Richard W. Bown - Author "Human Software"
@bownie.bsky.social
Writer. Software person. Brit in NL. Debut novel "Human Software" small-town UK fights corporate AI conspiracy.
“Freaked me out more than any Stephen King novel.” - Jeremy Markey, Rands Slack Book Reviewer
https://linktr.ee/bown_richard
“Freaked me out more than any Stephen King novel.” - Jeremy Markey, Rands Slack Book Reviewer
https://linktr.ee/bown_richard
Pinned
Human Software is now available via Waterstones, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and many others including Kobo, Leanpub.
For all the ways to buy in paperback and e-book:
humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch...
#booksky #writingcommunity #selfpublished
For all the ways to buy in paperback and e-book:
humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch...
#booksky #writingcommunity #selfpublished
Just finished talking to the wonderful @slightreliability.bsky.social for his Slight Reliability pod. Can't wait for that episode to come out! #nopressure #honestly
November 11, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Just finished talking to the wonderful @slightreliability.bsky.social for his Slight Reliability pod. Can't wait for that episode to come out! #nopressure #honestly
Did my first speaking bit about the book last night. Got a podcast recording this morning, another tomorrow. Any recommendations for podcasts I should go on? #writingcommunity #booksky #humansoftware
November 11, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Did my first speaking bit about the book last night. Got a podcast recording this morning, another tomorrow. Any recommendations for podcasts I should go on? #writingcommunity #booksky #humansoftware
Today I've made some postcards. They are pretty. #booksky #writinglife
November 10, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Today I've made some postcards. They are pretty. #booksky #writinglife
From the FT. Of course they do. And who is going to end up paying? You and me.
November 10, 2025 at 12:46 PM
From the FT. Of course they do. And who is going to end up paying? You and me.
I've struggled with Philip K Dicks works. I did enjoy Ubik and the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch but stalled in "The Man in the High Castle". Just no. I think I've had enough for the moment. Only so much bleakness you can take in a twelvemonth.
November 10, 2025 at 9:32 AM
I've struggled with Philip K Dicks works. I did enjoy Ubik and the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch but stalled in "The Man in the High Castle". Just no. I think I've had enough for the moment. Only so much bleakness you can take in a twelvemonth.
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made" www.goodreads.com/quotes/71327...
A quote by George Burns
The key to success is sincerity. If you can fake that you've got it made.
www.goodreads.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:56 AM
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made" www.goodreads.com/quotes/71327...
Crikey if Cory Doctorow can do 4000 interviews to promote his book then I can do three, right? #writinglife
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Crikey if Cory Doctorow can do 4000 interviews to promote his book then I can do three, right? #writinglife
I've been trying to understand why it's so hard for me to go into bookshops and introduce myself as an author. It's because I have a terrible relationship with rejection. Overcoming that is quite hard. Trusting that you're not going to get mauled whenever you open your mouth. #writingcommunity
November 9, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I've been trying to understand why it's so hard for me to go into bookshops and introduce myself as an author. It's because I have a terrible relationship with rejection. Overcoming that is quite hard. Trusting that you're not going to get mauled whenever you open your mouth. #writingcommunity
I've been writing a book club discussion guide and finally got around to downloading one and, yep, I've been overthinking it. #writingcommunity #selfpublished #booksky
November 9, 2025 at 7:35 AM
I've been writing a book club discussion guide and finally got around to downloading one and, yep, I've been overthinking it. #writingcommunity #selfpublished #booksky
FFS BBC. First you take away Sounds from us Johnny Foreigners and second... well honestly go to hell. Oh pardon me, I see you've already done that.
November 9, 2025 at 6:45 AM
FFS BBC. First you take away Sounds from us Johnny Foreigners and second... well honestly go to hell. Oh pardon me, I see you've already done that.
Three potential talk titles:
Leadership Cues Come From The Top
Company Culture Comes From You
How We Treat Each Other At Work
Three different audiences, right?
Leadership Cues Come From The Top
Company Culture Comes From You
How We Treat Each Other At Work
Three different audiences, right?
November 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Three potential talk titles:
Leadership Cues Come From The Top
Company Culture Comes From You
How We Treat Each Other At Work
Three different audiences, right?
Leadership Cues Come From The Top
Company Culture Comes From You
How We Treat Each Other At Work
Three different audiences, right?
Apparently I'm in the season for overthinking things.
November 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Apparently I'm in the season for overthinking things.
Is the plural of Pluribus, Pluribae or Pluribuses? Anyway I've done two of them which is the current limit. I LOVE IT.
November 7, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Is the plural of Pluribus, Pluribae or Pluribuses? Anyway I've done two of them which is the current limit. I LOVE IT.
Started a job search a day or so ago and I’m already ready to just give it up and start writing another book
November 7, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Started a job search a day or so ago and I’m already ready to just give it up and start writing another book
Reposted by Richard W. Bown - Author "Human Software"
Write code to make being human easier. Rip code out if it makes being human harder. Write code to make caring for each other easier. Rip it out if it makes caring for each other harder.
Empathy driven development has literally never failed me. It’s done me better than everything else combined
Empathy driven development has literally never failed me. It’s done me better than everything else combined
October 21, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Write code to make being human easier. Rip code out if it makes being human harder. Write code to make caring for each other easier. Rip it out if it makes caring for each other harder.
Empathy driven development has literally never failed me. It’s done me better than everything else combined
Empathy driven development has literally never failed me. It’s done me better than everything else combined
Pulled a back muscle, spent a week looking for my earbuds, finally ordered new ones, back muscle is better, find earbuds in gym bag #fml
November 6, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Pulled a back muscle, spent a week looking for my earbuds, finally ordered new ones, back muscle is better, find earbuds in gym bag #fml
The two most annoying things in software development are when the guy (it’s always a guy) dumps all over your PRs and then goes on to write the biggest, most self-important, completely partisan PRs himself
November 6, 2025 at 9:06 PM
The two most annoying things in software development are when the guy (it’s always a guy) dumps all over your PRs and then goes on to write the biggest, most self-important, completely partisan PRs himself
HUMAN SOFTWARE by ME (Richard W. Bown) is on sale this week on @leanpub.bsky.social - suggested price is $9.99; get it for a limited time for $6.99 with this coupon: leanpub.com/humansoftwar...
#software #novel #dystopian #ai #futureofwork #globalization
#software #novel #dystopian #ai #futureofwork #globalization
HUMAN SOFTWARE: A Life in I.T. - A Novel
An overworked British engineer and the American executive who has been sent to fire her form an unlikely alliance to save a rural town’s major employer.
leanpub.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:53 PM
HUMAN SOFTWARE by ME (Richard W. Bown) is on sale this week on @leanpub.bsky.social - suggested price is $9.99; get it for a limited time for $6.99 with this coupon: leanpub.com/humansoftwar...
#software #novel #dystopian #ai #futureofwork #globalization
#software #novel #dystopian #ai #futureofwork #globalization
You can tell it's a sunny day in autumn because all the contractors return to the back gardens to fix all the leaky flat roofs and skylights they put in #writingcommunity #citylife
November 5, 2025 at 9:19 AM
You can tell it's a sunny day in autumn because all the contractors return to the back gardens to fix all the leaky flat roofs and skylights they put in #writingcommunity #citylife
It's ironic that ChatGPT output pastes betters into Google Docs than Google's own Notebook LM output
November 5, 2025 at 7:39 AM
It's ironic that ChatGPT output pastes betters into Google Docs than Google's own Notebook LM output
You can't read The Man in The High Castle without coming across this breathtaking concept. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantr...
Atlantropa - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 1:58 PM
You can't read The Man in The High Castle without coming across this breathtaking concept. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantr...
Get the first two chapters of Human Software for free when you sign up to my newsletter. I'd love to hear what you think!
#booksky #writingcommunity
humansoftware.page
#booksky #writingcommunity
humansoftware.page
Human Software: A Life in I.T. - A Novel
The debut novel by Richard W. Bown. You can sign up to the newsletter and receive the first two chapters for free.
humansoftware.page
November 4, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Get the first two chapters of Human Software for free when you sign up to my newsletter. I'd love to hear what you think!
#booksky #writingcommunity
humansoftware.page
#booksky #writingcommunity
humansoftware.page
Got excited yesterday because Human Software got linked with another AI focussed author. Discovered her agent was someone I'd been stalking so bought the book, read the first few chapters and I'm like ok perhaps I shouldn't bother getting an agent. Or maybe not that one. #booksky #writingcommunity
November 4, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Got excited yesterday because Human Software got linked with another AI focussed author. Discovered her agent was someone I'd been stalking so bought the book, read the first few chapters and I'm like ok perhaps I shouldn't bother getting an agent. Or maybe not that one. #booksky #writingcommunity