The Thriller Writer Lab

When the Reader Decides Who the Villain Is | The Summer House Murder Dissected with Ava Roberts

Ava Roberts spent years as a clinical psychologist before leaving to write thrillers full time. In The Summer House Murder, that background shapes a cast where every character's motivation is psychologically grounded, morally complex, and impossible to judge cleanly. In this episode, Mark and Ava pull apart how the book was actually constructed: the structural choices, character architecture, and revision decisions that shaped the final draft. For writers, this is a masterclass in how expertise outside fiction can directly drive plot design and character dynamics.
Intuitive plot architecture: How Roberts builds a three-POV rotating structure without an outline, planting threads before knowing where they resolve.
Distributed antagonism: How she spread moral culpability across the full cast so the reader cannot assign a clean verdict to any one character.
Character differentiation: How she kept three sisters distinct enough that neither she nor the reader needs a reference document to track them.
Revision process: The structural changes her editor introduced, including a mid-novel scene rewrite and a complete ending overhaul.
Beta reader strategy: How she uses early readers for internal consistency and reader orientation rather than story direction.
 
Ava Roberts's book The Summer House Murder: https://a.co/d/07hmlxBG
Follow Ava Roberts online: https://authoravaroberts.com/
Want to be part of the conversation? Join the live recordings on Patreon and ask your questions during the guest Q&A. You’ll also get early access to episodes, bonus after-show segments, and my free novella Cognitive Breach. Your support helps keep The Thriller Writer Lab going and brings more great thriller authors into the Lab.https://patreon.com/markpjnadon
Mark's ThrillersPsychological tech thrillers from your host, including The Treatment Room: https://mybook.to/marksthrillers
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Amanda West Breaks Down The Memory Foundation from Memory Flights to High-Concept Balance

Bestselling author Amanda West joins The Thriller Writer Lab to break down The Memory Foundation, a speculative thriller about memory flights, destination travel, and a secret mountain facility where guests can relive the best moments of their lives.
Amanda talks about moving from psychological suspense into a more high-concept thriller, building the idea of memory flights, and finding the right balance between explaining the technology and keeping the story moving. She also discusses why dementia became central to the book, how Natasha’s relationship with her mother shaped the emotional core, and why even the biggest thriller concepts still need to feel human.
Amanda West's book The Memory Foundation: https://www.amazon.com/Memory-Foundation-Novel-Amanda-West/dp/B0FNVWZM5D
Follow Amanda West online: https://www.amandareynoldsauthor.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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethrillerwriterlab/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thethrillerwriterlab
 

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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: 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
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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: 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
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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: 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
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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: 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
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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon
 

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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

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 ThrillersPsychological 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon

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 SponsorMark 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/markpjnadonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/markpjnadon_thrillerauthor/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mark_pj_nadon