I've been getting pretty paranoid while writing Zoe Gale #3.
25 September 2026
Voice clones. Deepfakes. AI agents.
We're all falling down the rabbit hole into a world where digital communication is less and less likely to be authentic, and where all communication is digital.
I've spent all morning in a manic state tweaking the SPF settings on my website. (Think of it as sunscreen for your computer. But of course, you don't smear it on your computer! That would be crazy. You apply it directly to the sun.) I think I've successfully made it harder for hackers to impersonate me, but it's also possible that I've completely broken my mailservers. You might not even be reading these words right now. I could say whatever I want! FLARGLE-BLURGLE-NARB.
But if you are reading these words (in which case I'm sorry about that last sentence) I have a couple of quick announcements:
The Choppy Water launch in Sydney finally has an event page!
I'll be interviewed by the endlessly charming Richard Glover at the equally charming Gleebooks. Tickets might sell out quickly--or the event might be cancelled due to poor ticket sales. In my experience, there's no middle ground. So if you're interested, please register today:
Details for other cities will show up soon at jackheath.net/events.
Better Reading just launched the What Are You Reading? app.
Imagine Goodreads, but prettier and more Australian. They're still adding features and working out the kinks, but I like it. If you want to join my zero followers, search @jackheathwriter!
(If you're not in the market for a new booktracker app, you can also find me on Bookbub, Goodreads and The StoryGraph. Or you could abandon the internet altogether! Live in a cave! Honestly, I'm tempted.)
As usual, I had heaps more to say...
But the first time I typed this email, I hit the wrong button, my browser closed, and I lost it all. Then the second time I typed it, I hit the wrong button, my browser closed, and I lost it all. This is the third time, and I'm afraid to touch anything.
So I'd better hit send before something else goes wrong.
Stay awesome, folks,
-Jack ā¤ļø (or an AI agent pretending to be Jack! You would never know)
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