The Thriller Writer Lab

Mark P.J. Nadon
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The Thriller Writer Lab is where every thriller goes under the microscope, one book at a time. On this show, bestselling, award-winning, and emerging thriller authors share the craft, psychology, and real-world experience behind today's most gripping stories. We go inside the minds behind the twists, the characters, and the moments that keep readers turning the page. Each episode begins with a two-minute book pitch, then dives into the decisions that shaped it — the risks taken, the rewrites that didn't work, the dead ends, and the breakthroughs that made it stronger. If you write thrillers or want to know what's really behind the stories you can't put down, this is the conversation for you.

  1. How Jon Lindstrom Turned Hollywood's Broken Dreams Into a Thriller

    2d ago

    How Jon Lindstrom Turned Hollywood's Broken Dreams Into a Thriller

    What does writing feel like when it's actually working? Not the grinding, forcing, staring at the screen version. The other kind, where you're not even really writing anymore, just trying to keep up with your fingers because something is coming through you. Jon Lindstrom is a four-time Emmy nominated actor, filmmaker, and USA Today bestselling author of Hollywood Hustle and Hollywood Payback. In this episode, he breaks down how stepping away from the camera and into novels unlocked a freedom that acting and screenwriting never could. We also get into the real people behind Jake Ferguson in Hollywood Payback, what it took to write the past timeline of the book, why he went to a hotel room in Savannah for five days to dig deeper, and what broken dreams in Hollywood taught him about building a character worth caring about. Jon Lindstrom's book Hollywood Payback: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/803639/hollywood-payback-by-jon-lindstrom/9798892425094 Follow Jon Lindstrom online: https://www.jonlindstrom.com/writer Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/thrillerwriterlab/ Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    1h 10m
  2. Writing an espionage thriller as a former CIA officer | Brittany Butler

    May 26

    Writing an espionage thriller as a former CIA officer | Brittany Butler

    Brittany Butler spent 10 years as a CIA targeting officer running spies in the Middle East and war zones. Now she writes espionage thrillers for Crooked Lane Books and the operational world she lived in shows up on every page. In this episode Brittany breaks down how she builds characters using goals, motivations, and conflicts before writing a single scene, how she balances three interlocking plot lines without losing the reader, and how she transfers the real psychological cost of espionage work onto the page. She also talks about the moral weight of running sources she couldn't always protect, and the moment she knew it was time to leave the CIA. Brittany Butler's book The Patriot's Daughter: https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Daughter-Novel-Brittany-Butler/dp/B0FJDHLKRN Follow Brittany Butler online: https://www.instagram.com/brittanybutlerbooks/ Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    56 min
  3. Writing a War Your Heroes Don't Know They're Losing | Michael J. Lalonde

    May 12

    Writing a War Your Heroes Don't Know They're Losing | Michael J. Lalonde

    Michael J. Lalonde spent 23 years as a Canadian Army intelligence officer before writing The Quiet War: Canadian Front, a modern military thriller built around Canada's tier one special forces unit, JTF Two. In this episode we get into how he built a story where the heroes are winning every engagement and losing the war without knowing it, why the villain targets Canada before the United States, what the "every day is selection" culture of special forces does to the people inside it, and where realism and story collide and why story has to win. Michael J. Lalonde's book Canadian Front: https://books2read.com/u/3kJk2N Follow Michael J. Lalonde online: https://www.michaeljlalonde.com/ Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    1h 20m
  4. This Thriller Started with Real Search and Rescue Missions | Cam Torrens

    Apr 28

    This Thriller Started with Real Search and Rescue Missions | Cam Torrens

    Cam Torrens is a retired Air Force C-130 pilot, active search and rescue volunteer, and author of Havoc, book five in the Tyler Zan series. His first two books never got picked up. His third did. Then he went back and got the first one published as a prequel. Every book in the series starts with a real SAR mission or a real location where one happened. In this episode we talk about the dual timeline that saved Havoc, the duty vs. family conflict at the heart of the book, and why if you've published your first or second book you should already be writing your third. Cam Torrens book Havoc: Buy on Amazon Follow Cam online: https://camtorrens.com/ Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    59 min
  5. Write What You Know — Especially The Parts You Don't Talk About | Mark P.J. Nadon

    Apr 14

    Write What You Know — Especially The Parts You Don't Talk About | Mark P.J. Nadon

    What does it actually mean to write what you know? For Mark P.J. Nadon, it meant embedding the parts of himself he doesn't talk about into the characters at the heart of his new psychological tech thriller, The Treatment Room. In this episode, TD Severin, author of the award-winning medical thriller Deadly Vision, takes over the show to interview Mark on launch day about the craft, the characters, and the personal experiences that shaped the book. They dig into writing two POVs that sound nothing alike, why the second half of every book throws out the outline, how to write trauma without tipping into melodrama, and what it feels like to release a book that has pieces of yourself in it. Mark P.J. Nadon's book The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/thetreatmentroom Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    1h 1m
  6. The Phone Call That Turned Into an Archaeological Thriller | Luke Richardson

    Mar 31

    The Phone Call That Turned Into an Archaeological Thriller | Luke Richardson

    A phone call dropped Luke Richardson into a story he couldn’t ignore. An ancient manuscript lost for thousands of years. A British Museum dig in Lebanon. An archaeologist who faked his own death to smuggle out clay tablets. That call became The Ark Files, the first book in his eight-book Eden Black archaeological thriller series. We get into how that real story shaped the novel, how he turns setting into part of the action instead of slowing it down, and what it actually took to walk away from teaching and write thrillers full time. Luke Richardson's book The Ark Files: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B2PS8NC6 Follow Luke online: https://www.lukerichardsonauthor.com/ Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    56 min
  7. He Defended a Real Killing in Court Then Wrote a Novel About It | James Rosenberg

    Mar 17

    He Defended a Real Killing in Court Then Wrote a Novel About It | James Rosenberg

    James Rosenberg is a Pittsburgh attorney and author of the Verdicts and Vindication series, legal thrillers pulled directly from cases he has handled. Unclean Hands is based on the most nerve-wracking trial of his career: defending the store employees who accidentally killed a man they were detaining for shoplifting. We get into how he builds thriller pacing around a full courtroom proceeding, why a case with no clear right answer makes for the most compelling fiction, the pressure that eats at trial lawyers even when the cameras aren't rolling, and how real people from the actual trial ended up fictionalized in the book. James Rosenberg's book Unclean Hands: https://a.co/d/0fjOwMzd Follow James online: https://jamesrosenberglegalthrillers.com/ Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    48 min
  8. Writing Real People Into Fiction and Living With the Consequences | Robert Adamcik

    Mar 3

    Writing Real People Into Fiction and Living With the Consequences | Robert Adamcik

    Robert Adamcik is a Navy veteran and defense contractor who writes spy thrillers populated with real people, coworkers, shipmates, and friends, by name and by personality. We talk about his Martini Squad series and the second book The Wave Force Affair, how he approaches getting permission before putting someone in a novel, and what happens when a character based on a real colleague doesn't make it out alive. If you write fiction and have ever wondered how far you can take real people and real experiences in your storytelling, this is a conversation worth hearing. Robert Adamcik's book The WaveForce Affair: https://a.co/d/0cEQQN9T Follow Robert online: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552185593381 Join the After Show on Patreon and get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments with guests, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. You’ll also be able to support the show and help me keep bringing on great thriller authors. https://patreon.com/markpjnadon Today's Sponsor Mark P.J. Nadon's novels including his psychological tech thriller, The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast Explore thrillers by Mark P.J. Nadon: • https://markpjnadon.ca/novels/ Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

    35 min
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About

The Thriller Writer Lab is where every thriller goes under the microscope, one book at a time. On this show, bestselling, award-winning, and emerging thriller authors share the craft, psychology, and real-world experience behind today's most gripping stories. We go inside the minds behind the twists, the characters, and the moments that keep readers turning the page. Each episode begins with a two-minute book pitch, then dives into the decisions that shaped it — the risks taken, the rewrites that didn't work, the dead ends, and the breakthroughs that made it stronger. If you write thrillers or want to know what's really behind the stories you can't put down, this is the conversation for you.

Information

  • Creator
    Mark P.J. Nadon
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Thriller Writer Lab