How #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Tom Straw Writes

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

#1 New York Times bestselling author and TV producer, Tom Straw, spoke to me about breaking into television, the Gordian knot of ghostwriting, and his new “culinary, espionage, travel thriller” THE ACCIDENTAL JOE.

Tom Straw is an Emmy and Writers Guild of America–nominated writer-producer, New York Times bestselling author, and former Mystery Writers of America board member.

Writing as Richard Castle, Tom originated the hit Nikki Heat series, writing its first seven novels, all New York Times bestsellers, including Heat Rises, which reached number one.

The first book in his latest series is The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef (Regalo Press/May 14, 2024), described as the story of “...a maverick celebrity chef [who] reluctantly agrees to let the CIA use his hugely popular international food, culture, and travel TV series as cover for a dangerous espionage mission.”

Bestselling author Walter Mosley said of the book, “Tom Straw's Sebastian Pike is a wonderful addition to the annals of amateur sleuths of the crime/spy genre.” Culinary personality Alton Brown said of the author, “Tom Straw has set the bar for culinary, espionage, travel thrillers. Actually, I think he invented the bar. And it’s a bar I’d meet him at any time.”

Tom Straw’s television career has included WGA and Emmy nominations for writing and executive producer stints for shows including Night Court, CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and Nurse Jackie with Edie Falco.

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In this file Tom Straw and I discussed:

His early life as an AM radio personality and professional weatherman

How he got a shot to write on his first TV show

Working with Craig Ferguson and his robot skeleton sidekick

The short version of hitting #1 as a ghostwriter for a fictitious mystery author

How he invented the snarky, bad-boy, maverick chef for his latest novel

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

tomstraw.com

Tom Straw on IMDb

The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef By Tom Straw (Amazon)

Tom Straw on Facebook

Tom Straw on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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