Most of my books are available on this site, Sorenson Studios page on FaceBook, and most major on-line booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as many others across the globe. There is a special edition of the children’s book that is only available here or on FB. You can find standard book information about these books in the Shop on this site or on retailer sites. I will offer a different perspective about each book on this page.

I am driven by purpose to write. My writing is quite diverse, as you will see, but they are not disconnected.

The most recent release:

A Logical Approach To Data Management – 3 Questions

ISBNs: Paperback 978-0-9856781-6-6, Hardcover 978-0-9856781-8-0

I had plans of writing this book when I retired from corporate work. I had decades to think about it and observe behaviors and results while in my various data related roles. It was both clear and frustrating to see people trying hard to make headway in their roles and hitting roadblocks and failures. Some hit failure without even realizing it. What was consistent, regardless of their role in the company, was that there were fundamental common issues holding them back. People looked for complex and technical solutions to this very complex topic of data and still made little headway. They were looking past the basic foundational requirements and missing the principles that are essential to any solution regardless of how much you spend. This applies to all of the companies that I have seen and to all of the roles within the companies.

I will not say that that this approach is a silver bullet (because there isn’t one), but it is real, effective, and brings people together in a way that allows them to have a common language regarding data.

The honest effort of people to use and manage data while hitting the frustration of the “quality” of the data, the access to the data (if you can find it), and the ongoing debates over various aspects of data was a real driver for this book. There is another aspect of data management and data governance I have seen. This aspect may not be “everywhere” but it is very prevalent. The terms of data governance and data management have become words that people/leadership feel that they need to use. It is something that is expected of them, rather than something that know that they need. Many do not understand what it is, but are willing to put “something” toward it. Many times, the only benefit from the effort is being able to use the words. This book is not about the ability to use the words but rather about real-world effective principles and an approach that can provide results regardless of tools, technologies, business model changes, or new laws and regulations.

My plan was that this would be the first book that I would write when I retired, but it didn’t turn out that way. My primary motivation in writing is to help others and I fully believe that this book will, but I had even bigger things in mind (yes, bigger than data – LIFE). After finishing that book, I imeadiatly shifted to this planned data book. Some may think that I have been out of the “data business” for too long for these principles to be applicable. After decades of working in various roles and companies, these concepts did not change. They did not change because they are not tied to technologiesEven then life continues and my family is always top of mind.

While writing the A Logical Approach To Data Management, I also wrote a children’s book that ended up releasing about two weeks prior to the data book.
My Grandma Is A Hippie

ISBNs: Paperback 979-8-9852335-0-6, Hardcover 978-0-9856781-7-3, Special Edition 979-8-9852335-4-4
The special edition is only available on this site and FB. The difference is heavier paper and the paper has a satin finish. It is the same suggested retail price as the other hardcover.

This is just a light and fun book for children. My family, including 4 grandchildren, is extremely important to me. The grandkids love their grandma and almost from the time they can talk and imitate the peace sign would pass between grandma and the grandkids. People of our generation grew up with a hippie exposure and it is not about politics, drugs, or anything controversial. Having fun and expressing love is an important environment for kids. This points out the light-hearted aspects of peace signs, flowers, tie-dyed everything, but the message is that grandma loves me and I love my grandma.

This book took about a day to write, about week to tweak the words, about 2 weeks to write the “briefs” describing the details of the associated illustrations, and finally about another 4 months to find an illustrator and work with them to fit the book. That, with all books, is still just the beginning. Getting the book formatted and the text combined with the illustrations, finding/verifying the right printer and distribution and then of course marketing.

When I read this book to my two oldest grandkids (ages 6 and 7) before the illustrations were done, they looked at grandma and said “grandma, that’s you”. There was no more validation needed for the story and so it moved forward.

The LIFE story that delayed the creation fo the data book ended up being titled
The Fundamentals Of Life: Know Yourself, Be Yourself

ISBNs: Paperback 978-0-9856781-2-8, Hardcover 978-0-9856781-3-5

This book is both philosophy and self-help. The point is, in fact, to discover your own philosophy. People have such a variety of stress in their life and I am included in those people. I have had many experiences and some of them were truly life changing. There had to be some way to share what I have learned with declaring what or how others must think. Peace of mind is a lofty goal and this approach should help. One of the things that people struggle with is whether they made the right decision and regularly second-guessing themselves or blaming themselves for something that has happened. Comfort in your own decisions is supported by consistency and understanding why you make the decisions that you do. The why of the decisions are your philosophical fundamentals.

It seems to me the best way to share the concept was to share my fundamentals. Of course to me, my fundamentals seem like fundamentals that should work for everyone but that is not the intent or the point of the book. With thousands of decisions to be made everyday, the criteria for decisions needs to be simplified. My fundamentals are limited to four and I strongly suggest that yours be limited to that number or less. There is nothing that mandates that in the process, but with more fundamentals comes more complexity.

What is it that you use to make decisions? The answer to that must be purposeful, positive, and comfortable. There are influences in people’s lives that tend to modify decisions. Those influences might be the things that cause the most internal turmoil. Finding comfort with your decisions and the strength of your convictions comes from knowing yourself.

While the book took about a year to pull together all of my previous writings and fill in the gaps, this book was at least 10 years in the making. I have constantly challenged my own conclusions over that time and I was fortunate to be able to work with a great editor on this and subsequent works. The editing process alone took about 6 months and it was not just about grammar and spelling but helloing to ensure that my intent was being communicated. I have very hopeful that you will find this helpful to you.

My writing books began with what I now refer to as the coffee table book. It was first published in 2011 and the second edition was published in 2020. It is available here, FB, and Amazon. This book is not available through other retailers.
Coffee Table Philosophy – A Book Of Photos And Thoughts

ISBN: 978-0-9856781-1-1

I knew that I had things to share and the photos were the original basis for the inspiration. All of the photos, except for one, were photos that I had taken in the previous few years. this was during a time when I was a professional photographer and was doing portraits, school picture, and weddings. It was one of those careers that enabled me to learn and experience different techniques and technologies of creativity. They were more than pictures; they brought some deeper meaning to me that I wanted to share.

A little more history

I was inspired by some writings from my dad. He wrote about 5 pages of his history. This was very important to me and I started writing about my history. My intention of this was it would just be for family but the process of writing really started flowing. I started writing about everything incorporating the learnings and passions of my life. I was a philosophy major in college and I gravitated toward philosophy and logic which is the basis of philosophy. This is the cornerstone to all of my books and is what relates a data book to a philosophy book. It is why the data book ended up with “Logical” in the title. The data book is a philosophical approach to data and why it is essential to the underpinning of all technologies and processes that are layered on top of it. The coffee table book is philosophy related to images that might put another perspective on how you see the world. The fundamentals book is clearly about philosophy and is focused on self-awareness and introspection. Now the grandma book is certainly light on philosophy, but it is there in the thought that being hippie is not the point but knowing that you are loved is.

What’s Next?

I have started a number of other books including a sarcastic and hopefully humorous book titled “Driving, Walking, and Riding in Elevators“. It is humor in my opinion. It might be more sarcasm and grumpy old man rantings but I think it’s funny. It is primarily the observations of people related to their activities while walking, driving and riding in elevators, and some conclusions of what they may or may not be thinking that causes them to act the way that they do. Another one that is related to government. It is about government and politics but is more of an observation of human nature, behaviors, and the things that happen in any government. It is not red or blue (but someone will find a way to make it that).

I have been writing a lot of shorter documents lately. I am not sure if they are papers, blogs, future chapters in a book, or just rantings of an old man. They tend to be what would be considered my controversial subjects. Some would even put them as being political even though they are not. It is unfortunate that a particular position, assumption, or perspective automatically is assumed to have a political tie and is then tied to other assumptions of that political persuasion. I don’t, and you don’t have to take a side to recognize that those things are happening. I am not sure what I am going to do with those documents that are 5-10 pages each.

Miscellaneous

Following in my dad’s footsteps, I did write a 70 page summary of my life intended for my family. This turned into a 280 hardcover book that is only available to friends and family. It is titled Such A Life. If you have children, I encourage you to write a summary for them. If your parents are still living, encourage them to write or sit with them and take notes; the memories and experiences are of great value. You don’t have to be a writer to do this. My dad has passed and I wish that I had more than the 5 pages he wrote but I am very grateful for that.