When people ask me how I broke into the games industry, I'm going to say: I wrote such a witty comment on Marc Laidlaw's guest-blog, then sent him my book, and he told me to jump on a plane and come see him at the Valve offices. My Comanche fighters disabled the ninjas he dispatched to destroy me, and he was forced to give me a job. (btw I'm reading Kalifornia at the moment and loving it...)

those were great reads