Scenes From the Second Stranding
Spoilers for Death Stranding 2 ahead.
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
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 a lesbian
We Know No King but the King of NYNEX Whose Name is Phreak
Last night, for maybe the thousandth time, I watched Hackers on my phone while delivering some packages in Death Stranding 2. It’s the cinematic equivalent of comfort food: dope-ass graphics, neon lighting, and dialogue that I was never cool enough to fully understand. If you’ve spent any time
From the Mailbag - August 2025
After more than twenty years in the (self-)publishing world—and eight consecutive New York Times bestsellers—I still get a little thrill every time I open my inbox. It’s not the awards, not the movie deals, not the lavish praise from critics that keeps me going. No, it’
Zootopia: Day Two in Portland, Our Future Home
August 5th, 2025. Portland, Oregon. Portland is two hours ahead of Austin, so I woke about 3:45 a.m. ready to conquer the day. Unlike previous adventures where Dom has organized a precise, value-maximizing itinerary for us, this year, I was in charge. In classic Verastiqui style, that meant
Our Waiter Wore a Chain: Day One in a Fading Echo of Portlandia
August 4, 2025. Portland, Oregon. When I told people we were headed to Portland for our 2025 Family Adventure, the common reaction was: Why? Even Dom, once we arrived, asked more than once: What were you expecting to see? Their skepticism made it seem like Portland was just a random
The Little Man Will Tell You
By the end of the 1980s, my dad's Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was starting to show signs of aging. As a kid, I knew nothing of the mechanical problems plaguing The Great Silver Beast, but something must have been wrong if we were borrowing my grandmother's car
House of Nepenthe: It's Harder to Work When You Just Don't Want to, Duh.
I recently finished another revision pass on House of Nepenthe, a process that felt like trying to get a long sofa up a spiral staircase, and I didn't even have anyone screaming pivot at me the whole time to keep me motivated. For context, Vise Manor came out
Robert Hargreaves Works From Home
Author's Note: Here's an unused Robert Hargreaves chapter that didn't quite go in the direction I needed to. When you're dealing with multiple POVs driving towards a single devastating conclusion, you have to make sure none of them lag behind, and that
Vise Manor - Lost Prologue
The original prologue from Vise Manor, probably dropped because I don't know this character from the inside. I know how he speaks and behaves from the outside (see Hybrid Mechanics), but how he thinks is another story. I don’t know how long we waited in that room,
Going Narrow: A Practical Guide to Buckling Like a Belt
After a brief and underwhelming sabbatical from the Church of Bezos, I’ve returned—head bowed, tail tucked, and ready to once again sell my wares in the temple. You know, the one Jeebus flipped tables over because it had become a marketplace? That one. Except this temple is digital,