Another writer asked me about avoiding isolation as a freelancer. It’s a good question. I’m a happy introvert, content with a degree of isolation. Events, networking, “grabbing coffee” aren’t my thing, although I enjoy online chats with other writers. How do others avoid or deal with isolation?

Weighty deadline made. If anyone wants me, I'll be... Actually, I have no idea what I'll be doing for the next few days. After several weeks of intense book hustle, that is absolutely lovely. #writerslife

First half of my next book is due tomorrow. All it needs is a final readthrough and a few minor tweaks. A tying up of loose ends. Yet all I want to do is something else. Write #haiku. Outline another book. Clean the loo. Anything else. deadline day an overwhelming desire to rearrange my desk

A busy day in the office…

Hearing my own voice is offputting at the best of times, but listening back to interviews when I'm using Japanese is next level awkward. If only I had a pound for every naruhodo.

Work updates are like buses. For a while, there’s nothing, then several come at once. So, I’m happy to say National Geographic’s annual Best of the World list is out today, with a bit of #Japan on it. My latest Lonely Planet is out too: a co-written book about bike rides in Japan.

This October feels wetter than usual here in Japan. The last couple of work trips have been damp. Jogs are slippy. This morning, the hound’s damp towel has left the genkan with a sour air. clearing skies the dog finds every puddle. #haiku #haibun

Message to self: remember the sodding yeast.

Sorting through bookcases today, tidying them up, making piles of things for book swaps and recycling. And finding some bangers I’d forgotten I have. Like this:

A different kind of Friday today. Went to immigration to collect my new visa. Home for a few online chats with other writers. Then city office to update my MyNumber card. Now trying to do an international bank transfer for college fees and making a pig’s ear of it. Not written a thing all day.

Some days it feels like my “getting ready to write process” is even less efficient than Neil in the Young Ones prepping for an exam. Clear the desk. Do some dishes. Check to-do app. Emails. Kettle on. Write grocery list. Make drink. Tidy a desk drawer. Etc. Etc. Etc. youtu.be/7FtcW9u0GDE?...

If, like me, some of your copyrighted books were used without permission to train AI, the settlement website is now up. You can search to see what work was used and register a claim. anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

So I can write without the need to lug a laptop around, I got a keyboard for my iPad for work trips. Hound not entirely impressed, but hopefully it’ll be an ok setup for trains, planes and hotel rooms.

The following #haiku are brought to you courtesy of jetlag. 1 am the caffeine-nap bites back 2 am the dog chases pigeons in a squeaky dream 3 am just darkness creaking

Back in Tokyo, back to writing, and back to doing these online chats about travel writing/feature writing. I have time to fit in a few more this month, if anyone is interested. Details in the post below. #writingcommunity

Hello jet lag. I nearly fell asleep in the supermarket queue. (Not a haiku…).

Lovely morning back in the village.

Walkies. In Cornwall for the weekend.

I plan on writing about it properly at some point, but the brief version: saying goodbye to a child at uni is emotionally brutal. I had no idea when I was the teenager leaving home.

Argyle-ing. That was a grim game.

"Package was handed directly to the customer" appears to be code for "package was left in the garden in the sodding rain."

Slow life back in the village.

I'm opening my travel writing sessions again from October. Details in screenshots and link below. Briefly: one-to-one sessions in return for a donation to a good cause, whether that's related to Palestine, Sudan, Ukraine, or something in your own community. www.tokyofreelance.com/first-friday....

UK flights booked. A bit of Devon-ing, then London to drop my son off at uni, and then a spot of wallowing in the emotional turmoil of empty nest syndrome.

Waiting for a meeting today. The clock in the lobby struck 11 and began playing a jingly version of Nessun Dorma. I was suddenly transported to Italia 90 and the penalty shootout. Chris Waddle blasting over the bar and Bodo Illgner saving Pearce’s pen with his feet.

What a sporting weekend. The Lions didn’t turn up against the Wallabies (and Skelton was immense). England forgot how to catch a cricket ball. And I stayed up late to watch Argyle lose the first game of the new season…against 10 men…at home.

It’s a lovely feeling when someone asks you to read a draft they’ve not shared before and it turns out to be brilliant. It’s part relief that you don’t have to try and cushion negative feedback, but mostly happiness that they’ve produced something special.

One book gig deadline done. Another begins. Or rather, another is now the main focus. Projects always overlap. It’s like spinning plates – there’s usually one that needs a lot of spinning, while another book or two and a feature or three slowly wobble and threaten to come crashing down.

New on the blog: The arcane alphabets of Black Sabbath To commemorate Ozzy Osbourne, we took a deep dive into the obscure typefaces used on Black Sabbath’s first four album covers. fontsinuse.com/uses/35835/t... (Buckle up, it’s a long one.)

On the Shinkansen home. I usually get writing done on the shink, but after a few days traipsing around Aomori in the heat, I see a drool-y train nap in my near future.

Aomori-ken in Aomori-ken. #japan.

Tea break in Aoyama.

Stopped by a free foot bath while out and about in Tokyo this morning. A sign in English read: “full body bathing prohibited”. Someone stripped off for a full dip once, didn’t they?

date night… she says I missed an ear hair #senryu #haiku

Evening walkies after a hot Tokyo day. The hound enjoyed a slow plod as the sun went down. The backstreet and park were dotted with dried-out worms. Industrious ants. The sound of kids letting loose. playground screams… ants climbing on sun-dried worm #haiku

Sado, #Japan.

Firelit Noh on Sado. Latest trip for a new book with old friend (and photographer) Irwin Wong. More details soonish. #japan

Summer in Japan. Absolutely grim. I’m already feeling the natsubate. #notahaiku

Home. Got my hound.

🚨 With a month to go till publication, there are still a few proof copies of #SmallEarthquakes available for book reviewers and bloggers. If you’re interested in exploring Britain’s lost history in South America — from the Atacama to Tierra del Fuego — get in touch. @hurstpublishers.bsky.social

Satie Coffee in Onomichi. The setting/feeling was wonderful. The coffee too. A light roast isn’t usually my thing, but I’d never had anything from Yemen before. Quite refreshing on a hot day. What I enjoyed most was having it served in two glasses, each highlighting a different aroma.

Tea Stand Gen Yamate in Onomichi was such a lovely tea experience. Peaceful. Beautifully put together. #japantravel

On the road for a new book. #Japan

It started with a yawn, then a “sorry, I was up at 6”. Then the elderly lady I was chatting to, as we sat next to each having electrotherapy on our knees, replied: “6?” delivered with dismissive intonation, “I get up at 3”. You can’t out-early rise the seniors in my corner of Tokyo. #Tokyolife

Maybe it’s a bit dated, but I always print drafts for final (and penultimate) self-edits. It just feels better for me. Gets me away from the screen too. Unless, like this morning, my printer gets peckish. #writing

I hadn’t picked this book up for a couple of decades. It was part of my uni reading (with the preface and its definition of class being the part I recall most: “And class happens when…”). But I’ve been dipping in and out of it again the last few weeks and it’s fascinating.

Today was my monthly online meetup with a couple of other writers here in Japan. We talked about word choices, mixing languages, children’s books, and distractions among other things. With writing often a solitary process, being in this kind of group is so helpful. #writing

puddles the squeaking of froggy boots #haiku

I dropped an ice cream. If anyone needs me, I’ll be recovering alone in a dark room for the next 24 hours.

Had a lovely stroll around Yanesen this morning. #tokyo