When I’m presenting to a large audience, I have three internal states: “I’m screwed.” I have not yet begun the presentation, but I’m imminently starting. This phase sucks. Every possible screw-up I’ve ever performed or could perform is running through my mind and my gut instinct is a sensible “just fucking run for it”. This… more
The fifth version of Rands in Repose has been a long time coming, but it’s close. The design is done and the migration of content is mostly complete. The process of learning an entirely new publishing platform is underway and mostly painless. What remains is an ever-growing list of details supplied by the act of… more
As I talked about in The Book Stalker, there are books I need on my desk, books I need in the room, and books I just need to know exist. The following seven books are the precious ones I referred to in that article and they each serve a specific purpose. It strikes me the… more
My favorite part of finishing a book is when the index shows up. I’m not sure who the magicians are who are responsible for building this index, but it’s an unexpected glimpse into a book that you thought you knew, but actually do not. This is a welcome perspective because at the end of a… more
I’m going to jump right to the punch line. I’m going to start by telling you exactly what you need to do to finally write that book you’ve promised yourself for the past three years. Are you sitting down? Good. Don’t write a book. Even better, stop thinking about writing a book. Your endless internal… more
The first story I wrote for myself was a piece of fiction about God being sent to high school. I was, not surprisingly, in high school at the time. What was surprising was the vein of writing I found in myself. I sat down at the computer and the story just showed up — seven… more
I remember the moment I stopped writing in cursive. Second period World History with Mr. Hickman. My thought as I stared at my writing, “I hate looking at my cursive. I’ve always hated my cursive. Why must I hate my own writing?” Monday, January 10th, 1984, 9:15am. Halfway though my inane essay on the Nazification… more
As with all new ventures in my life, I viewed publishing my first book with a constant internal pessimism. This meant that for 10 months, I was fully expecting something to occur which would derail the process and kill the book. 10 months. Constant. Now, Iโm an optimistic guy. Try it. Walk into my office… more
Acquiring video games prior to console domination and the modern Internet era went like this: I walked into Electonics Boutique or Egghead Software, went to the PC section, and began to physically pick up the games. I held them in my hand and I was looking for two things: did it have the right weight… more
Update: There’s a new edition of Managing Humans. Woke up writing this morning, which is a big deal because I’ve hated writing for two months. See, Rands and I wrote a book. And yes, I said Rands and I because after 30+ chapters of writing, rewriting, and editing, it’s absolutely clear to me what part… more