What I'm Doing Now 2026-06
Now Updated on 2026-06-28 Sunday from Tokyo, Japan It’s been a cooler and wetter June this year, although we and the data centers can always do with more water, I suppose.
Mark McClure, writer
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Statistical Caging
The Title Before me sit eight rows of students at identical desks, sixty-four in all, and each working on the same set of problems.
What I'm Doing Now 2026-05
Now Updated on 2026-05-26 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan May in Tokyo is usually a transition time between a cool spring and a hotter, muggier June.
What I'm Doing Now 2026-04
Now Updated on 2026-04-27 Monday from Tokyo, Japan It’s raining cats and dogs on this cool Monday morning, but the rain’s welcome as it’s been a dry winter.
What I'm Doing Now 2026-03
Now Updated on 2026-03-31 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan Cherry blossoms are everywhere in Tokyo this week and there’s no need to trip over the hordes thronging the better-known viewing spots.
What I'm Doing Now 2026-02
Now Updated on 2026-03-03 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan Way too busy with work and life planning in February to get even much reading, let alone writing, done.
Paradise Bossed
“I suppose you’ll be leaving me now,” he said. A half-eaten red apple she’d cut down earlier lay in the lush green grass.
Short Story #40: The Restroom at the Bend of the Universe
< Transmission Begins > I stared up at the isolation room’s steel gray ceiling and fumed in frustration. Security said they’d put me here for my own safety.
What I'm Doing Now 2026-01
Now Updated on 2026-01-27 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan That promise of crisp, sunny days for the Kanto area I wrote about in November has been fulfilled and how!
DeliriSlumber
Not Kicking up the Daisies Today’s the second of December and another day above ground, as my father used to say when things weren’t going his way.
Books I Read in 2025
Thirteen Books Read in 2025. Below is a chronological listing of the thirteen books I enjoyed reading in 2025. I know it’s not a huge number but I did read the craft books two or three times and also read at a slower pace than last year.
Xmas is a Present State of Mine
A Poem for Christmas Eve Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and another year is almost over. Yeah, I can relax for a time.
Calculosity
A lightheaded Look Within I published this poem last year on my now defunct web3 site at markmcclure.xyz. Calculosity was inspired by the ideas of the late English mystic and philosopher, Douglas Harding.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-11
Now Updated on 2025-11-30 Sunday from Tokyo, Japan Well, here we are at the end of November. The autumn leaves are falling and the temperature’s dropping.
Proctoring Lifeology 101
Proctoring Lifeology 101 I wrote this method writing journal entry in a Campus pocket notebook with a Pentel Energel pen.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-10
Now Updated on 2025-10-28 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan Not much in the way of October sunshine for Tokyo this year, and it’s looking like autumn will be squashed into November at best.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-09
Now Updated on 2025-09-28 Sunday from Tokyo, Japan Today (it was the 23rd when I wrote this paragraph) is ‘autumnal equinox day’ and a(nother) national holiday.
None the Wiser
Death is but a Tick in a Box I’m right chuffed about my latest time management strategy. But will this euphoria last?
What I'm Doing Now 2025-08
Now Updated on 2025-08-30 Thursday from Tokyo, Japan I’m surviving Tokyo’s August heatwave by going out as little as possible when the sun’s up.
Piles of Practice
Piles of Practice I am practising method writing (at least I hope that’s what I’m doing.) I love practising. It’s the producing that does me in.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-07
Now Updated on 2025-07-30 Wednesday from Tokyo, Japan I passed on writing June’s entry because of, well, life stuff. Anyway, I’m back on the writing track.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-05
Now Updated on 2025-05-28 Wednesday from Tokyo, Japan Here’s a selection of May’s NOW moments. Enjoyed a reacquaintance with Japanese craft beer.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-04
Now Updated on 2025-04-28 Monday from Tokyo, Japan Here’s a selection of April’s NOW moments. Started reading Ann Leckie’s award-winning ‘Ancilliary Justice’.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-03
Now Updated on 2025-03-28 Friday from Tokyo, Japan Here’s a selection of March’s NOW moments.. Finished reading Alastair Gray’s “Poor Things”.
Get Dizzy Dying
Clock Watching What is WIBBOW? (read to the end) The pen I wrote this draft with is running low on ink.
2011-03-11
東北大震災 Fourteen years! They slipped by almost unnoticed. I was bored in a meeting today and staring out the window at the Tokyo skyline.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-02
Now Updated on 2025-02-28 Friday from Tokyo, Japan Tokyo had a few cold sunny days but almost no snow. Spring’s not far off.
Think Harmonious
microfiction from a method writing journal entry I’m a mental maestro in disguise. That’s because mood-makers like me grab reality by the cymballs and don’t let go.
What I'm Doing Now 2025-01
Now Updated on 2025-01-28 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan Back in the writing saddle again after a pleasant Christmas/New Year (Japanese style) that included a short trip to Nagasaki, the city where the second atomic bomb was dropped in 1945.
Kaizen: Method Writing Journal Entry
Side-Stepping Writer’s Block According to “One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way”, an eBook about Kaizen and self-improvement by Robert Maurier, I need only write a measly ten words or so to begin laying down neuronal grooves in my prefrontal cortex that will, in time, lead to a sustainable and enjoyable writing habit.
Books I Read in 2024
- Eighteen Books Devoured in 2024. Below is a chronological listing of the eighteen books I enjoyed reading in 2024. I know it’s not a huge number but I did read the craft books two or three times and also spent a lot of time doing the writing exercises.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-11
Now Updated on 2024-12-02 Monday from Tokyo, Japan Missed my end of November target date but better late than never
The Breakout Room
The Breakout Room This flash fiction (aka microfiction) started out as a journal entry inspired by Jack Grapes’s book on ‘Method Writing’.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-10
Now Updated on 2024-10-28 Monday from Tokyo, Japan Wearing a light fleece today; now I know summer’s behind us and winter’s on the way.
Thinking About Rain
Thinking About Rain Years ago rain like this made me feel glad to be alive. I remember getting soaked to the skin coming home from school and then hanging my wet clothes to dry on a line in the scullery.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-09
Now Updated on 2024-09-28 Saturday from Tokyo, Japan Cooler temperatures (that means daytime highs of less than thirty Celsius) have at last reached the Tokyo area.
September Mourn
September Mourn “My father loved September Morn,” Sadako said, her voice almost a whisper. “He only went that day because someone called in sick.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-08
Now Updated on 2024-08-28 Wednesday from Tokyo, Japan I’m getting up earlier than ever on weekdays. It must be an aging thing?
What I'm Doing Now 2024-06
Now Updated on 2024-06-28 Friday from Tokyo, Japan I’m getting up earlier than ever on weekdays. It must be an aging thing?
What I'm Doing Now 2024-05
Now Updated on 2024-05-28 Tuesday from Tokyo, Japan Japan’s first typhoon of the year is moving slowly up the archipelago’s Pacific coast.
Old is my Middle Name
Old is my Middle Name Fiction writer’s job description: sit in a room and make things up. This handwritten fiction was inspired by the word “Old”, a state we all become increasingly familiar with over time.
McClure's Monthly Newsletter
Newsletter Update: 2025-03-16 Update: I wrote a monthly email newsletter here for a couple of years. That newsletter project is now on a well-earned sabbatical.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-04
Now Updated on 2024-04-28 Sunday from Tokyo, Japan The weather’s warm and Japan’s “golden week” holiday has begun. Here’s how my month looked to date:
Four More Pages
Four More Pages And here I am again; four more pages. I like this early bird gets the worm way of working.
rAIn
rAIn - Flash Fiction This flash fiction was inspired by rainy weather last week and by my interest in what the generative A.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-03
Now Updated on 2024-03-29 Friday from Tokyo, Japan A day late publishing this NOW update but better late than never.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-02
Now Updated on 2024-02-28 Wednesday from Tokyo, Japan The first two weeks were warm, way too warm for winter clothes; perhaps a portent of the summer ahead.
My Published Works -> START HERE!
Mark McClure and JFR Publishing Present… Click on the links inside this post for details of individual books or series, including buy links.
What I'm Doing Now 2024-01
Now Updated on 2024-01-28 Thursday from Tokyo, Japan Whatever happened to January? Feels like I blinked and missed it. Here’s how the month looked to date:
Books I Read in 2023
Twenty-Six Books Read in 2023. Here’s a chronological listing of the twenty-six books I read in 2023. Eighteen were fiction and the remaining eight were non-fiction.