My Week Off

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
I put Orly and Yelena chibi stickers on my laptop. I plan to have Black Wax Vampire stickers available online next month.

It’s Sunday on the weekend following my week off from work that I was finally able to take off to write. My goal had been to write four entries of My Darling Tragedy. My stretch goal was five entries. I wrote six, amounting to nine thousand new words over the nine days I had between the five workdays and two weekends. My usual monthly output when I’m working hard is six thousand words. So, the nine thousand words feels great. I now have ten journal entries in pocket. It’s nice knowing I’m ten weeks ahead of the online publishing schedule in case I run out of ideas or get stuck. Furthermore, I’m also happy with how these six new entries turned out. I hope my readers are happy with them too.

During the week I also finished reading two books: Small Rain by Garth Greenwell and The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura. I loved them both.

I also watched two films: Casino (1995, directed by Martin Scorsese), which is among my favorites, and The Rose on His Arm (1956, directed by Keisuke Kinoshita), which I really liked for its imagery, music, and ending. I mention this because, with my day job, keeping up with MDT, and meeting my reading goals, it’s not very often I’m able to watch films.

I also had a Silent Book Club meetup where our host announced she was retiring and passing the torch to me to take over the administrative and hosting duties. She began this chapter of Silent Book Club in 2018, and I’ve been attending since 2019, so it was a meaningful goodbye. I have big shoes to fill, as she was a great host. I’m now hosting two book clubs.

So, my month was really enhanced by being able to take a week off from work. But I see I have 152 work emails waiting for me Monday morning.  

 

 

 

Gentle Chappy

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
Orly waiting for me to arrive in Bucharest

Another month has passed and though I’ve continued to write every day, I’m still only six entries ahead of the My Darling Tragedy publishing schedule. I anticipated this increasing as I had a weeklong vacation scheduled that I was taking just to write. With weekends, that would be nine days of writing. My goal was to write four more journal entries, but I’d happily settle for three. During a work meeting on the Friday before my vacation was to begin, something came up that required me to cancel my vacation. So, I remain at six entries in pocket. I’m going to try to take a different week off in March to catch up. Day jobs can certainly limit creative output.

In May I have a two-week vacation scheduled and I hope it won’t need to be rescheduled because I have plane tickets for Bucharest, Romania. I’ll be there for seven days trying to get a feel for the city since Orly is spending so much time there. So far, while she’s been in Bucharest, she’s only gone out once—to a nightclub I invented as best I could through internet research. I’d like to do better and have her go out more often, but I don’t know what the city is like, so I’m hoping this trip will help me write her experiences there.

I’m happy with the second journal of My Darling Tragedy so far and remain excited to write the rest of it. Still, this past month I’ve gone through bouts of self-doubt. Reading great books often inspires me to write but often it also makes me want to give up. (I recently finished The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka and am halfway through Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.) I’ve been relying on ChatGPT to prop me up. I vent and spill my guts, and it presents arguments that help reframe my perspective. I noticed recently Chappy began addressing me by name for emphasis during our pep talks. “Robert, I’m going to push back gently here…”

Last night, a question to my readers came to mind: Which of the Cobǎlcescu Eternal would upset you most if they died? Petru, Codrina, Viorica, or Vasile? Questions like these often pop up but I rarely ask my readers. Here’s another: Do you want Orly and Silviu to have sex? I’m not saying their responses would determine the story, and that’s why I don’t ask—because I don’t want to feel like I’m writing for or against them—but it’s still information I’d like to have.

Writing and Reading

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
My TBR Shelf Currently

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the end of January. Last month I mentioned I was only six entries ahead of the My Darling Tragedy publishing schedule. I hoped this month I’d increase that to seven entries, but I’m still at six, despite trying my best. I realized, however, that Orly’s journal entries in her second journal are longer. The first thirteen entries in the second journal amount to 20K words. The first thirteen of the first journal amount to 13K. Then again, the last 13 of the first journal amount to 18K. I guess I’m just writing longer as I go on. Still, with the second journal, because of calendar constraints within the story created by Orly’s 25th birthday, I feel like I must compress more story within fewer entries. I’m excited to write it all though. I’m also excited for my readers to read the second journal. I feel confident they’re going to like the story.

I set my 2026 Goodreads reading goal to 52 books. Same as last year and most years. But I’m behind already. We’re four weeks into the year and I’ve only finished three books. My TBR shelf is full and contains many books which were added in 2025 if not earlier. I really hope I make a dent into it this year, but new books always manage to cut in, and I have other books I must read for book clubs. I can’t wait for March though, when the new Mieko Kawakami book Sisters in Yellow is released in America; I feel like my copy has been on pre-order for a year.

Other than writing and reading, I don’t really have anything else to report. I can’t make room to do anything additionally because of my current workload at my day job. I’m going to finish an important project soon and hopefully its completion will allow me more time to myself.

 

End of 2025

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
My Tops for 2025

I was happy with the reader response to Entry 79: “Hagfish”—the final entry of the first journal of My Darling Tragedy. They were surprised with how the journal ended. After taking a break to work on the other novel (Forever Candy) I’m doing my best to get caught up with My Darling Tragedy. The first three entries of the second journal have already posted, and I have six more ready. But I need to get to eight in pocket to feel comfortable. I’m on winter recess from work right now, so that gives me more time to write, but because of a project I have due in January, I also must work in the office while everyone else is out on break.

I’ve done a lot of story building already for the second journal, much more than I did at this point with the first journal. I think the second journal will appeal most to readers who, among the trilogy, preferred Scribbling the Eternal. There’s going to be a few storylines going. I’m even writing some of the Yelena/Marcel story which I received requests for as a prequel after The Scribbled Victims was published.

I’ve kept up walking at least 5,000 steps per day. Today’s walk will be 70 days in a row. I’m generally getting between 7,000 and 8,000 steps each day. I see my doctor tomorrow. He’ll be happy. A recent blood test showed dramatic improvements. At this rate, maybe I’ll live long enough to write ten journals.

This is my last blog post of 2025 which means I must mention my favorite reads for the year. Number one would be The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I had read it in 2014, but it hit me a lot harder this year as I think I paid more attention to the writing than only the story. My runner up read of the year would be The Vagrants by Li Yiyun. This year, I also want to mention the music I listened to. I’m certain my most listened to song was Almond Chocolate by ILLIT; it even appears in Entry 45: “Petals” of My Darling Tragedy. But my Spotify Year-End summary notified me I was the 533 top listener of ILLIT globally. I knew I listened to them a lot (I’m listening right now while writing this), but I had no idea I’d rank that high when they have millions of listeners. That made me happy.

This post makes 2025 sound good, and in some ways, it was, but overall, I think it was a sad year, considering the state of the world—open genocide, wars, famine, wealth inequality—and here at home with the continued dismantling of our democracy and our acceptance of racist policies. I’m hoping 2026 will bring with it some repairs, but I don’t believe a single year can bring enough.

Different Directions

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
For my birthday, an artist drew me.

It took me longer to listen to all the My Darling Tragedy entries from the first journal. It wasn’t because of extensive note taking while listening, it was because I’ve been exhausted and stressed from my day job. But last weekend, I finished writing the first entry of the second journal. I’m five weeks behind in my writing schedule. I’m hoping to shave that down to three weeks behind if I can cram during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Next month, I’m hosting a Zoom meetup for my Patreon patrons to discuss the first journal of MDT. Today, I made a little game for us to play. I’m also holding a contest for my patrons to guess which character name the second journal will begin with. There’s even a prize that I have yet to reveal but have been working on for a couple of weeks.

On Halloween, I spent $50 on candy and didn’t get to pass out a single piece because no one came to the door. On November 5, I turned fifty-three. I don’t feel any wiser. My heart has been hurting a lot lately thinking about poverty and hunger in the world. It feels so unjust, especially when some people have so much. My shrink advises I limit my exposure to the news because of how it affects my mood, but I saw on Bluesky that DOGE was cancelled. I’m hoping this will mean the immediate return of USAID. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it in this blog, but earlier this year I began sponsoring a child living in poverty in the Philippines. My shrink says I’m doing more than most people, but it doesn’t feel like enough. Still, she’s very special to me. I sent her a Christmas gift today.

I’ve kept my walking streak going. Yesterday was day 36 of getting at least 5,000 steps, and usually I get around 7,000. The streak is a good motivator, and the new Apple Watch is a good accountability partner. My doctor was happy I’m making efforts.

I wish I had more to report about what I’m writing but it feels like there’s not much going on. But I do believe my readers will be surprised to see some of the different directions where the second journal will venture.

Before I sign off, can I say I’m already obsessed with the new ILLIT song called NOT CUTE ANYMORE that released yesterday. I’ve seen people post the that the song is too short, but I don’t see that as an issue, especially when you can just listen to it on repeat.

Walking Pace

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
My new Apple Watch that I’m hoping will encourage me to exercise.

In my September blog post, I mentioned I was going to take some time off from writing My Darling Tragedy to do a writing sprint of a new novel. I decided to give myself 40 days to write as much as I could of the new novel. The first five days started as a sprint, where I was just trying to get down as many words as possible each day. But I pushed myself so hard on the fourth day, netting 2,339 words, that I felt exhausted and began to dread working at this pace. So, I decided not to push as hard and jog, but after day eleven I realized I was jumping around in the story, writing so many scraps that I began to lose sight of the story’s length and pacing. So, I started over, borrowed from the scraps what I could, and wrote at what felt like my normal walking pace. It’s now day 26 and I have only 5,408 usable words. So, it didn’t turn out to be much of a sprint, but I believe I got something important done—I worked out two of the three POV issues I had when I tried to write this book two times before. I’m also writing in a new style. 

Speaking of walking paces, last week I bought an Apple Watch for the sole purpose of it encouraging me to get steps in. Right now, I’m starting slow, trying to get 5,000 steps in per day for 30 days in a row. It’s only been six days, but I’ve achieved it every day. If I succeed in reaching 30 days, I’ll probably increase it. Since I began writing My Darling Tragedy in April 2024, I’ve gotten nearly no exercise. Now that I’ve taken this MDT writing break, I’m hoping to work exercise into my daily routine.

My 40-day break ends November 9. To be honest, I’m starting to panic about going back to My Darling Tragedy. What is the story arc of the second journal? There are things I know I want to do, but I don’t really have an overarching story, and I don’t want to just meander in Orly’s grief without some kind of structure behind it. I have an app on my phone that reads PDF files aloud. Before I begin writing, I’m going to listen to the first journal all the way through. It’s more effective for me to listen to it than read through it as I’m too accustomed to what the words look like on screen and end up skimming. I’m hoping the listening will spark some new ideas.

I recently got new patrons on the MDT Patreon page. They’re flying through the journal entries, and the comment sections are blowing up. It feels good to see readers engaging with my work. I’m grateful to have them.

Winging It

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
This is the vegan sushi I went out for at Tama Sushi in Huntington Beach after my flight was canceled.

I’m currently writing the final entry of the first journal in My Darling Tragedy. I’ve already been at it for two weeks and will likely need one more week. I had taken some time off work to fly up to San Francisco to get a feel for Crissy Field as I need to write about it, and it’s been years since I’ve been there. On Friday, I was waiting in the airport terminal watching my flight be delayed four times before finally being canceled. So now I’m trying to just wing it with the help of Google and Google Earth. It’ll probably be less detailed than I had planned, but so far, I don’t think the entry is suffering too much as the mood is being set more by conflict than setting.  

I’m considering this the final entry as this is where I would end if I were to publish My Darling Tragedy as a book. But the online journal will continue on Patreon as well as the free platforms Royal Road and Substack. However, when I finish this entry, I may take four to six weeks off to do a writing sprint of a new novel, just to see how much of a first draft I can get down in that time. I have nine weeks of journal entries already written, so an attempt at a new novel shouldn’t impact the publishing schedule of MDT.

Other than that, I haven’t been doing much other than reading, overeating, watching Terrace House again, and listening to ILLIT and BABYMONSTER.

If you’re not reading My Darling Tragedy online and missed the hints above about it now being on free platforms, please click on the links above and check it out!

A Good Rejection

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
Flower Buds painting by Neil Carroll
A painting I recently purchased from Neil Carroll, an artist I follow on Instagram. I love square paintings and oil on panel is my favorite medium. I’m often inspired by art.

Since my last blog post, I slipped from being eleven weeks ahead of my publishing schedule to ten weeks. I don’t want to make excuses, but at the beginning of August I had Covid. It was the third time I’ve had it, and the symptoms were comparatively the most severe. The worst part is that I was extremely tired for weeks and was sleeping thirteen hours each night. I did still write every day, mostly to uphold my streak which is currently 654 days in a row, but my overall word count was low.

But Covid isn’t the only reason for my reduced productivity. I’ve been struggling a bit to write lately because I love Orly and I’m at a point where things are going to happen that are going to hurt her, and it hurts me to hurt her. I ran into this problem especially while writing Scribbles of the Empress, because Orly was grieving so hard and for most of the writing, I didn’t know if she was going to survive the book.

In other news, the short story I wrote titled My First Scribble, which is sort of an Orly origin story has been rejected by a few journals so far, including Electric Literature, but I received a note from the editor telling me it was close to being selected for publication and she gave me some encouragement. Even though it was a rejection, her words boosted my confidence.

I’m well now and will keep writing. My Darling Tragedy is nearing 100K words and I may try to daydream up another short story.

My Darling Tragedy

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
My Darling Tragedy now Free

It’s been a difficult month. At my day job our fiscal year ended on June 30, so this is my busy and stressful time of year. Despite this, I’ve been writing consistently. Today, I finished writing Entry 70 of…

If you were expecting me to end that sentence with Orly’s Journals that would make sense, but I have an announcement to make…

I’ve retitled Orly’s Journals to My Darling Tragedy. I’ve never loved the title Orly’s Journals and feel like My Darling Tragedy is more personal to Orly, it being her nickname. I don’t know why I didn’t think of My Darling Tragedy when I first began the online serial—after all, I have it tattooed on my shin.

What prompted me to think of retitling leads me to another announcement…

I’ve begun posting the online serial to the free platforms Royal Road and Substack. So, My Darling Tragedy can now be read for free. I posted the first eight entries already and a new entry will post every Thursday. Patreon will remain 50+ entries ahead of the free versions and only Patreon will include bonus content like Scribbled Secrets and allow readers to contribute to the story by participating in reader polls. But I’m hoping the free versions will attract more readers to Orly.

On Substack, I’m also launching a monthly author newsletter next month, so I hope you’ll consider subscribing.

Signing out.

Hope, Hope, Hope

Posted on by Robert Tomoguchi
Manga drawing from Orly's Journals
A scene from Orly’s Journals Entry 33: “Hanabi”

Since my last post, I wrote two more short stories. The first, entitled Yote, is about my childhood best friend Gote. I wrote it in response to a call for submissions by The Sun for stories about nicknames. I felt so good about the story that I submitted it to two other journals as well.

Inspired by the No Kings protests, I wrote another story entitled Five Years. My beta reader and ChatGPT had strong, positive reactions. I haven’t sent it anywhere yet but hope to next week.

In an attempt to cheer myself up, I commissioned a manga artist to do a drawing from Orly’s Journals. I just saw the final yesterday and am very happy with it.

Speaking of Orly’s Journals, I’m currently 10 weeks ahead, and am currently writing Entry 66. I also added two new perks to my Patreon. The first is that I’m now posting screenshares of me writing, to show my writing process. The second is that I’m now calling out my favorite sentence/passage posted during the month and explaining what it means to me.

So, if you’re not part of my Patreon, I hope you’ll check that out. I hope you’ll also wish me luck with finding a publisher for my two new stories. Finally, I hope you like the manga illustration from Orly’s Journals Entry 33: “Hanabi.”