Nothing puts a target on your back quite like saying #AI bad in the corpo world. And the same goes for saying AI good in the writer world. Either way, it's fun putting on the ol' cynicism cap and walking the line between them. New post: danielverastiqui.com/i-spent-a-ye...

First time selling my books in person, so I'll be hiding in the back at Table 16 with eight science fiction novels and a concealed flask of whatever takes the edge off. Come say hi. Let's do some prolonged eye contact exercises. #stapleexpoaustin #STAPLE #ATX #SciFi #IndieAuthor #HouseOfNepenthe

Knew it was coming but still surreal to see this self-serving garbage while trying to file taxes.

Sometimes I go to BookBub's site just for the laughs.

Mark Forward is not getting enough attention on YouTube and frankly I’m a little annoyed with y’all. youtu.be/ufy33Tf8pII?...

But what if it was? What if this WAS a movie? What if there WAS a Mekhi Phifer?

I know my kid is only eight, but “there’s no need to sing” might be the dumbest thing he’s ever said. So far.

I've updated my review of the #Razer #Leviathan V2 soundbar and solved the "not detected / won't connect" problem once and for all. danielverastiqui.com/daniel-disli...

MRW I see laptops for sale with 1080p displays.

Restocking ahead of #STAPLE! (April 11-12 in Austin). If these don’t sell, you’ll be able to find the at Half Price Books the following week. They will be on the ground right outside the door. Just Venmo me.

Me, at my kid’s field day at school today: “Man, these kids are having a field day.” #dadlife

#Novlr has been updated with new features, including the ability to set very specific goals. The only thing missing is the "I have two kids" checkbox that automatically changes the deadlines Winston Smith style.

I'm in the part of the publishing process where Adobe Acrobat silently fails to convert my Word doc to PDF. 🫠

Talarico won the nomination and celebrated by sending me an unsolicited text message on my mobile phone device. I didn't think there was anything that could ever convince me to vote Republican, but this... this came close.

2026 is the year the internet begins to eat itself in earnest, all while the Japanese are turning footsteps into electricity.

When it comes to #Kindle preorders, I never have a plan or a goal or an expectation. All I ever have is a date, and that date was… yesterday. Anyway, if you can’t resist a social media post CTA, preorder House of Nepenthe at the link below. danielverastiqui.com/amazon/house-of-nepenthe

I’ve carefully prepared a rabbit hole for you, and I recommend it for fans of Anaïs Nin, Paris in the 1930s, or anyone still mad at their dad. And honestly, aren’t we all? danielverastiqui.com/on-trauma-ti...

TIL 8% of all GoFundMe campaigns are for people who want to eat at Five Guys.

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?