The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience How Bestselling Ghostwriter, Award-Winning Journo & Debut Novelist Adam Skolnick Writes: Part One
Part 1 of 2
Bestselling author and award-winning journalist Adam Skolnick spoke with us about earning his 10,000 hours, living with yours truly in a trailer in the mountains, and his much-anticipated debut novel, AMERICAN TIGER.
I am joined by my co-host Milena Gonzalez.
Adam Skolnick is an author and award-winning journalist who covers travel, adventure and endurance sports, and the environment. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Outside, Wired, Lonely Planet, and Men's Health.
He's the author of One Breath: Freediving, Death and the Quest to Shatter Human Limits, and the ghostwriter and audiobook narrator of the bestselling David Goggins memoirs, Can't Hurt Me and Never Finished. A frequent contributor on The Rich Roll Podcast, he lives in Southern California where he was born and raised.
His debut novel, American Tiger (available for preorder now, out December 2, 2025), “Based on true events, rooted in the stunning Southern California landscape, and populated with vivid characters, [the book] is more than a frantic tiger hunt. It's about a child's quest for self-discovery, her stoic father's struggle to come to terms with their past, and the innate wildness of every living thing.”
Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful, wrote that the book, “Gripped me from the first page. Rarely have I read a novel with such an exquisite sense of place.”
[This episode is sponsored by Ulysses. Go to ulys.app/writeabook to download Ulysses, and use the code FILES at checkout to get 25% off the first year of your yearly subscription."]
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In Part One of this file Adam Skolnick, Milena Gonzalez and I discussed:
His latest adventures and his next non-fiction book
What it was like to go through a horrible dry spell as a writer
The evolution of his process from non-fiction to fiction
Our superhero origin story
How he wrote and published a true labor of love
And a lot more!
Show Notes:
American Tiger by Adam Skolnick – December 2, 2025 (Amazon)
Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer
diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram
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