Morning,

As mentioned I thought it'd be cool to mark three months since release by answering a few of your questions.
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Thanks to those of you who submitted one. I'm sticking to my word and capping it at the first 5.
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So, without further ado, here we go...
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​1. I hope the map of the Monkey State would not be too precise/rigid, treeper paths whilst interesting, should be left to the readers imagination should they not ?​
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A very astute question. One that the mapmaker & I are conscious of. The way I see it though is that the map in Book 1 is (tail)drawn by a character from the world—J Semmelwise Locke—so is not necessarily 100% accurate. So for the map of Tierra Libre we were thinking of doing a State authorised map. Which, although potentially more accurate, is still subject to interpretation. It could be propaganda. One idea was to have it like the old Soviet-style maps with 'forbidden zones'. I do agree the paths can't be too precise and I'm big on leaving things to the reader's imagination ⭐️
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​2. I'm not a big reader these days but do listen to a lot of audiobooks. Do you think you'll do one?​
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So I'd love to release a Cl-audiobook. Bad Claude pun, I know! I have no real interest in narrating though and the cost for good voice actors is pretty prohibitive. I am looking into AI options here... but whether it can get the level of nuance and quality required I don't know. We shall see 🤖 Right now, Book 2 for KDP, is the priority.
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​3. I was wondering, how did you(/do you) balance writing with everything else going on in your life? Did you do most of it in your spare time, or do you make it as a structured 9-5 job? ​
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Another great question. I'm not sure balance is something I've ever achieved in life. I'm kind of cheating with the Monkey State trilogy because it was all written across 6 years or so and 2025 is more about editing, polishing and pruning (+ marketing).
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In terms of the second part of the question, yes, most of it has been done in my spare time— across weekends, evening slots (before Liv & I watch an episode of something), and even a few days of annual leave to focus fully on Claude. Those are fun. I potentially 'should' but probably never have applied as much structure as you get in your 9-5. Part of the battle, with writing, is inevitably parking the bum on the seat though. I do endeavour to get enough time parked, even if I procrastinate for a chunk of time before.
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By the way, a few of you have mentioned you'd love to write more or have a book inside you. Exciting. I'm more than happy to discuss and offer a ramble of my perspective if that would be useful.
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​4. You mentioned imposter syndrome in one of your earlier emails. Have you found a way to conquer this?​
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100% not. I think it's a sneaky little sensation. I have had a fair amount of relief related to the reviews which has given me confidence in the book itself. As much as internally I thought it was a decent read, I think you'd be lying to say you don't require a bit of external validation of the work. The bits of self promo on here and social media still feel weird and at times uncomfortable. I was speaking to a bestselling dystopian author this week, and she said she still gets bouts of it—and she's about to release books 10, 11 and 12 in a new series! So, possibly, there isn't a way to conquer it, only to work with it (and not let it stop you from taking your shots).
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​5. How many books have you sold? 🥁

Things have slowed down since launch but orders are still trickling through which is pretty cool. I'm really pleased with (and grateful for) 199. A big thank you to those of you that have picked up a copy, taken a chance on the monkeys, and helped me realise a fun little author dream ✍️
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I'm off to the hallowed shores of Brighton for a stag next weekend so not quite sure how the newsie will look then...
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Wishing you an eggcellent day in the meantime,

— J. R. Roberts
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​P.S. If you have any ideas for how I can keep subtly spreading the word about The Monkey State—without bugging people—do let me know.