Hello again,

I have very exciting news.

As you know, The Sewing Machine was published on 17th April this year. As an author, I had a vague idea about how the book was selling, but a lot of that was based on hopes and dreams, cautiously tempered with a healthy dollop of common sense. Authors not knowing how things are going is pretty normal across the publishing world, as far as I know. 

There have been positive noises from Unbound, and the occasional hint about numbers, but unlike a self-published author who can gain entry to the techno-gubbins in Amazon's cupboards, it's all a bit mysterious. Or at least it was until last week.

On Monday, (at 22:26 - someone was working very late) the six-monthly statements were sent out. I saw the email pop up as an alert on my phone and scrolled down to click on the PDF file, as you do... and I couldn't believe my eyes. 

The next morning I got my calculator out, and did some arithmetic, and then sent a rather shaky email to Xander at Unbound. Could this actually be true? And the reply came back... Yes, it is.

So although these things are not much revealed, generally, I have permission from Unbound to let you know that we (yes, WE, because this is a team effort between all of you, and the team at Unbound, and myself) have sold more than 10,000 ebooks. 
TEN THOUSAND.  
The paperbacks are counted separately and I can only talk about the ebooks... but WOW. 

I know I say this a lot on Twitter and FB, but this is all down to you, and to the wonderful people who have 

<ul>
	<li>written an Amazon review (126 and counting)</li>
	<li>rated the book on Goodreads (487 ratings)</li>
	<li>told a friend about it</li>
	<li>bought a copy for someone else</li>
	<li>stashed away a book to give as a Christmas gift</li>
	<li>come to an event</li>
	<li>blogged about the book</li>
	<li>tweeted (or RTed a tweet)</li>
	<li>and a myriad of other supporting things</li>
</ul>

You are all amazing. 
Thank you.

Natalie (who is still wandering about muttering 'ten THOUSAND books' in both disbelief and delight).

 

 
<script src="https://cdn.inspectlet.com/inspectifr/1497926764.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

We have sold HOW many books???

Hello! 
I am delighted and chuffed and honoured that we, Team Sewing Machine, have been included in The Guardian's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/jul/31/not-the-booker-prize-2017-please-vote-on-the-long-long-longlist">Not The Booker Prize Long List</a> which was published on Monday.  A hundred and fifty books are on it, and one of them is The Sewing Machine.  The list was created from nominations from the public, so if one of those nominations came from you, THANK YOU!

You know what I am going to say next, don't you? 
 
Please visit the website and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/jul/31/not-the-booker-prize-2017-please-vote-on-the-long-long-longlist">vote for The Sewing Machine</a>.  It would be so marvellous to get onto the Short List.  
 
To do this, you need to:

1. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/jul/31/not-the-booker-prize-2017-please-vote-on-the-long-long-longlist">Click on the link</a>, and if you have never commented on a Guardian article before, sign up so that you can comment. 
2. Choose TWO books from the Long List. 
3. Make sure that they are from DIFFERENT publishers. 
4. Type

Vote #1 - name of book 
Vote #2 - name of book 
 
5. Add a short review of ONE of the books (you can do both but only one is needed). They are looking for enough to show you have read it, so unlike an Amazon review which can just say "Loved it", this needs to be a little longer.  
6. Click to send your comment. The website will ask you to check it's correct. Click again and that's it. 
7. Make a nice cup of tea and eat some cake. 
 
It would be so good to get the book to a wider audience, and for me to be able to very publicly point to all the names in the front and back and show the world how brilliant you all are. 
 
Thank you! 
 
Natalie 
 
PS  Those of you who recieved a spotty parcel with yarn in it, I hope you like the colour and the squishyness. The Embroidery Thread parcels will be posted at the end of this week.

Please Vote in #NotTheBookerPrize

Hello! 

This is just a quick update to show you that the yarn for the pledges is dyed and drying.

I have made the photo Black and White to preserve the secrecy about the colour for a little while longer. 

I have addresses for some of you who pledged for yarn and threads, but not for everyone  -  please can you email me with your address on n@nataliefergie.com

At the moment the ebook is half price on Amazon, so please spread the word!

Tweet, FB and tell your friends. 

The paperback is available on Amazon, or from any bookshop, just ask them to order it.  We now have 51 reviews on Amazon too, and it's so lovely to see them appearing.  If you haven't left one, and you have five minutes to spare, I would love to see that number rise!

Best wishes,

Natalie


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Pledges!

Photos, reviews, book launch and a road trip

Hello! 
 
I'm pleased to be able to say that we are almost there.  
The first round of proofs have been done, and I'm just waiting for the the final page proof copy. At this stage it's really a case of:

'Has my name been spelled correctly?' 
and 
'Is there a full stop at the end of the book?'

The cover is being finalised as I speak and I hope to be able to show it to you very soon. 
 
Fot those of you who have yarn or threads included in your pledges, I hope to be able to get these dyed just after the publication date. Unbound prefer not to send the pledge-extras until after the book has been released, so I am currently compiling a big spreadsheet of what needs to be done.  
All of this is a bit tricky without firm dates, but I'm doing my best to get organised for it. 
It's now getting rather exciting and my To Do list grows daily. 
 
I hope to be back with more news soon. 
 
Best wishes,

Natalie

Final proofs

Exciting times!

I apologise for being quiet here in the shed, and can assure you it's because I've been working very hard to make this book the best it can possibly be. 
 
The manuscript has been through the copy-edit stage, and has been returned to Unbound this morning to be proofread. The end is tantalisingly in sight.

I've done the acknowledgements - a surprisingly stressful experience. When I do the next book I'm going to treat them in the same way as you would compile references for an academic essay, and add them to a document as I go along. There are a lot of people to thank!

The cover is 95% done. I only have to finalise the 'blurb' which goes on the back cover if it becomes a paperback. Everything needs to be done at this stage, just in case that happens. 
 
I'm hoping that I will soon be able to show you the final cover (and I may have some other interesting news as well). After that I can get started on the dyeing and stitching to create the rewards which go with many of the pledges. I'm looking forward to firing up the dyepots again, and I have a good idea of the colours I'm going to use for your yarn and threads. 
 
Thank you for your patience. One of the things we never see, as readers, is all of this editorial stuff. It all happens long before a book is mentioned in the press, so a book may have been completely written, but going through this stage for a year or more before it even gets to the door of a publisher.  
What you are seeing is the whole process, and I'm delighted, and very grateful, that you decided to be a part of that.  
 
I'm very much looking forward to being able to say 'it's been published'. I can't promise that it will be before Christmas, it might be very early in 2017, but I'm doing as much as I can to make it happen as soon as possible. 
 
Many thanks,

Natalie

The final stage...

This is a quick blogpost to let you know that the developmental edit is now finished and the manuscript has been sent off for copy editing. `

The cover is being designed as I write, and there are other secret and exciting things happening which I can't tell you about yet. Maddening, isn't it?' 
 
We have closed off the yarn and thread options now and I have a list of the names of everyone who  has kindly made those pledges. I'm hoping to get started on the dyeing for them next month, but it depends a little on how much work there is to do when the copy edits come back. 
 
I AM DOING AN EVENT 
On November 16th, between 18:00 and 20:00 I'll be at Blackwell's bookshop in Edinburgh with three other Unbound authors, Ian Skewis, Tabatha Stirling and Helen Taylor.  
We'll each be doing a reading and then we are happy to answer questions and say hello.  
There are sixty places for this FREE event, and seventeen are gone already, so if you would like to come please book a place. 
 
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/581630965357817/">The link to information is here.</a>

 
Best wishes and many, many thanks,

Natalie

The developmental edit is finished

Hello again. 

It seems as though this stage of book publishing is like waiting for the proverbial bus. Nothing seems to happen for ages and then all the buses arrive at the same time.

My second structural edit is back and there are only minor changes to make. I've been doing a full read-through, which takes longer than you might think because I'm reading it out loud. Yes, Boris the Labrador knows all the secrets which are carefully concealed in the book, and he's not going to tell a soul. 

I am a bit freaked out by the idea of reading out loud, partly because despite my thespian parentage, I don't have a performance bone in my body.

1. Reading out loud is not the same at all as reading in your head. In order to make a story interesting and not monotonous, all writers vary sentence length and punctuation. You'll remember this, I'm sure, from second year English lessons in hot classrooms when was the last period of the day and all you wanted to do was get outside and discuss the history teacher's new haircut. 

2. Varying sentence length is a Good Thing, but ufortunately an electronic book manuscript is not a paper-copy theatrical script. There is no space available to scribble 'TAKE A DEEP BREATH HERE, LONG SENTENCE COMING UP' on the computer screen.

3. It's possible that I will be doing a book reading (a tiny bit of book) very soon, and If it happens I will indulge heavily in marginalia, and annotate my printed text with stage manager instructions in large black letters.

I'm aiming to have the manuscript back to Unbound in about ten days time, and then it moves to the copy editing stage. This is much more to do with grammar and language, and I may need to justify my use of 'oxters' and the absence of contractions.

At the same time, I need to wear a different 'hat' because the cover design process has begun. Unusually, Unbound ask for author input in the cover design. Until I started this process, I assumed that all authors were involved in the design for their work, but this isn't the case. Imagine getting married and being told that yes, your dress can be white, or perhaps cream, but that's all the input required, thank you very much - well, that's what normally happens. 

Unbound are definitely the Good Guys. I have filled in a six page questionnaire about my book, who might read it (that's all of you), whether I think the characters should be on the cover, and all sorts of other questions. This has now gone back to the designer and soon I will have a proper discussion with him on the phone about the design. That's not to say any ideas I have will be used, or even that they are terribly useful, but it is really good to feel included in the process.

Once again, many thanks for your patience. I was once told that publishing can seem to move at a glacial pace. The analogy of a duck swimming elegantly along, but paddling like crazy beneath the surface is a good one. Things ARE happening, even though it seems like a flat calm.

Best Wishes,

Natalie

Not judging a book by the cover.

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After spending several weeks structually editing the manuscript of The Sewing Machine, which involved more investment in the Post It note division of 3M than I would have thought possible, I have typed THE END and sent it back to Celine to look at for a second time. 

Editing is a weird business. 

You write a story.

You read it.

You realise that bits of it are ALL WRONG.

You (self) edit it.

You rinse and repeat the last three steps multiple times - ten, twenty - and that's just what you do in your head before you get as far as touching the keyboard or lifting a pencil.

Eventually, you are sure you've tied up all the ends, stopped your characters wearing Summer dresses in January, researched contemporary music for 1956 and checked the price of a postage stamp in 1980. You read your dialogue out loud when there is no-one else in the house, and fret about whether your characters drink Merlot or Pinot Grigio and whether they use loose leaf Earl Grey or supermarket own brand teabags.

You send it off to be structurally edited. 

And then, when it comes back, you start the whole process all over again. 

This is not because the first (45th) original draft of the book is terrible. When the opening lines of the Editor's Report say you have 'a cast of wonderful characters' and that you have 'captured a sense of place so well' it's a pretty nice thing for an author to read about their own work.  The reason you start all over again is because a professional editor will look at the book and find all the things which will improve it and make it a much BETTER book, and that, of course is what the author wants and the readers deserve. 

It takes time. The greenhouse is now populated by triffids and the glove I started knitting at the beginning of the Olympics remains one-fingered. 

And of course, Adele is wrong. This is not the end... there is copy editing and proofreading to come. But for the next week or two, I'm going to enjoy reading books by other people and not feel guilty about it!

Many thanks to my new supporters who have pledged towards the book - Cathy Scott, Jonatha Kottler, Aimée Nicholson, Charlotte Monckton, Helen matthews, Fiona Blogg, Dori Smith, Sandra Grimes, Caroline Brown, Margaret Walker, Elizabeth Lloyd, Julie Matthews,Julia Tratt, Ruth Churchman and Anne Scott. 
 
There are now TWO HUNDRED AND TWO of you, which is amazing. Thank you, every single one of you.

Best Wishes,

Natalie

As Adele would sing...

Hello again everyone, and a warm welcome to my new supporters - Maureen Wilkins, Sakthi Norton, Riccardo Sartori, Pamela Hilton and Janet Lees. 

Things have been a bit quiet around here on the blog, but that doesn't mean nothing is happening with the book. 

In the middle of May I sent the manuscript off to the person who is doing the Structural Edit and then I went on holiday for two weeks, heart in mouth, crossing every digit and hoping all was well. 

Since then the Edit has come back and I've been working on changes and adding sections which needed more fullness. I've been hampered by an eye condition which began to be apparent when I was away on holiday and this resulted in my sight being somewhat compromised - it has been like looking at everything through an oily smudge for the last six weeks. This has resolved at last and I'm hoping I can progress more quickly now. 
 
Many, many thanks to all of you for pledging. I really appreciate it.

I'll be back with another update as soon as I have more news for you.

 

Best Wishes,

Natalie

The editing continues...

I'm really chuffed to tell you that Celine Kelly is going to be editing my book. 
Celine has worked at Penguin and Headline and has edited novels by Marian Keyes, Jane Green and Jane Fallon, who have between them sold more than 35 million books. 

As you can imagine, I'm a bit star struck!

The novel has been read again, several times - I realised only last week that I had somehow called one character after an old friend entirely by accident so that had to change. It's surprisingly difficult to give everyone names which look different on the page (so the eye can recognise the shape of who they are), start with different letters (because we use hooks like this to remember things), and which vary between being long and short. All these factors make it easier for a reader to know exactly who is being talked about without needing to flip backwards and forwards to work it out. As well as all that they need to be correct for the time period. No Kayleigh-Annes in 1897, for example.

Eventually - because there is always, ALWAYS, something which can be tweaked, I made myself stop fussing with it and pulled everything together in one massive document of 82,239 words. And then I took a deep breath, and sent it off to Unbound. The word count will change because I'm sure there will be things to be cut and explanations to be added; people will need to have different clothes or eat fewer cheese sandwiches or go on holiday to Mull.

And now I wait for Celine to give me her opinion, and I'm going on holiday myself to take my mind off it all.

I'd like to say a big thank you to my recent pledgers who have pushed the funding pot up to 107%. 

Margaret Walker, Andrea Topping, Jackie Donovan, Rupert Bumfrey, Clare Stevens, Rebecca Wright, Richard Williams, Sarah Inman, Helen Yewdall and an anonymous donor as well.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

 

n

Manuscript sent for editing!

I'm delighted to be able to say that we have done it, you and me, and a hundred and seventy other people. 

We have coaxed, shuffled and in the final hour, wheeeeeeee'd this book over the funding finish line, like a child on a bike with legs stuck out on either side as they barrel down the most exciting hill EVER.

It took 33 days from the time it went live on the Unbound website, to move it from 0% to being completely funded. I don't think this is an Unbound record or anything, but it is rather splendid, isn't it?

Some of the questions Unbound ask when they first consider taking on a book are about whether the writer has a network of friends and colleagues and family who may be interested enough in it enough to make a pledge. This is, of course, after the nervewracking submission process which assesses whether the novel is any good in the first place. 

Everyone is different, so every writer's network will be unique to them. It's a bit hazy now, but I think I may have said something along the lines of "I know quite a lot of knitters". 

Looking at all the names in the list of pledgers is humbling. I know many of you personally or we have met online, or maybe you are a friend of a friend. The girl who was my Best Friend at high school is there in the list, and seeing her name brings back memories of standing under "our tree" in all weathers (because we weren't allowed into the school building at break time, no matter how wild it was) and our endless circular discussions about teachers and boys and the injustice of having to wear long socks instead of tights until third year.

What happens to the book next?

Well, at the moment Unbound are deciding who should be my editor. An editor is a VIP in the process of getting the book as good as it can possibly be. They look at the structure of the novel, at the timelines and the pace. They look at the characters and their motivation. And they make sure there are a few quieter spaces in the storytelling to allow the reader to draw breath for a moment, otherwise it ends up being a one sided monologue.


 'This happened and then this and this and then he said that and she said this and they went out and came back and then this really awful thing happened and that's the end.'


At the moment I don't know who this person will be, but in the meantime I'm making sure all my characters are wearing the right clothes for the time of year (no sandals in December), that their trains arrive at the right stations, and that their names don't all begin with A - which would be very confusing.

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone, and in particular to the new people who have pledged since the last Shed Update, who are - 

Annette Squire, Kirstyn Smith, Jeanette Carlyle, Lucy Harkins, Marie Leadbetter, Joshua LaPorte, Deborah Metters, John Auckland, Helena Russell, Ruth Turner, Jill Shaw, Mary Donaldson, Stephen McGowan, Nan Gibbons, Ann Brooker, Sharon Dennett, Simon Mather, Debbie Tomkies, Moira Dunworth, Madeleine Shepherd, Ollie Hulme, Ruth MacFarlane, Denise MacFarlane, Maddie harvey, anonymous, Andrea Carr, James and Moira Fergie, John Munro, Alison Gibson, Marianne Cant, Christine Walton, Marina Moscowitz, Brian Bilston, Susan Hanlon, Fleur Parker, Mary Paulson-Ellis, Mairead Harvey, Karen Howlett, Michelle Lincoln, Patty Foggo, Arianne Donoghue, Katherine Grant, Louise Walters, Caroline Turner, Wendy Hough, Sue Margolis, Anna Louise Walker, Rose Marie Weerdenburg, SarahLouise McDonald, Julie Hall, Louiz Hutchings, Karyn McMurray, Virginia Moffatt, Adam Fergie, Rebecca Prentice, Sharon Etheridge, Fiona Hunter, Kathleen Gibb, Alexandra Wingate, Mandy Brimble, Kaye Hudson, Jacky Cooper, Karen Wanke, Robyn Roscoe, Marie Philip, Sarah Gee, Katherine Pungitore, Susan Crawford, Ann Leadbetter, Gavin Fergie, David Munday, Maureen Adam, SJ Farrell, Jenni Buhr and Melinda Jackson.

It's a lovely sunny day outside (and we are apprently due for an Arctic Blast this weekend) so I'm going out for a walk and I'll work out the last few tweaks as I breathe in the fresh air. It's the best way, I find.

 

Best wishes,

Natalie 
 
PS - Pledging is not over yet, it continues up to the point when the PUBLISH button is pressed, so please keep telling everyone about the book. Thank you!

100% and counting

Hello again.

Today I thought I'd introduce you to Fred. As a contemporary character, he has a very different voice in the novel. 

The story of the sewing machine and the secrets it holds are woven between the past and the present. As the reader, sometimes you will discover things before Fred does, and you'll be sitting there saying "Come on, why can't you see what's going on?". 
On other occasions, Fred will make discoveries which you don't appreciate the relevance of until much later.  
 
So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to thirty-five year old Fred. This is how we first meet him.

 


 The Blog of Fred 



 It’s Grandad's funeral tomorrow, and then there will be the wake. He would call it a Purvey, I have no idea why.



 Everyone is invited back to the flat for a cup of tea, a piece of cake and a whisky. I seem to have spent the whole weekend cleaning windows, and washing things - floors and plates and spoons and mugs. My hands look like prunes.



 In honour of his sweet tooth there will be no curly cheese sandwiches, just cake. And Millionaire’s Shortbread, of course.



 There are cakes from the neighbours, cakes from the old guys at the allotment, cake from Eva, (the owner of the corner shop) and some rather wonky looking muffins from the kids next door. Lemon drizzle, chocolate, coffee, cherry. You name it and we have it - I could open a cake emporium.



 Once all that's over, the Next Big Thing is that I have to decide what to do about the cat. The neighbours were looking after it last week but I found it sleeping on my bed earlier, curled up in the sunshine. They are off on holiday at the weekend and I’ll be here for another fortnight sorting stuff out so I have no excuse but to start looking after it. It’s a complication I don’t need and I think a visit to the dog and cat home may be on the horizon.



 This morning I went to the airport and picked up Mum and Henry. This is an unwelcome interruption to their trip, but really, who goes to Antarctica on a honeymoon at their age - it’s not exactly round the corner, is it? 



 I made pasta for lunch, and then I tripped over the old sewing machine which I’ve been using to prop the kitchen door open - went my length across the room, olives and spaghetti flying all over the place. Now I have to clean the floor AGAIN because Mum is coming round later. She says she has 'news'. I hope it’s not more stories about bloody penguins.



 I need somewhere to write things down, so I’ve revived this neglected blog. After a trawl of possible passwords I discovered all the old posts on it - and they were all about how happy I was to have found the love of my life. This was, of course, just before she went off hand-in-hand with someone else. 



 I wasn’t sure what to do with the history when I finally got into the admin end of things so at first I just unpublished the posts, but they were THERE on the blog dashboard, staring at me, inviting me to read over and over again - she was pretty special. In the end I put on my big girl pants (as the women in the office would say) and deleted them, one by one. And the photos. And the comments. There is a new girl in my life now anyway. Time to move on. 



 Fred


 

 

His neatly formatted words appear on the screen. 

'Coffee time, I think.'

The unwanted cat stretches and jumps down onto the floor. 

'I suppose you're after some food?' 

He knows without looking that the shelf in the larder where the last tin of cat food had been that morning, is now empty. 

'If you think I’m buying you that canned muck, you can think again. Not a chance, pal. It stinks.' He has better things to spend money on than designer cat food. The rain which had been pelting down earlier, is now barely drizzle. This is just as well because the only footwear he has brought with him on this unexpected trip north are his expensive fair-weather running shoes and the black leather brogues which, he discovered yesterday, have sprung a leak. 

Deep joy. 

Wet socks. 

He puts on his training jacket and zips it up carefully. The carrier bags live in the kitchen drawer, the same place they have been all his life. He puts two bags into his pocket and steps out into the street, completely unaware that in the space of just a couple of days he has somehow become a man who talks to his cat. 

The shop on the corner is familiar and yet different. Fred knows there is something new about the place, but can’t put his finger on what it is that's changed. He half waves to Eva as he enters. She sits on her stool behind the glass topped counter, below which is an ever changing array of pocket money sweets. Flying saucers, fizzy frogs and liquorice bootlaces nestle beside fat white chocolate buttons studded with hundreds and thousands. As a child he spent hours in front of the selection as he made the very important decision about what she would put into the pink striped paper bag for him on a Saturday morning. Eva knows everyone’s buying habits, and has worked in the shop for long enough to comment freely on their purchases. 

Fred picks up a basket. That’s it, the baskets are different. Gone are the scratchy wire covered handles; they've been replaced by smooth yellow and purple plastic. He walks around the aisles, noticing how new excitements have crept onto the shelves. Balsamic vinegar now stands next to malt, and gluten free coconut whirls are beside the iced shortbread. He takes his time, and listens to the commentary coming from the front of the shop. If someone had a mind to, they could discover the history of every family for half a mile, he thinks. 

Eventually he takes advantage of a lull in the stream of customers and puts his basket on the counter. 

'Nice new baskets, Eva.'

She smiles and picks up the box of dry cat food.

'Is that for your Grandad’s cat?'

'It’s a temporary arrangement.' He pulls the bag from his pocket. 'The cat, I mean.'

'I see'.  

The electronic till beeps with every item. Cat food. Bread. Fish Fingers. Salad Cream. Evening News. Milk. 
Eva holds onto the milk carton.

'They can’t have milk, Fred.' She is an expert in cats, as in everything.

'The milk isn’t for the cat.'

'It upsets their tummies.' She refuses to hand it over until she's sure he is listening.

'It’s for my coffee.'

'I read it in a magazine.' She releases her grip and he takes the carton quickly before she can change her mind.

'Thanks, I’ll be sure to remember that.'

'What’s it called?'

'Mmmm?' He is preoccupied with packing the bag in the correct order.

'The cat. What’s it called?'

'I have no idea. Grandad never mentioned a cat.' 

The woman behind him in the queue sighs with impatience. Eva points to the green digital total on the till. He pulls out a handful of change and extracts the correct amount, one coin at a time. 'I think that should be right.'

'Remember about the milk.'

'I will.' 

'I’ll be there tomorrow, for the funeral.'

He crumbles a little. 'Thank you' he says, so quietly that she sees the words instead of hearing them.

 

 

Back in the flat, Fred pours chicken flavoured Nibble Munch into a bowl. 

He addresses the cat. 'I’m not having cat litter or a cat tray, or a poop scoop or cat deodorant. I absolutely refuse.'  

He sluices his hands with green washing up liquid, working the foamy bubbles into his fingernails, hearing Nana’s voice in his head.  'Clean hands Fred, before you have your supper'. He dries them carefully and then goes back to the computer and begins to type, saying the words out loud as they form in the search bar. 

'How often do cats…'

The dropdown menu appears…

How often do cats poop

How often do cats pee

How often do cats need worming

'Worming.' 

The cat blinks at him.

'Maybe it’s better not to look. Good grief. There are cats which are trained to wee in the toilet. I am not teaching you to do that, you can go outside like any other self respecting moggy.' 

 

 

*********

Thank you so much for all the pledges, and for spreading the word.

Since I last posted there have been many new members of the team, so I'd like to say a particular thank you to all of them.

Janey Robinson, Suzie Shinnie, Shirley Muir, Anna Trimmings, Becci Davis, Åsa Söderman, Sarah Lambert, Margaret Scott, Debbie Orr, Ella Smith, Elizabeth Streeter, Julie Odell, Jill Shepherd, Julia Duffield, Veronica Martin, Isobel Murdock, Judy Wilmot, Freylyn Close, Sumitra Lahiri, Rebecca Slowley, Riki Kongtong, Claire Jaffe, Katherine Hegarty, Ruth Butterworth, H A Topping, Rachel Gibbs, Janet Taylor and Amelia Hodson.

 

This is a public Shed update, so please Tweet it, FB it and email it to anyone who might be interested, it definitely helps!

 

Many thanks,

Natalie

Chapter excerpt - meet Fred.

Hello again. 
As I write this, above the gubbins which says "Write a new blog post", there is a green disc which shows me that we have raised more than half of the pledges needed to make this book into a published novel.

You can probably see it too.  

In among the slivers which make up the dark green wedge are pledges by Unbounders, by friends and family, and by people I have only met online, not in person. Isn't the internet amazing? 

I've been asked many questions since I started this process, so I thought I would try to answer two of them. 

Q - Where did you get the idea?

A - From this.

 <img alt class="doksoft_image_img" height="375" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0728/3615/3620/files/P1110026.jpg?v=1690908480" width="500">

This is my own Singer 99k. It was made in 1923, in Clydebank. The "k" stands for Kilbowie, which was the name of the factory. I use it for most of my dressmaking, hemming curtains, and repairing torn clothes.

I confess to having a bit of a sewing machine habit (I have nine of them, all second hand) and this one is my favourite. It's always ready to use, no fuss, no glitches. I even used it to sew on the waistband of my husband's otherwise handstitched kilt. Six layers of tweedy wool, no problem at all. 

 

Q - Pen or computer?

A - Both.

The actual writing is done on a computer. I use Scrivener, Pages, Pinterest and Evernote. 

All my research notes are written longhand. I have an extra large Moleskine, the one with the soft cover, and this goes with me everywhere. Inside it you will find scraps of dialogue overheard on trains, notes from a TV programme or two, and an AWFUL LOT of Arithmetic. 

Writing a novel which covers such a long timespan means that not only do the characters have dresses and dinner and dirty knees, but they also have birthdays. I have to make sure that nine year olds aren't getting married, that 62 year old aren't having babies, and that across the generations the major events in the world are happening at the right time. 

Oh yes, and there are a lot of notes about the weather. Summer 1911 boasted a record-breaking heatwave which went on for months. Can you imagine walking about in a full length dress, and a corset, and gloves in blazing sunshine? 

I also use a Filofax (which actually appears in the novel for a cameo performance) to help me with the plotting part of the process. Thank goodness for those six rings.

 

I'd like to say a personal thank you to all of these new pledgers... (and everyone else)

Rachel Jonat, Dianne Blackett, Ann Kingstone, Jan Eaton, Yvonne Davies, Sheila Dunn, Christelle Rigeur, Sam Johnstone, Nurhanne Reckweg, Amy Roberts, Nikola Howard, James and Moira Fergie, Lucy Burns, Karen Vernon-Parry, Jane Lithgow, Fran Kennedy, Kayleigh Bohan, Susan Livingstone, Terri Tester, Deborah Skelton, Erica Preston, Caroline Mersey, Elaine Sundstrem, Lyndis Clarke, Siobhan Sheilds, Ingrid Curl, Valerie McColl, Claire Hardie, Lindsay Roberts, Jennifer Romero, Susan B, Catriona Balmer, Ruth Huskisson, Helen Wherrett, Hilary Campbell, Maggie Vaughan, Sarah Sandow, Lucy Ribchester, Janet Freeman, Cat Widdowson, Heather Corbishley, Will Dean, Kersti Anear, and Vicky Osborne.

 

At the bottom of this post there are "share" buttons for Twitter and Facebook. 
It would be a HUGE help if you would tweet, FB or simply forward this email to anyone who may be interested.  
Unbound also tell me it's possible to give the book as a gift, by doing this...

 
"Open an account with any email, although there isn’t a ‘confirm your account’ email, the receipt for purchase will be sent to the email on the account as will any other communication, and they won’t necessarily know the password so won’t be able to log in (although they can reset the password on the account using the email). 
Credit card details are only stored (by our payment provider, not us) if the user selects that option on the tick box at checkout.  
You could forward a book to a recipient – that would work too. 
You can also just open an account and pledge for a book but put someone else’s name in the back (you can adjust the name in the back in your account on a per pledge basis)."  
 

I hope you all had a good Easter. 

Books are calorie free, and far healthier than all that nasty chocolate. 
 
Thank you again,  
Natalie

Books are better than chocolate!

This bestselling novel by Natalie Fergie has sold over 100,000 copies
'A tapestry of strong characters and accomplished writing' Herald Scotland
It is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again. Decades later, in Edinburgh, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her.
More than a hundred years after his grandmother’s sewing machine was made, Fred discovers a treasure trove of documents. His family history is laid out before him in a patchwork of unfamiliar handwriting and colourful seams. He starts to unpick the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.
Five-star reader reviews:
‘The book is simply wonderful and the ending is perfect… I can’t wait to read more from this author’
‘Beautifully told… I couldn’t put it down once the story started to unfold’
‘Even though I turned the last page a while back, is still resonating now and I expect it will for some time to come. A stunning debut novel’
‘An absolute delight… heartwarming and unpredictable’

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