Richard Bown
@bownie.bsky.social
Author. Engineer. Brit in NL. "Human Software" is about burnout, AI, and the humans in tech. A dark "Unicorn Project”
“Freaked me out more than any Stephen King”
“Part thriller, part whodunnit and a fine dystopian parable”
https://linktr.ee/bown_richard
“Freaked me out more than any Stephen King”
“Part thriller, part whodunnit and a fine dystopian parable”
https://linktr.ee/bown_richard
Fuck it, I’m writing a pilot #writingcommunity
December 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Fuck it, I’m writing a pilot #writingcommunity
I never thought I’d be a gym person but it’s taken over from running for me as top head fixer. I also never thought I’d be a running guy. #gofigure
December 9, 2025 at 7:47 AM
I never thought I’d be a gym person but it’s taken over from running for me as top head fixer. I also never thought I’d be a running guy. #gofigure
What is a weak man exactly, Ben? Is it one who blames people for their failures? Is it one who is under pressure himself and chooses to lash out? I’m confused.
December 8, 2025 at 6:25 AM
What is a weak man exactly, Ben? Is it one who blames people for their failures? Is it one who is under pressure himself and chooses to lash out? I’m confused.
Christmas may now commence
December 6, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Christmas may now commence
December 6, 2025 at 11:36 AM
It’s time to file my bedside pile. I’ve got to admit I’ve not read (or at least finished) a lot of these. Time for a reset for ‘26
December 6, 2025 at 10:43 AM
It’s time to file my bedside pile. I’ve got to admit I’ve not read (or at least finished) a lot of these. Time for a reset for ‘26
I did a tour of the local bookshops last week and already managed to get HUMAN SOFTWARE on the shelves in TWO SHOPS.
I've also ordered an optimistic number of copies to be sent to the Centraal Boekhuis to supply bookshops and individuals in NL and BE. Coming very soon!
#booksky #writingcommunity
I've also ordered an optimistic number of copies to be sent to the Centraal Boekhuis to supply bookshops and individuals in NL and BE. Coming very soon!
#booksky #writingcommunity
December 5, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I did a tour of the local bookshops last week and already managed to get HUMAN SOFTWARE on the shelves in TWO SHOPS.
I've also ordered an optimistic number of copies to be sent to the Centraal Boekhuis to supply bookshops and individuals in NL and BE. Coming very soon!
#booksky #writingcommunity
I've also ordered an optimistic number of copies to be sent to the Centraal Boekhuis to supply bookshops and individuals in NL and BE. Coming very soon!
#booksky #writingcommunity
Gah today was both short and long *slump*
December 4, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Gah today was both short and long *slump*
HUMAN SOFTWARE is back in the top ten on Amazon under "Social Aspects of the Internet" category. It's on sale for a few more hours so grab yourself a bargain. #booksky #writingcommunity #selfpublished humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch...
November 30, 2025 at 4:07 PM
HUMAN SOFTWARE is back in the top ten on Amazon under "Social Aspects of the Internet" category. It's on sale for a few more hours so grab yourself a bargain. #booksky #writingcommunity #selfpublished humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch...
Murakami loves the passive voice, is still writing about himself after all these years and doesn’t mind repeated words in consecutive sentences. So why are you sweating it? #writingcommunity #booksky
November 30, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Murakami loves the passive voice, is still writing about himself after all these years and doesn’t mind repeated words in consecutive sentences. So why are you sweating it? #writingcommunity #booksky
Human Software is a novel about the dark side of IT, corporate greed and AI. Now available wherever you buy your books for a special price until midnight tonight! Grab an early Christmas present for someone who is interested in the human side of tech humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch...
November 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Human Software is a novel about the dark side of IT, corporate greed and AI. Now available wherever you buy your books for a special price until midnight tonight! Grab an early Christmas present for someone who is interested in the human side of tech humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch...
I took this a year or so ago with my crappy Samsung phone through a bincoluar lens from L'Estaque looking across the Bay of Marseille to Île d'If. Just the right time of day. We spent a lot of time on that terrace.
November 30, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I took this a year or so ago with my crappy Samsung phone through a bincoluar lens from L'Estaque looking across the Bay of Marseille to Île d'If. Just the right time of day. We spent a lot of time on that terrace.
HUMAN SOFTWARE is on sale until MONDAY. It's got a beautiful map, an authorised Peter Hammill quote and is a cracking corporate thriller set in a modern day Kent and Amsterdam. Grab a bargain and get your Christmas presents in early! humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch... #booksky #writingcommunity
November 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
HUMAN SOFTWARE is on sale until MONDAY. It's got a beautiful map, an authorised Peter Hammill quote and is a cracking corporate thriller set in a modern day Kent and Amsterdam. Grab a bargain and get your Christmas presents in early! humansoftwarebook.com/how-to-purch... #booksky #writingcommunity
Found these in the bottom of a box the other day. Old, battered, but gold!
November 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Found these in the bottom of a box the other day. Old, battered, but gold!
Another zinger from John Naughton's newsletter this morning.
November 28, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Another zinger from John Naughton's newsletter this morning.
HUMAN SOFTWARE is set in modern-day Kent, but a Kent where the Isle of Thanet is still an island, and Sandwich has morphed into Sandport, a mini-Rotterdam. Lots of Dutch/Kentish crossover in the book (Amsterdam gets a chapter) to reflect my journey #booksky #writingcommunity
November 27, 2025 at 7:22 AM
HUMAN SOFTWARE is set in modern-day Kent, but a Kent where the Isle of Thanet is still an island, and Sandwich has morphed into Sandport, a mini-Rotterdam. Lots of Dutch/Kentish crossover in the book (Amsterdam gets a chapter) to reflect my journey #booksky #writingcommunity
Popped into the local bookshop with not much expectation and left with no books except the new Murakami (over which we bonded) #booksky #selfpublished #amstelveen
November 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Popped into the local bookshop with not much expectation and left with no books except the new Murakami (over which we bonded) #booksky #selfpublished #amstelveen
Did another podcast this morning. Can’t wait for you to hear it. it just underlines to me how potentially important HUMAN SOFTWARE is. #booksky #futureofwork
November 26, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Did another podcast this morning. Can’t wait for you to hear it. it just underlines to me how potentially important HUMAN SOFTWARE is. #booksky #futureofwork
HUMAN SOFTWARE is on sale for Black Friday week. Under a tenner ($/GBP) on Amazon at the moment for a gorgeous (trade) paperback and it even has a stunning map. E-book is a giveaway everywhere around 2.99. Links in profile #booksky #writersofsky
November 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
HUMAN SOFTWARE is on sale for Black Friday week. Under a tenner ($/GBP) on Amazon at the moment for a gorgeous (trade) paperback and it even has a stunning map. E-book is a giveaway everywhere around 2.99. Links in profile #booksky #writersofsky
Honestly all of these titles sound like they’ve been created by AI. Humanity, do better.
November 25, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Honestly all of these titles sound like they’ve been created by AI. Humanity, do better.
I dropped off a copy of “Human Software” at my local bookshop @librisvenstra.bsky.social this lunchtime, I really hope they like it!
November 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I dropped off a copy of “Human Software” at my local bookshop @librisvenstra.bsky.social this lunchtime, I really hope they like it!
Reorganised all my files for a little clarity. I've been putting this off for SO LONG
November 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reorganised all my files for a little clarity. I've been putting this off for SO LONG
Me back in the day just before going to university. Engineers of the future! I’m Mr R.Brown of course because no-one believes my surname is BOWN
November 23, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Me back in the day just before going to university. Engineers of the future! I’m Mr R.Brown of course because no-one believes my surname is BOWN
The first paragraph of the foreword. I stand by it.
November 21, 2025 at 7:18 AM
The first paragraph of the foreword. I stand by it.