FAQ 💬

Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: From boredom, mostly. If I don’t give my brain any entertainment, it tends to make its own fun.

Q: What’s your favourite book you’ve written?
A: Not sure. I like the new ones more than the old ones, which I’ve mostly gotten sick of talking about, or thinking about. Also, my tastes are evolving, and I like to think I’m getting better with practice.

Q: How long does it take to write a book?
A: Depends on the book, but as a general rule of thumb, I write about 7,000 words per week, so a 90,000 word first draft might take me three months, and each subsequent draft might take half as long as the previous one (because I’m fixing smaller and smaller problems). There are always at least six drafts, and at any given time I have five to seven projects at various stages. The whole process might last one year or ten.

Q: Do you use AI?
A: I tried, thinking it would speed me up. I had fantasies of writing ten, twenty, fifty books a year. But it actually slowed me down, because I had to delete everything it wrote. I’ve learned that there are no shortcuts.

Q: Who’s your favourite author?
A: I don’t have favourite authors so much as favourite books. Here are some books I find myself reading over and over: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, What the Hell Did I Just Read by Jason Pargin, Diary by Chuck Palahniuk, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, and There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by qntm.

Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
A: Career-wise, most of my advice is twenty years out of date (and the rest is highly dependent on your personal circumstances). Nevertheless, here are three tips: read things you don’t think you’ll like, write things you don’t think anyone else will like, and get as much negative feedback as possible. Watch out for scams. And if you're in Canberra, definitely join MARION.

Q: Where can I buy your books?
A: Ideally, at your local bookshop. If you’re lucky enough to have one, you should support them. But if not, just search “Jack Heath books” and you’ll find plenty of options. Ignore anything about witches—those books are written by a different Jack Heath.

Q: What order should I read (series) in?
A: I’ve listed them above in order of publication, so that’s a good start. I always try to include any necessary context from previous books without spoiling any of the twists... though that gets harder the more prequels there are.

Q: Are your books suitable for (age range)?
A: Age doesn’t matter as much as reading level. I recommend reading the first couple of pages (or a sample of the ebook/audiobook) to get a vibe. But please note that the Hangman series and the Kill Your... series are not suitable for children.

Q: Why do some of your books have two titles?
A: It’s confusing, I know! Sorry. I have different publishers in different countries, and sometimes they say the original title won’t work in their market. I’ve learned to trust them.

Q: Have any of your books been turned into movies or TV shows?
A: Not exactly. I’ve sold the rights to a few, but screen adaptations are big, expensive, complicated projects that almost always fall apart—that’s one of the many reasons I prefer books. Having said that, there was a very cool VR film called 30 Minutes of Danger, based on one of my stories. Look for me as a newsreader in the background.

Q: What does a typical writing day look like?
A: I’ll let you know if I ever have one! Today I woke up at six-thirty, wrote for 45 minutes, then went for a bike ride with my kids. After that I went to the gym, and then to a cafe, where I wrote for another hour or so before getting distracted by the sudden desire to write an FAQ for my website. I should go soon—people are starting to stare.

Q: What's Novlr?
A: It’s the app I write my novels in. I like it because it doesn’t clutter my screen with unnecessary options, but isn’t missing any of the functions I actually need. For example, I'm the sort of person who would waste hours looking for the perfect font—but Novlr only gives me three options: serif, sans, and mono. (Just now I tried to change each of those words to the font in question, but Novlr wouldn’t let me do that, either.)

Q: Why did this website load so fast?
A: Because I hand-coded it, and I didn't put any tracking nonsense on it. It's less than 300 lines of code. You're welcome!

Q: Who’s your agent?
A: I have a few different agents, but Curtis Brown Australia manages me (not an easy job) for most things.

Q: Do you do school visits or events?
A: Sometimes! Contact Booked Out.

Q: Will there be any more books in (series)?
A: Maybe. I have plenty of ideas, but I try not to get too attached to them. I can’t afford to write sequels to books that weren’t bestsellers—that’s another lesson I learned the hard way. I love my job, but it’s still a job.

Q: Will you please—
A: Let me stop you there. I’m glad you thought of me, but whatever you need help with, I promise you I’m the least qualified person in the world to do it. In the extremely unlikely event that you’re asking me about something I actually know how to do, I still can’t do it. My inbox is overflowing, and so is my poor brain. I barely function. Ask a friend instead! They love you. They’ll be happy to help.