Managed to snag a table at @stapleexpo.bsky.social, which will be the first time I’ve ever sold my books at an event like this. The good news is that, as a person living in 2026, I’m skilled at condensing panic and anxiety into a small, dense metal ball that will live in my stomach until April.

The writing goes poorly today. Like, eat an entire pizza in one sitting at lunch type of poorly.

House of Nepenthe. June 2, 2026. danielverastiqui.com/house-of-nepenthe #ScienceFiction #Cyberpunk #NewNovel

Adding “don’t throw things in my mouth” to the list of things I never thought I’d yell at a four-year-old.

“This looks like a good place to throw up.” — every dog that ever was or will ever be, probably

Here’s the link where you can order Punk Rock Entrepreneur, or pre-order Burnout Revolution and its companion zine about the four day work week. It’s all my stuff in one spot!

TL;DR: How is Sarah Connor supposed to save the world if she's in the can watching recipe videos on Instagram? I would recommend this to anyone with parents, grandparents, or a Facebook account. The future may depend on it.

"I learned not to be ashamed of myself, to talk freely about myself, to advertise myself, to elbow my way in here and there when necessary. The greatest man America ever produced was not ashamed to peddle his own book from door to door." - "Henry Miller on Writing"

Why have a blog if you're not going to answer the toughest questions of your generation?

On August 12, 1971, 16-year-old me mailed the first story I ever wrote off on its first submission to my dream market, F&SF. My tale was quickly rejected. On July 17th, 2025, I finally sold a story to that magazine. Here's why I felt I had to withdraw that story. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...

Software developers at work love AI. Indie authors on social media hate it. But what about college professors who are actively teaching writing courses? I spoke with Dr. Casey Boyle at UT Austin and got his thoughts. 🔗 itsyourcareer.blog/writing-with...

As the rejection letters spill onto the second wall of my office, I can’t help thinking there’s probably a better use for all this ink and paper.

Even after twenty years of self-publishing, most sales still come as a surprise. How does it even happen? Is it the ads I’m not running? My topless reels on IG? My mom spending her retirement savings on my self-esteem? I wish I knew. 🫠

Tearing through this book right now, wondering what kind of shenanigans Henry Miller would get up to on social media. Monday: Henry Miller has joined Bluesky. Wednesday: Henry Miller has been banned from Bluesky. 🔗 Get it here: amzn.to/4oM8Yzx (The audiobook is great too)

It's a digital arms race to the bottom.

"Every night, we weaponize his own nonsense against him. He can’t not respond. He tries to resist, but the words just burst out of him. You can see the pain in his eyes, the internal battle between rebellion and needing to complete the loop." Read: danielverastiqui.com/old-man-shakes-fist-at-words/

There's a moment each day when the solar tops off the batteries and starts selling electricity back to the power companies for PENNIES, and that's when the AC goes down to 70, baby. ❄️

I watch my favorite #horror movie, the star-studded House on Haunted Hill, every October, and my favorite part is still watching Chris Kattan just trying to get paid and get the f out of there.

Every time I'm cutting dialogue...

I’ll tell you what, no one is looking forward to the end of this Texas summer more than me and this huge crack in my windshield.

Sweet Jeebus.

Also no! 🥹

Overheard father-son exchanges at the park this morning: 🤕 “You just bumped your head; it hurts, but you don’t have to cry about it.” 🐿️ “Don’t throw rocks at squirrels; serial killers do that.” Dunno if these kids are headed in different or the same directions.

There’s a scene in Tin Cup where Kevin Costner gets the yips and starts trying all these random gadgets and gimmicks to get his swing back. As a kid, I thought “how desperate” and “have some respect for yourself” but then I grew up and became an indie author and now I see you, Kevin. I see you.

Man you pause for three seconds on one of those Instagram ads claiming they can teach you to sell 60k books in 6 days just daydreaming of a life that could have been and then that’s just your feed from now on.

I've always been hesitant to put the words "A NOVEL" on my book covers because someone will inevitably write a review that begins with "The cover advertises this book as 'a novel' but when you get far enough into..." and so forth.

The only thing you really need to know about Pflugerville Texas is that if you want Whataburger on Thursday you better get in line on Wednesday.

🎃 #Halloween

The airplanes in my dreams are some of the most poorly maintained aircraft known to humankind.

I think I’m going to be sad when my kids are grown up and off living their own lives because then there won’t be anyone left to sneeze directly into my eyeball.

Just saw a million dollar idea. Sure, you'll end up a political prisoner at some point, but for a while there... you're gonna be RICH! And that's what America is all about.

🚀 Outrage of the Day™ (PC/Mac/Mobile) 🎯 Every morning, the world wakes up furious, and it’s your job to figure out why. OotD™ turns the daily ritual of doomscrolling into a strategic, mind-melting hunt for the latest source of social distress. Can you figure it out before your coffee gets cold?

"The #CDC only recommends the vaccine for patients 65 and older or if you have a preexisting condition. Do you have any preexisting conditions?" "None that I can prove," said Steve. "But DO you?" "What do you need to hear from me right now?" Continued: danielverastiqui.com/when-getting...

"Well that's not how spines work." -- Me, knowing very little about how spines work, while watching 28 YEARS LATER

Don't tell me how to feel, QueryTracker...

“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.

The paperback is coming in November. Also, we as a people will never truly be free until publishers start leading with the smaller, more bookshelf-appropriate paperback versions of books instead of hardcovers. It's lonely on this hill, but someone's gotta die here.

Can I use the book marketing spam I get through my website as ad copy? "Vise Manor instantly caught my attention, an eccentric tech billionaire, synthetic humans, and a murder mystery unfolding in a locked manor? That collision of cyberpunk futurism and classic suspense feels like Agatha Christie..

AI-generated video is getting really good, which makes me think how in 2035, we will absolutely not be able to distinguish between real and fake, which makes me hopeful we will then throw all of our computers (and kindles) into the ocean and return to only talking to like 100 people in our lifetime.

I do find Book Brush useful for quick mockups, but reading their emails makes me imagine an Instagram account filled entirely with ads for your own books. "Hey, want to follow me on IG? I'll tell you about how great my books are all day, every day, until the war." Maybe it works for good books? 🤷🏼

I've had the phrase "riveting characters" stuck in my head after seeing it in someone's book promo graphic. And I guess I don't know what exactly a "riveting" character is. Does the #WritingCommunity have any examples? Meanwhile, I'll go read the dictionary.

Reason for return: spine is damaged and unsuitable for display on my bookshelf I’m not an animal

A little about me I bought my 8 year old a copy of Bridge to Terabithia and he read the back cover and I started crying and he said six seven and that was the end of our interaction. It reminds me that I too want to be the kind of author who breaks children’s hearts generation after generation.

Free on #KindleUnlimited She married for love. She fought for freedom. Now she's the most wanted woman in France. "I thoroughly recommend this captivating read" 5-Stars mybook.to/madamefiocca #thrillers #BooksWorthReading #histfic #Readingcommunity #Booksky

Just mocking me at this point.

I don’t know y’all maybe the internet was a bad idea. 🔗 www.instagram.com/reel/DOZKvcr...

Whenever my daughter finds me playing #DeathStranding2, she asks me to check on Lou. She loves to see him smile and give his little thumbs ups. Thumbses ups? 👍🏼 Anyway, I still don't have the heart to tell her the truth about the little guy.

For the afternoon crowd, VISE MANOR is #free today. It's a #cyberpunk murder mystery that, according to one review, isn't a murder mystery since no one dies in the first 100 pages. So, you know, set your expectations accordingly. 🫠 Get it here: amzn.to/4goThLL #FreeKindleBooks #FreeBookPromo

Years ago, a sales guy told me, "It's easy to sell something when the price is free," so every now and then, I make one of my books free to prove him wrong. So don't click this link and get the #Kindle version of VISE MANOR for #free, because then he wins. 📖 danielverastiqui.com/amazon/vise-...

Any writing assistant that tells you to replace "eye-holes and finger-clicks" with "feedback" should be uninstalled immediately.