About Jean
A Writer’s Life
My name is Jean Heller and I started my first novel when I was in the third grade. It was a story about people living at the center of the earth. I liked the idea, but I really didn’t have a good plot point, and when I discovered what it’s really like at the center of the earth, the project went up in flames, so to speak.
While I was still a working journalist, St. Martin’s Press published my first novel—a thriller called MAXIMUM IMPACT. That was 1993. MAXIMUM IMPACT was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and is now available as a prequel to Deuce Mora #4, ILL WIND.
Chicago is my favorite city on earth, and the years I lived there were glorious. That’s why it is the setting for the Deuce Mora books.
News Career
My mother once confronted me and my husband. She placed her hands on her hips and asked, “Can’t one of you hold onto a job?” She was joking—sort of. My husband and I were both journalists, and we kept getting better jobs, which required a lot of moving. Eventually, I discovered that this a good way to avoid having to clean out the closets, the garage, and the cabinets under the kitchen sink.
Through it all, I have been one thing above all else—a writer.
Before fiction writing, I served as an investigative and projects reporter and editor for the following:
- Associated Press, New York City and Washington, DC
- Cox Newspapers, Washington, DC
- Jackson Hole Guide, Jackson, Wyoming
- New York Newsday, Washington, DC
- St. Petersburg Times, Washington, DC and Tampa Bay, Florida
Accolades
