Bartering Nola (2025)
They said humanity had been averaged out of relevance. Then came the girl with blonde hair.
In the far future, after an event known colloquially as The Averaging, all humans look alike—same hair, same eyes, probably same genes. Diversity is nonexistent. Deviations are unheard of. So when Daleon sees a little girl with piercing blue eyes walk into his dusty repair shop, he knows two things: she’s not supposed to exist, and someone’s going to come looking for her.
He just didn’t expect that someone to be traveling with a scavenger from the Westerland.
Bartering Nola is a post-apocalyptic novella about identity, power, and the people we choose to protect when everything falls apart. Set in a forgotten future, it follows Daleon, a reluctant hero, as he’s dragged back into the dangerous world of scavenging—and into a mystery that stretches across dimensions and defies the very laws of nature.
An Echo of Another World
Old iPods. Broken dishwashers. Daleon thought he left scavenging behind for good. But when a man named Rajink offers a DNA scan that opens a gateway to darkness, Daleon must make an impossible choice.
Follow Nola into the dark…
…or let her disappear forever.
Read it because...
- It’s short but cinematic—a 100-page punch to the brainstem.
- It explores a primitive future where technology is treasure and anomalies are dangerous.
- You’ll meet Daleon, Rajink, Obrego, and Nola—four people with very different goals, none of whom can afford to fail.
New Worlds Await
Bartering Nola is not part of the Vinestead Anthology. It’s a standalone novella that explores themes of identity, purity, and control in a world already lost—and a world just waiting to be found.
Whether you're a returning reader or a newcomer, this is your doorway to something different.
Read For Free*
Want a "free" digital copy of Bartering Nola? You don’t need to bribe a guard or sneak past a firewall—just join The Underground, my free subscription tier. That’s it. No credit card. No nonsense. Just pure, unfiltered access to a weird little novella I wrote two decades ago and finally polished up.
But if you really want to dig deeper, consider upgrading to The Syndicate, where you’ll unlock behind-the-scenes content, alternate chapters, and exclusive access to the rest of the Vinestead vault.
💼 Syndicate Membership Includes:
- All features of Underground subscription
- Early access to upcoming books
- Signed print editions of major releases (like House of Nepenthe)
- Secret blog posts, fake corporate memos, and in-universe artifacts
- Regular dispatches from the digital shadows
The Syndicate isn’t for everyone. But if you know how deep the rabbit hole goes, this is your next move.