Now Available: Bartering Nola

It only took twenty years, a few formatting meltdowns, and one deeply philosophical debate over the plural of "bone yard"—but Bartering Nola is finally here.

Originally written back in the early 2000s, this novella has spent the better part of two decades loitering in the weird space between short story and full-on novel. Every few years, I’d try to turn it into one or the other. It refused. And so, in a rare act of authorial maturity, I’ve decided to let it be what it wants to be: a tight, self-contained sci-fi story about identity, DNA, and whether you can really trust a guy named Rajink.

Set in a dusty post-Averaging future, Bartering Nola introduces Daleon, a former scavenger who now trades broken iPods and forgotten tech for food and favors—until a strange traveler and a blue-eyed child upend his quiet existence. What follows is a journey across dimensions, a few awkward family reunions, and a mystery that, honestly, I’m still kind of proud of.

📥 Want to read it?

You can grab Bartering Nola on Amazon or, if you’re a subscriber to my site, you can download the EPUB for free right now:

👉 Click here to download Bartering Nola (EPUB)

Don’t know what an EPUB is? That page will also help you figure out how to read it—on your phone, tablet, Kindle, or graphing calculator (probably not that last one, but I won’t stop you).

🔀 Alternate Realities, Alternate Chapters

Want to explore what could have been? These alternate chapter are from a failed rewrite:

Rajink Comes to Town

Sunrise on the outskirts of Pickaxe, Montana. Rajink sat on a small outcropping of rocks examining his hand. All night, it had bothered him, throbbing hard enough to rouse him from his sleep. Now, under the soft glare of sunrise, he tried to find some outward problem with it. It

Daniel VerastiquiDaniel Verastiqui

Sand in the Air

Author’s Note: This selection is from an attempt at a longer version of Bartering Nola that never quite materialized. In addition to molding it into a full-length novel, I also tried to tie it back into the larger Vinestead Universe. Obrego, for example, has an Ayudante biochip, which has been

Daniel VerastiquiDaniel Verastiqui

🙏 Thanks for Waiting

If you've been following along on this saga of reformatting, re-editing, and re-justifying its existence, thank you. Your support means the world, and your patience means I finally got around to finishing something I've been dying to share.

If you read the book, I’d love to hear what you think. Drop a comment, send a message, or shout into the void—just know I’m listening.

Enjoy the read.

Semper fudge,
Daniel