'Funny as hell. Formally inventive. Daringly concise' C. M. Taylor
They've all got a book in them, unfortunately.
In December 2016, Julia Greengage, aspiring writer and resting actor, puts up a poster in her local library inviting people to join a new writers' group. The group will exchange constructive feedback and 'generally share in the pains and pleasures of this excruciating yet exhilarating endeavour we call Literature'.
Seven people, each in their own way a bit of a work in progress, heed the call.
There’s Keith, a mercenary sci-fi geek who can write 5,000 words before breakfast and would sell his mother for a book deal. Tom, a suburban lothario with an embarrassing secret. Peter, a conceptual artist whose main goal in life is to make everyone else feel uncomfortable. Alice, who’s been working on her opening sentence for over nine months. Jon, a faded muso with a UFO complex. Blue, whose doom-laden poems include ‘Electrocuted Angel in the Headlights of My Dead Lover’s Eye Sockets’ and the notorious ‘Kitten on a Fatberg’. And Mavinder, who sadly couldn’t make the first meeting. Or the second. But promises to come to the next one…
Soon, under Julia's watchful eye, the budding writers are meeting every month to read out their work and indulge each other's dreams of getting published. But it’s not long before the group's idiosyncrasies and insecurities begin to appear. Feuds, rivalries and even romance are on the cards – not to mention an exploding sheep's head, a cosplay stalker, and an alien mothership invasion. They’re all on a journey, and God help the rest of us.
A novel-in-emails about seven eccentric writers, written by three quite odd ones, Work in Progress is a very British farce about loneliness, friendship and the ache of literary obscurity.
More information
Dan Brotzel, Martin Jenkins & Alex Woolf -
Dan Brotzel: My first collection of short stories, Hotel du Jack, is out early 2020. Winner, Riptide short story comp 2018. Asda Christmas Cracker gag champion, 2004.
Martin Jenkins: I'm a freelance writer, researcher and editor. My own publications include the experimental novel A New Science of Navigation and a contribution to the Soul Bay Press short story anthology 13.
Alex Woolf: I’ve written over 100 books for children and adults, published by the likes of OUP, Ladybird, Heinemann and Watts. Subjects I’ve tackled include sharks, asteroids, acne, chocolate, zombies and much else besides.
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Only a matter of a few days till Work in Progress (formerly Kitten on a Fatberg) is finally with us!
It's been a long wait, and we're so grateful to everyone for bearing with us.
The book is currently on its way to the printers, and we're busy preparing our signatures.
It's already been released in sneak-preview mode via mobile reading app The Pigeonhole, and we've been blown…
22nd September 2020Kitten on a Fatberg is no more (the title, that is)
Greetings Fatberg fans!
Our book is now scheduled for launch in the summer of next year. It's been a long wait, but there has so much to preoccupy everyone this year that the time has come round surprisingly quickly. In the meantime, we've made some great progress - and a surprising decision.
We've been working hard with our editor Martha. She and her colleague Hayley have done a fantastic…
5th May 2020New publication date
Hi everyone
First of all, we hope you are all staying safe and well during these tough times.
Apologises for the radio silence on the Fatberg front -- we've been waiting to hear from Unbound where things stand in the light of the current situation.
The good news is that the final manuscipt has been delivered, and we have now been allocated an in-house editor who will shepherd the book…
21st February 2020Hotel du Jack
In case you've not heard, Dan has recently published a debut collection of short stories.
It's called Hotel du Jack, it's published by Sandstone, and you can find all the details here: https://bit.ly/39TD8KQ
If you've already had a chance to look at it, Dan would really appreciate it if you'd consider writing a wee Amazon review - there's no purchase necessary or anything, and they can really…
17th February 2020MS delivered!
Greetings Fatberg fans!
Just to let you know that we have now delivered our final draft of the manuscript to Unbound.
Next we'll be assigned an editor and a publication date!
More news as it happens...
Alex, Martin, Dan
6th February 2020You've only gone and done it!
Bloody hell. One hundred per cent!
We can't believe it.
A massive thank you to everyone who has helped make Kitten on a Fatberg a reality!
We'll be back soon with details of what happens next.
But all we can really say right now is: thank you. Also Phew. And thank God for that. And: where's the gin?
But mostly just: thank you.
Dan, Martin, Alex
xx
9th January 2020Shut the front door! | Over 90%!
Amazing news - we are over 90% funded!
Thank you so much, everyone!
We shall be back in touch once we've stopped weeping...
D, M, A
19th December 2019New pledge levels to mark 80%!
Greetings #KittenHeads! (OK that sounds a bit odd, but then #FatbergHeads isn't great either...)
Thanks again to everyone who's helped us to flop over the 80% mark! We're really grateful for everyone who's made a pledge, helped spread the word, or put some work our way.
To mark the milestone, we've added a couple of new pledge levels..
Bespoke critique
Get practical feedback on your own…
11th November 2019How NOT to run a successful writers’ group
To mark Kitten on a Fatberg hitting the 70% funding mark, our characters have got together to offer a few tips for how to run the perfect writer’s group. (Please note that the following views are entirely their own, and do not necessarily represent those of their creators.)
Julia: I have five essentials for the perfect group evening. First, comfort: make sure your cushions have been restuffed…
5th November 2019Hitting the big six-oh: Blue and Jon pay tribute
Both in their different ways rather underwhelmed/disgusted by Peter's recent effort to commemorate our 60% milestone, two more of the charcters from Kitten on a Fatberg have put pen to paper to mark the moment.
Blue, our resident poet, has naturally turned to typically upbeat verse, while Jon, our resident conspiracy theorist, sees through to the 'true' meaning of the number...
Sixty…
5th November 2019Thoughts on reaching 66%
Hello world, it's Alice here, almost certainly the least prolific WRITER in the country if not the world, though perhaps what I lack in productivity I make up for in depth of insight into that condition, blessing, curse or disease - take your pick - that we call being a WRITER.
I want to thank all our supporters for helping us achieve another amazing milestone: 66%
I do love milestones, and…
20th October 2019A nice surprise!
I got this lovely note in my letterbox yesterday from an anonymous #KOAF fan on the back of a leaflet he delivered. Thank you! (and I am old enough to remember that song!) - Alex
17th October 2019Hitting the big six-oh: Blue and Jon pay tribute
Both in their different ways rather underwhelmed/disgusted by Peter's recent effort to commemorate our 60% milestone, two more of the charcters from Kitten on a Fatberg have put pen to paper to mark the moment...
Blue, our resident poet, has naturally turned to typically upbeat verse, while Jon, our resident conspiracy theorist, sees through to the 'true' meaning of the number...
A Diamond…
14th October 2019Thank you to our fellow Unbounders
We've been very lucky in recent weeks to get some support from some of our fellow Unbound authors, and in the process to find out more about the incredible variety of projects that are currently funding. Over the next few weeks we'll try and highlight a few...
Erica Buist's This Party's Dead is an extraordinary exploration of death festivals around the world, triggered by a heart-beaking personal…
10th October 2019We've hit 60%!
Thank you so much to all our wonderful backers who have got us this far.
In celebration of this important milestone, here is a little extract from the book. This is from Peter, the group's conceptual artist, whose main goal in life is to make everyone else feel uncomfortable:
From: peterpeterpeterpeter@gmail.com
To: Crawley Writers Group
Sent: 24.01.1, 12:12
Subject: Who took my…
9th September 2019Fifty Per Cent – a poetic tribute from Blue
Fifty Per Cent
50%?
That could mean a glass
Half full or
Half empty.
My favourite glass -
A memento from a
Goth Weekender in Whitby
Showing a view
Of the Abbey -
Is
BROKEN!
Smashed to a million pieces by
A careless cat.
The Whitby trip was nice:
I met Greg, looking good
In vampire drag, his eyeliner
Immaculate!
BUT
When we met up later in London
It became clear he was
A part-time…
2nd September 2019Can it be true? We've hit 50%!!!!
I cannot believe we are now on 50%. In other words, if my maths is correct, we are halfway there! The authors have informed me that my previous update to mark the occasion of 40% was a little ‘self-regarding’. They said I should show more ‘gratitude and humility’ this time. So with that in mind I would like to humbly and gratefully thank all the contributors who have pledged so far. Thank you each…
5th July 2019We have 130 backers!!!
Wow! Extraordinary! Our humble project now has 130 backers. That’s more than the number of words I’ve written in the past week! Thanks to every single one of you for your wonderful support. I can feel your collective love flowing through me, giving me strength! You believe in me, so maybe I can start to believe in myself, too!
Alice Knowles
I've just heard: 130 generous people have put…
3rd June 2019Congratulations! (what's my percentage?)
So now we’re on 40%. Who’d have thunk it! As the Arhythmic Tics of Planet Pi (Vol VI, Chapter 13) might cry, ¡thätzâlmøstfiftēę!
I’m proud to have played my part in getting us to this almost not quite halfway stage in our journey, even though I don’t totally agree with the way I’ve been portrayed in this book. Admittedly, those are my emails, but something is amiss evidently because they don’t…
2nd June 2019They Don't Want You To Read This (A message from Jonathan Armory-Wargrove)
40%! Woah! Help publish the books THEY don't want you to read! The Deep State vets ALL manuscripts submitted to regular publishers - FACT! Support the little guy and beat the Main Stream Media! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Jon
P.S. Also, demand full UFO disclosure now! Expose the COSMIC Conspiracy!
2nd June 2019Life Begins at Forty (a poem by Blue)
Life Begins at Forty
by Blue
They say that life begins at forty - don't make me laugh!
As the dread day approaches I feel like a giraffe
With laryngitis.
My creative juices will dry up and agglutinate
And people will say that it's age inappropriate
To have a full back tattoo of Robert Smith.
They say that life begins at forty, you'll feel free!
But that is not how it feels to me.
…
2nd June 2019Hitting the big four-oh!
We're delighted to tell you that we've hit the big four-oh - 40% funded at last.
Thanks so much to everyone who has pre-ordered a copy of Fatberg - we couldn't have got this far without you.
Some of the characters from our fictional Crawley Writers' Group have been threatening to add their own voices to the commemoration of this important psychological milestone. We can only apologise in advance…
5th April 2019Kitten on a Fatberg hits 30%! Thank you so much
We are delighted to announce that funding for the launch of Kitten on a Fatberg has now hit the 30% mark! We want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has pledged or helped to spread the word -- this is all your doing, and we couldn’t be more grateful.
Many of you don’t know each other, of course, so we thought it might be interesting to introduce a few of our amazing supporters…
As chair…
29th March 2019We have our 100th backer!!!
Great news! Our 100th backer came aboard yesterday! We're thrilled that so many people believe in the project, and want to see the Kitten sail. Blue, our resident Sylvia Plath, has written a poem to mark the occasion, which our lucky 100th supporter will receive exclusively for this weekend, before it receives its world debut on Monday.
28th March 2019Who will be our 100th backer?
99 wonderful, generous people have so far made pledges in support of our little project. Who will be the 100th??
In their honour, Blue has bared her tortured soul with a poem. It's called 'And the Number of My Pain is One Hundred'. I've read it and I can tell you, it's bleak, poignant, plaintive, elegiac, bleak. Everything you'd expect of Blue.
If you want to receive exclusive early-bird access…
11th March 2019We've hit 20%!
A huge thank you to all who have pledged so far in support of 'Kitten on a Fatberg'. We're absolutely thrilled to have reached 20% funding and are now more determined than ever to push on to 100%. There's been loads going on since we launched just over a month ago. We've had a write-up in the local press, and are shortly to be featured in 'Boundless' and the Society of Authors magazine. We've also…
9th February 2019Thank you!
Thanks so much to everyone who has helped us get to 10% of our funding milestone in our first week! We've been blown away by how generous people have been, and we really really appreciate it.
The fatberg has been having a bit of moment this week, what with the monster they pulled out of the sewers in Sidmouth, Devon, and the launch of a public info film disguised as a movie trailer, Fatberg Invasion…
