Channeling my inner Joe Abercrombie today to ask, “Why do I do these things?”
Riding up the Hudson Greenway yesterday, a guy jumps on my wheel and drafts for maybe a mile. I pulled over, so he could come around, but he just sat there, sucking my draft. Eventually, I pulled up and turned to see a guy about my own age, fully kitted out, riding a new-looking racing bike.
“Come on, guy. Really?” I ask. “I’m 53, riding a folding bike, wearing a backpack.”
While I realize that one should never show weakness, the truth is that I'm feeling sad today. This has led to one of these weeks in which I'm struggling to explain to myself why I do all this shit.
Busy week, friends.
Sally and I had a really great weekend last week, to the point that letting it go this past Monday felt actively difficult. We managed, obviously, but this week quickly became long and perhaps a bit more challenging than was strictly necessary, even if it's been no worse than normal on anything like an objective basis. Nothing has gone wrong this week, and we're both doing well enough if not a little better than that. But we've also both been looking quite forward to this weekend since very early this past Monday morning, and that's a tough way to spend five long days.
Oh, by the way, happy Halloween.
I can't say that I'm super into it, but both my kids are going out tomorrow, even Hannah down in Paraguay. That's good. They both work really hard and deserve to have some fun.
I wrote about this a little on Twitter yesterday.
Had an idea for a story yesterday based loosely on the Catskills Stone Bridge Murders. Set in 1892 NY, it stars Thaddeus Winters, Blaine’s ancestor who will go on to lay the Diogenes Building’s cornerstone. Planned as a short story or novella. (1/3) https://t.co/8vfO6rNoa1
— Danno E. Cabeza (@DannoECabeza) October 28, 2026
I printed the manuscript out for Sally. She doesn't mind reading my stuff -- and, in fact, she seems to really like this particular book -- but she won't read it on the screen. So here's what $75 will buy you at the local Staples, if you're wondering.
I put this up on Instagram, a fact I'm mentioning because I recently (reluctantly) switched my IG profile back to public. What can you do? We've got some books to sell.
That said, I like this pic, and I think it captures our personalities pretty well.
Army absolutely stole a win on the road at Tulsa, and it was totally incredible. I mean, don't get me wrong. All three phases matter, and you can absolutely lose a game on special teams if you boot it bad enough, but that's still a tough way to lose if you're the Golden Hurricane.
Good morning and happy Friday, everyone. I hope you all had a decent week, but even if you didn't, it's Friday now. Wahoo!
The Black Knights have a monster game this week down in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tonight. I mention it because I'm super-excited about it, obviously, but also because I was really happy with the work I did over at As For Football this week as well. With James out learning to fly a new airplane, I've had to do both the Preview and the Keys to Victory for the last two weeks, and I felt like this week's Preview in particular came out really well. Go check that out if you want to see the kind of writing that earned us a following back in the day.
With that out of the way, let's get into it.
Of the interviews I've done recently to support The Return of Dr. Necropolis, this was probably my favorite just because we spent so much time actually talking about writing and the writing process. Normally, everybody wants to treat me like a straight-up sports guy.
That's mostly fine, but it's hardly all that I am, nor is it necessarily the way that I think about myself. This interview offered a chance to show a different side of my personality and my life, and I felt really grateful for that.
If you're interested, I've embedded versions of the show from YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, depending on your platform of preference.
What a week, friends. I've been up in Albany all week, and it's been busy as all hell. You wouldn't think missing my thrice-weekly train commute would make that much difference, but it threw off my whole production schedule, and alongside some other incidental nonsense, made this kind of a Thayer Week for yours truly.
My dog is sick, too, so it's been a really tough week to be away.
But what can you do?
Mike K. Heit posted this to Instagram, and it's awesome. Since I've spent some time today writing about Army Football, I'm now super-ready for Saturday's game. Enjoy!
I finally sent the barcode out to the cover artist this morning. Had been putting this off for the longest time because it involves locking some stuff in with Bowker, the folks who sell ISBN numbers to Americans. But we had to do it, so here's what I gave them.
This thing went out to test-readers just this morning. Fingers crossed, friends.
