I write purely for the love of it.
18 September 2026
But some other authors (not me) are motivated by laziness and ego.
If you hacked a full-time writer's webcam and observed him—let's say it's a him—without his knowledge for a day or two, he might look industrious. He's made a cup of coffee and brought it to his desk; so far, so good. He wiggles the mouse to wake up his computer. His webcam (the one you hacked) recognises his face, so he's logged in automatically. Now he's typing, quickly but precisely. His expression is both thoughtful and focused. Genius seems to be at work. But watch closely.
Reflected in his glasses (let's say he wears glasses) you can see the words appearing on his computer screen. What is he typing? Is it a novel? An email to his agent? A newsletter for his loyal readers? No! He is typing his own name into a search bar, fast enough to suggest that this is part of his morning routine, just as much as the coffee and the mouse-wiggle.
To what end, you might ask? Surely the writer knows more about himself than the internet does. Yet here he is, alt-tabbing from one online bookshop to the next, pausing only to click the sort-by-release-date button.
Suddenly his eyes go wide. He's spotted something on Abbey's, something that wasn't there yesterday, or the day before. He quickly flicks over to Booktopia. It's there, too! An evil grin spreads across his face as he checks Collins, then Dymocks. You can't quite see the thing he's so excited about, but whatever it is, it's also at Everest, Fullers, Gleebooks, and Hill of Content. (The writer seems to be working alphabetically.) He tries Ink Bookshop. Jeffrey's. Kinokuniya. Lorne Books. MacLean's. The Nile. The writer pauses, and Googles "bookshops starting with O". Of course—Open Book in Perth! Eagerly he checks Paperchain. QBD. Readings. While he waits for Schrödinger's website to load, what he's looking for both is and isn't there... then suddenly it is! He goes to Torquay. Ulysses. Verso. Wardini. He can't find a bookshop beginning with X, but when he gets to YourBookstore.io, he finds dozens of independent booksellers across Australia and New Zealand, all of whom are ready to take preorders from their favourite customers.
The writer leans back in his chair. He still hasn't done any of what you might call "work". But he looks pleased with himself. Finally he opens his half-written manuscript...
Then immediately ALT+TABs away from it...
And starts writing his email newsletter instead.
What I'm reading
I've just finished She Won't Leave by Rebecca Heath, and now I'm diving into One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald. Both terrific. I've also just received pre-release copies of The Funeral Party by Veronica Lando and Shot by Shelley Burr. Tell you all about them next time—I've run out of time to do it today. (If only I hadn't spent all that time Googling myself.)
What I'm writing
Choppy Water 2 (yes, already!) Zoe Gale 3, and a few other things I shouldn't talk about yet. Stay tuned.
Upcoming events
As I hinted at above (with such subtlety and tact that you might not even have noticed) Choppy Water is now available to pre-order from your favourite bookshop, whatever that might be. But if you're in Canberra or Sydney and you want to hold out and buy a copy in person, here are the dates for your calendar:
SYDNEY: November 4, hosted by Gleebooks
CANBERRA: November 7, hosted by MARION and ACT Libraries
I haven't organised launches in any other cities yet, but if you're in Adelaide, please say hi at Love, Crime and Wine and/or Once Upon a Festival!
Back in Canberra, I'll also be doing a Kill Your Boss event on a train (what could go wrong?) for Light Rail Local Reads, and I'll be doing a family-friendly event at the Canberra Writers Festival, too.
Argh, that's so much stuff! I'm freaking out. Gotta go! Stay awesome, fellow humans.
—Jack
For more nonsense like this, subscribe to my newsletter! It's free.