The Thriller Writer Lab

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 [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/803639/hollywood-payback-by-jon-lindstrom/9798892425094] Follow Jon Lindstrom online: https://www.jonlindstrom.com/writer [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 [https://patreon.com/markpjnadon] Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers [https://mybook.to/marksthrillers] Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/thrillerwriterlab/ [https://markpjnadon.ca/thrillerwriterlab/] Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon [https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ [https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon [https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon]

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 [https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Daughter-Novel-Brittany-Butler/dp/B0FJDHLKRN] Follow Brittany Butler online: https://www.instagram.com/brittanybutlerbooks/ [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 [https://patreon.com/markpjnadon] Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers [https://mybook.to/marksthrillers] Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast [https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast] Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon [https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ [https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon [https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon]

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 [https://books2read.com/u/3kJk2N] Follow Michael J. Lalonde online: https://www.michaeljlalonde.com/ [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 [https://patreon.com/markpjnadon] Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers [https://mybook.to/marksthrillers] Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast [https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast] Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon [https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ [https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon [https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon]

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 [https://www.amazon.com/HAVOC-Trouble-Trail-Tyler-Novel-ebook/dp/B0FP12KRKH] Follow Cam online: https://camtorrens.com/ [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 [https://patreon.com/markpjnadon] Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers [https://mybook.to/marksthrillers] Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast [https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast] Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon [https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ [https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon [https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon]

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 [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 [https://patreon.com/markpjnadon] Mark's Thrillers Psychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers [https://mybook.to/marksthrillers] Authors: Want to be a guest? Apply here → https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast [https://markpjnadon.ca/the-thriller-pitch-podcast] Follow on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon [https://www.facebook.com/markpjnadon] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/ [https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon [https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon]