About

The making of a hard-bitten optimist

Richard W. Bown is a writer and software engineer, and a three-decade survivor of corporate IT. He writes about the systems that we build and the life and stories that survives long after the people have moved on.

Much of his career has been spent trying to build sustainable systems while also having to deal with pressure to deliver quickly, suffering forced shortcuts, death-march projects, layoffs, doing more with less, aging in tech and the vagaries of leadership. He explores these themes and the secrets of the people who build the systems through his writing.

His debut novel, Human Software, is a sharp, quietly unsettling story about ambition, loyalty, and the people behind the code.

His next novel, One More Island, is a story about family, regret and getting another chance. It is due in 2027.