Back to: How I got here in the end, part twelve: the end of the beginning | Forward to: Business as usual

How I got here in the end: my non-tech autobiography

For the last twelve major blog entries I've been writing up my non-writing work autobiography: the truth about what one writer had to do for a living before he finally switched to writing full-time. If you want to read them all laid out end-to-end in one convenient place, you can find the whole story here. (Warning: 25,000 words — about 80-90 pages.) Alternatively, here are the blog entries (and comment threads) in sequence:

Part One: How I got here in the end

Part Two: catching the bug

Part Three: But we upgrade to COBOL next year!

Part Four: my first startup death march

Part Five: Things can only get better

Part Six: my second startup death march

Part Seven: bubbling freelance

Part Eight: the third startup death march begins

Part Nine: the little startup that could

Part Ten: head first into the singularity

Part Eleven: the music stops

Part Twelve: the end of the beginning

16 Comments

1:

So, effectively, your technical life is about a Novella :)

2:

s/non-tech autobiography/tech autobiography?

3:

That was fantastic by the way. If you think it'd flesh out to a good book, I'd definitely buy it.

4:

An excellent read. Thanks Charlie!

5:

You know, normally I am bored with peoples' life stories, but damn you have followed an interesting path. I looked forward to each installment.

6:

Thanks, Charlie. That was an awful lot of work on your part, but it was very interesting to read.

I do see why you're a writer, though. Who else could write a whole autobiographical novella by accident? ;-)

7:

Speaking as someone whose academic career is currently doing a good impression of the Tay bridge disaster, I found the story of 'Little Charlie and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs' highly edifying.

8:

Very interesting! Thanks for the view into your life. I've been enjoying your fiction for some time and now find I enjoy your non-fiction, too. Speaking of viewpoints, "non-fiction" is one of those terms like "outdoors." Makes one wonder about the English language.

9:

Filename says it's "redacted". What does that mean?

10:

In the full-text version, in the sentence starting with 'Around the middle of 1998, I figured', a bad link has eaten some of your text.

Good read, btw.

11:

I loved it. I'm currently re-reading all the books I have of yours, just finished Jennifer Morgue (after reading Atrocity Archives again), and was near to the end when I nearly choked to death on my coffee:

"Or my middle names aren't Oliver and Francis"!!

12:

Austin @10: fixed now.

Seo @9: it's redacted because this version is one I've gone over carefully, taking out certain anecdotes which might be considered defamatory or libelous by their subjects. (Don't go looking for the non-redacted version: it's not on my server and I won't be giving it to anyone, for obvious reasons.)

13:

I am saving the last episode for now, just wanted to say that I enjoyed the series. Lots of stuff resonating with my own experiences. The beginning of the series also reminded me of the biography of Jeff Minter, who's about your age I guess from the home computing options that were available to you both back then.

14:

A final reflection on the finale of the story:

I'd say the outcome was fortunate for everyone - virtual hosting companies are extremely fungible, and novelists are not so. Thanks for your unique writing and perspective.

15:

Charlie, this one doesn't link forward to today's post.

16:

Marilee: that's because it's not a blog entry -- it's too big for Movable Type, so it's a static HTML page instead.

Specials

Merchandise

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Charlie Stross published on July 9, 2009 2:00 PM.

How I got here in the end, part twelve: the end of the beginning was the previous entry in this blog.

Business as usual is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Search this blog

Propaganda