Hello and welcome! I’m Jason.

I’m a professional actor, director, improviser, playwright, and teacher of things theatrical.

And now I write thrillers.

So, you may be wondering how and why a theatre geek decided to start writing thrillers? I’m so glad you asked!

I was in Key West, first week of August, 2016, on a solo vacation (this was a few months before I met my beloved Rebecca). Bed and breakfast, jet skiing, sunsets at Mallory Square, sampling every key lime pie iteration under the blazing sun. Seven in three days. I’m not kidding.

My bed and breakfast had a sweet little pool. Perfect for an afternoon read in the shade. Avoid the hottest heat, relax and escape. But the books I had brought… just wasn’t feelin’ ’em.

During my first post-breakfast wandering, I stumbled across one of those glorious, hole-in-the-wall used book stores. The smell of those places, am I right?

Lo and behold, a dog-eared copy of a Lee Child/Jack Reacher paperback found its way into my hands. Cool blurb on the back. Why not?

Took it back to the sweet little pool. Devoured it in one dang sitting. Cookie Monster with his Chips Ahoy.

Went back to the used book store the very next day. Traded that Reacher back. Dug up two more. Finished the series before the end of the year. Jack Reacher was my thriller gateway drug.

Over the next two years I ripped through series after series. My buddy Mike turned me on to Vince Flynn/Mitch Rapp. On a getaway to Punta Gorda with Rebecca, another wonderful smelling used book store introduced me to Randy Wayne White/Doc Ford. Is it any wonder Brad Thor/Scott Horvath and James Rollins/Sigma Force followed?

I must’ve read over a hundred thrillers in under three years. A graduate-level crash course.

I’ve always had that itch to write a book. Since fourth grade. Even double-majored in English alongside Theatre. But, as I’m sure many an aspiring writer has thought, I wanted to write, y’know, something all literary and important.

But one day in the middle of some kick-ass, gorgeously blunt Jack Reacher dialogue, I realized that thrillers were FUN. And I read them constantly. And so probably did a lot of other readers. And that just like in theatre, popular and art could totally go together. Heck, Shakespeare is about as populist as writers come! So maaaaaybe my theatre expertise could lend itself to a nifty new angle on the genre.

I had foisted the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Rebecca (she is now madly addicted), and she had foisted Criminal Minds upon me. Both of those worlds value collaboration and teamwork. Like in the theatre, where no one succeeds unless everyone succeeds.

“Write what you know” simply means to approach the truths of your life experience as raw materials.

Suddenly I heard characters whispering and saw the hazy outlines of scenes forming. I found myself writing at odd moments throughout the day. Events in my life both past and present shouldered their way into plot points. Then lockdown happened. Theatre came to a grinding halt. I was so so so lucky to still be in a job, but no performing. No directing. No improvising. All that artsy, creative bandwidth had to go somewhere.

A few friends said, “Hey we all are writing stuff to keep from going crazy. Maybe we should meet on the zoom and give each other feedback.” I said “heck yeah!” The Rabbit Room was formed. We met every Saturday for a year.

And in that year, my first thriller came to be. It’s called GHOST LIGHT. I had a blast writing it. And it’s one of the hardest and coolest things I’ve ever done.

And now, as with key lime pie, I can’t get enough. I still read all those writers. And I’m still writing every day, even as theatres reopen and I get to direct and perform again.

Because ultimately I believe that storytelling in all its forms—whether seen on the stage or read on a page—has the power not only to entertain but also to comfort, provoke, and inspire us to be better humans.

So now I’ve got the Troupe. Gideon, Rheia, Adler, Stan, and the Director. They give me another way to explore story and truth, to share ideas and emotions, and I hope you come to enjoy their company as much as I do!

Author photo by Shyla Rose Photography