Books
House of Nepenthe Is Now Available for Kindle Preorder
House of Nepenthe by Daniel Verastiqui is now available for Kindle preorder. The eighth entry in the Vinestead Anthology releases June 2, 2026.
Daniel Verastiqui
Science Fiction Author
Flashes From the Verse
Cynthia Scatters The Crew
The driver’s name was Kaz, and as the newest and youngest member of the crew, Cynthia had fully expected him to cut and run as soon as the job went south, which coincidentally, was the moment she hit the roof of the McCall Tower in downtown Houston. The localized
Essays
Lock the Bathroom Door: The Monetized AI Slop Endgame Is Near
As a science fiction writer, I learned early on how to be comfortable being dead wrong about the future. I grew up in a time when books featured Evil Corporations™️that were trying to steal your data, spy on you, and influence your decision-making through well-placed propaganda. That&
Movies
How Billy Madison Could Have Won the Academic Decathalon
If I could slip back to 1995, I’d tell Little Daniel two things. One: buy NFLX and never look back. Two: quoting Billy Madison does not, in fact, constitute a personality. I cannot overstate the death grip this movie had on me. It was peak comedy, the funniest, most
Flashes From the Verse
Tenchi Teikoku
As far as user caps went, Tenchi Teikoku had one of the lowest in the area. The rumors went that its sysop, who went by the name of Kenoh, ran the board out of his basement with his own equipment and bundled T1 lines. That meant bandwidth into Tenchi was
Books
Crying in Bed, Reading in the Park, Writing Everywhere
The other night, Matador had trouble falling asleep. Something was plaguing his little eight-year-old mind, and he tossed and turned in his bed while I lay reading and crying beside him. Not openly, of course. I wasn't bawling. But tears ran down my cheeks, and the
Essays
Old Man Shakes Fist at Words
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a writer or because of the anxiety disorder that’s been quietly narrating my life since middle school, but I am always listening. People talk, and my brain just… grabs it. Out in public, in movies, in books, in checkout
Medically Speaking
When Getting a Shot Becomes a Revolutionary Act
A friend messaged me the other day. Let's call him Bort. No, let's call him Steve. Steve is a normal and completely real person, just like me, and we share many of the same interests, such as staying healthy, trusting science, and acknowledging the basic human
For My Political Activists
You want me to wear what?
“Uh… hi, this is Bob Newhart calling from, uh, the… well, I guess you’d call it the ‘Patriotic Apparel Compliance Office,’ if that’s still the name. Right. Good. “…Yes, yes, I got the memo. That’s why I’m calling. I, uh… well, it says here that starting
Gaming
Scenes From the Second Stranding
Spoilers for Death Stranding 2 ahead.
Movies
So did RISC architecture really change everything or what?
There’s a moment in Hackers when Dade Murphy, aka Crash Override, aka Zero Cool, is poking around Kate Libby’s laptop. He notices the specs and starts rattling them off to prove he's in the know: Dade: It has a killer refresh rate. Kate: P6 chip. Triple
Publishing
House of Nepenthe: How Long is Too Long?
I’ve been trawling through literary agent websites lately, and I’ll tell you what: each one has their own quirky little rules. Some want a guaranteed happily-ever-after. Some will accept robots, but only if they're unattractive. And still others insist that the protagonists must be