50:20 The Final Chapter - Entertainment Catch-up Links: DGB resign from the Association of American Literary Agents Who holds publishers to their promises? Earl Spencer apologises to Piers Morgan for error in memoir Fact checking doesn't apply to memoirs, says ex-Bloomsbury boss What happened in the failed execution of Christa Pike? Adventures in Publishing-land is brought to you by STET Podcasts - the one stop shop for all your writing podcast needs, featuring Page One - The Writer's Podcast, The Conversation with Nadine Matheson and more! Find all our shows here! Follow us on Bluesky Follow us on Instagram Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Adventures in Publishing-land: Memoir Myths, Broken Publisher PR Promises and Ethics in Agency

  7. Sep 30

    Bad Boy For Life | Inside the Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial with Cheyenne Roundtree

    "You have to point out these are the things that people were willing to look past because he was so charismatic, because he gave people great opportunities..." Cheyenne Roundtree Investigative journalist Cheyenne Roundtree joins Nadine Matheson to discuss her debut book Bad Boy for Life, a comprehensive look at the rise and fall of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Drawing on three years of reporting, over 100 interviews, and six weeks sitting in the federal courtroom, Cheyenne breaks down what the public saw versus what was happening behind closed doors, from the Cassie Ventura lawsuit to the criminal trial, the emotional complexity of the victims' testimony, and the broader questions about accountability, fandom, and institutional protection. Cheyenne Roundtree is an investigative reporter at Rolling Stone. She co-authored the magazine's landmark investigation into Sean "Diddy" Combs alongside colleague Nancy Dillon, published shortly after the hotel surveillance video of Combs attacking Cassie Ventura became public. Bad Boy for Life is her first book. Her work focuses on long-form investigative reporting, and she has spent nearly three years covering the Combs story from the initial allegations through the federal criminal trial. Buy 'Bad Boy for Life' Follow Cheyenne Roundtree Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Bad Boy For Life | Inside the Sean 'Diddy' Combs Trial with Cheyenne Roundtree

  8. Sep 28

    Abir Mukherjee | The Powerpoint, The Avengers and The Pinnacle

    "It's old men thinking they can dictate to everybody else about what it is to be part of something. They want to dictate who is in the tent and who's outside the tent." Abir Mukherjee Abir Mukherjee sits down with Nadine Matheson for a candid, frequently hilarious conversation about his journey from a 20-year career in finance to becoming one of crime fiction's most distinctive voices. He shares the extraordinary story of winning a writing competition with an unfinished novel, getting the biggest names in crime fiction to fix his book for free, and why he finds publishing more prejudiced than the City. He also introduces his new satirical thriller, The Pinnacle. Abir Mukherjee is a British Asian crime fiction author who spent two decades in finance, working in international mergers and acquisitions, before winning the Telegraph/Penguin Random House crime writing competition in 2014. His Sam Wyndham historical crime series, set in British Raj-era India, has been published to critical acclaim. His standalone thriller Hunted won the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2025 and Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of theYear Award 2025. He was published in 2016, the same year as Vaseem Khan, and together they helped prove that British Asian crime fiction could be commercially successful, opening doors for a new generation of writers. His latest novel is The Pinnacle, a satirical thriller set in a Mumbai luxury skyscraper. He lives in Surrey with his family. Find him at abirmukherjee.com and on Instagram and Facebook. Buy 'The Pinnacle' Buy the Book: The Shadow Carver Buy me a cup of coffee ☕️ | Buy books by my guests Follow Me Bluesky | Substack | Instagram | Facebook | Threads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Abir Mukherjee | The Powerpoint, The Avengers and The Pinnacle
See All (273)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

What really happens behind the book? What does it take to write the story you’ve been carrying for years and then survive the publishing process that follows? The Conversation with Nadine Matheson is the podcast where authors tell the truth. Over 200 episodes, crime and thriller writer Nadine Matheson, author of the Inspector Anjelica Henley series, published by HQ (HarperCollins), has sat down with authors from around the world for conversations that go far beyond the usual author interview. Each episode moves through two parts: a deep, free-flowing conversation about the guest’s writing life, creative process, and journey through publishing and then a dedicated focus on their latest book. Expect honesty, humour, and the kind of candid insight you won’t find in a five-minute press junket. Past guests have included New York Times bestselling authors Linwood Barclay, S.A. Cosby, and Ruth Ware, Booker Prize-longlisted Tayari Jones, Jennie Godfrey, and many more acclaimed writers across crime, romance, literary fiction, fantasy and nonfiction. Whether you’re a reader who wants to understand the world behind the books you love, or a writer looking for guidance, community, and inspiration, this is the podcast for you. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. 📩 Want to be a guest? Email theconversation@nadinematheson.com Finalist -Independent Podcast Awards 2024 *music: the coffee jam ©stereo_jam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

More From Thorajax Studios

You Might Also Like