Rupert

I was trained as an engineer and have worked my whole life as part of software engineering project teams. Those projects have ranged across embedded software for spacecraft and aeroplanes, real-time simulators, and large complex web based systems.

I've always believed that design is the most important part of any engineering endeavour. The design reveals the true intent of a system. It tells the story as to why the thing should exist and what it will do. As humans we need to tell each other stories - to share and pass on information, to build the bonds of friendship and to be able to work together to achieve great outcomes. So for me engineering and story telling are all part of one continuous arc of creativity.

I much prefer the French word Ingénieur - or Ingeneer in English. For me that implies work based on ingenuity which is really what it's all about.

Orlando Jax

Orlando Jax is my attempt at writing a classic space-opera following the tradition set by great writers such as Harry Harrison and his Stainless Steel Rat series. Pirates have been part of our world forever and there is no reason to believe they won't form a part of a future space based society. Like the pirates that plundered the West Indies, they in turn will be chased by a government space navy of some kind. My pirate is Orlando Jax. He attacks cruise liners full of wealthy passengers. He takes hostages for ransom. He hides his booty on desserted islands in space - small asteroids - all the time being chased by people out to stop him. The first story is a novella, but I'm hoping I can find a lot more adventures for Orlando Jax.

The Software Café

I wrote the first draft of the Software Café in the early nineties off the back of a thesis I produced for an MBA. With no clue how to get it published then, and the rest of my life suddenly getting in the way, the manuscript stayed lost at the back of a filing system in Word 2.0 format for several decades. In January 2023, I resurrected it and started to rework the story. The alarming thing was that despite thirty years of technological progress, the issues people face in software development seemed to have remained largely unchanged. The Software Café is as relevant as ever so I self published with Amazon. It's got software, quality, projects, beer, restaurants, weird dreamxeam adventures, love, a person called Geoff who isn't an alien, and a couple of real aliens.

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