About
Daniel Verastiqui is a science fiction author and technology professional from Austin, Texas, with more than twenty years of experience across both worlds—from independently publishing bold, character-driven cyberpunk thrillers to leading technical teams inside some of the enterprise technology industry's most demanding environments.
He spent three years studying Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin before completing a degree in English, a switch that turned out to be less of an escape from red-black trees and more about finding a different way to write about complex sorting algorithms. Professionally, Daniel has spent his career at companies like Uplogix, Lantronix, and Imprivata, progressing from front-line technical support and LAMP-stack development to directing cross-functional teams across sales engineering, professional services, and client operations. He has managed globally distributed teams, built self-service documentation libraries, and led the kind of behind-the-scenes infrastructure work that keeps technical teams running smoothly.
He has also contributed as a freelance writer for UT Austin's Continuing and Professional Education program, translating complex technical subjects into content that serves both students and working professionals.
As it turns out, two decades of keeping technology running gives you a lot of material for fiction about technology running amok. His Vinestead Anthology is a long-running series set in a shared cyberpunk universe where technology and identity intertwine in violent and unpredictable ways. Daniel combines literary craft with both a deep admiration for technology and an unshakable conviction that it will be humanity's undoing.
A proud member of Generation X, Daniel finds inspiration in '80s action movies, classic science fiction, and what he maintains was the last great era of music before Metallica cut their collective hair. When he's not staring into the abyss of enterprise technology or the blank page, he can be found near Austin, Texas, where he lives with his family and canine writing partner.
His reading list skews toward the classics that shaped the genre—Gibson, PKD, Herbert, Stephenson—with the occasional literary gem like Nabokov's Lolita and Danielewski's House of Leaves thrown in to keep things interesting. At the top of the list, unmoved for years, is Replay by Ken Grimwood, which he will recommend to anyone who stands still long enough to hear about it. See the full list here.