In the autumn of 2013 I got rejected for a training contract at Ropes & Gray LLP.

I was still working for the firm but knew there was no future.
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There were still potential options within Corporate Law...

But part of the reason I did get rejected was that my heart wasn't 100% in it.

They told me there were people who would chop an arm off for one of the £40k a year spots.

That I was a good lad around the office but didn't have that desire (or ability to 'play the game' as the effervescent office receptionist told me) to make it.
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It was a sticky wicket because all my roads had led here—with a degree in the subject, lots of work experience in the field and a SW London pad with friends.
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It sparked a state of internal flux. Do I stick with the law? Do I look elsewhere? ​
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It was at this point, I stumbled across a certain individual online. Real name not to be disclosed. Let's just say Huckster.
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He was a tall chap, in his 30s, armed with public school charm and readiness to sell the dream to graduates.

Start your own business was the main thrust. Go your own way. You can do this.
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Given how trapped I felt at the time, this certainly caught my interest.

Before I knew it, I went to one of his networking events at Tiger Tiger, no less (probably should've twigged something at that point) and enrolled on an entry seminar.
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Huckster made me feel special. That I was wasted in the legal industry. That with a bit of struggle you could earn far more on your own terms with entrepreneurship.
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I wasn't the only one as a swathe of idealistic graduates sat beside me.
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What I wasn't prepared for was the price...
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£2,999 for a 6 week crash course.
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The dream came at a price.
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My memory is a little hazy looking back, but I remember I said "no" to this.

I found myself on a temporary contract at another city firm Baker Botts which was even less successful than my first foray.

What was interesting was—almost the minute I turned that down—he blackballed me. Removed me on LinkedIn (if that's the term). Didn't reply to my text explaining my thoughts. RIP Huckster.
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A few months later I was on a plane to Rio de Janeiro and the £2,999 went on a very different experience.
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Zoom forward to 2022.

With Covid impacting us all, I took a 'career break' post Escape the City.
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After a period writing, walking and thinking. Mainly thinking, aha. I realised I needed to earn a bit of dough.
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I joined a local Nailsea businessman's and his team of eclectic staff.

Bizarrely, one of the roles was waste clearance.
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I'd swapped a lovely Brighton co-work space for the ever so smelly refuse sites of North Somerset.
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Now actually there were many elements of the job I enjoyed... One for another time.

[Squiggly careers.]
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But I was a keen observer of the people who made a living in that industry.
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Even having various ideas for how you could start a business within it.
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I was very much in the thick of things with The Monkey State.
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And it was the catalyst for my writing on Tom Huckbane.
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Who has notes from both experiences. And more.
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I loved writing/editing those scenes.
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So what's been interesting for me is 3 different readers have commented on him.

Not to say they necessarily liked him, but that he resonated.

One said he reminded them of an old football manager.

Huckster was never meant to represent those people, or anyone I met, explicitly. Yet inevitably when writing you draw on real life experience. Real monkeys. I mean people!

I think charismatic leaders will always intrigue us. For good or bad.

And for me it's one of the joys of fiction. That every reader paints their own picture. Or I start the canvas but you bring it to life through your imagination...
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Time's up for today.

It's cup final day after all.

You'll never walk (or climb) alone,

– J. R. Roberts​
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P.S. I've just nudged up to 18 reviews/ratings on Amazon 🐵🥳. Apparently at 20-25 you start to go more into Amazon's advertising algorithm. So if anyone here has read the book please do pop a few lines of honest feedback (and maybe mention your favourite character) on the book page... Muchas gracias.