Archive for May, 2010
Saturday, May 29th, 2010
Losing Someone You Love
At some point in our lives, it’s something we all have to face. Whether it’s illness, a tragic accident or relationship ends – when someone important to you isn’t there anymore, it can feel almost impossible to bear and even harder to accept that they are gone.
We all go through it at some point – but how did it feel when you lost someone you cared for greatly?
This week, a close friend of mine died suddenly in his sleep. His name was Mark*, a handsome young artist, the original cheeky cockney boy, who was loved by everyone who met him.
For many years of my life, he and I were inseparable. He was the gay best friend every girl dreamed of. Hilarious, good-looking, charming and infectious to be around. He taught me about fake tan and high heels in a way that a big sister should have, how to flirt with men in cars and most importantly, how to appreciate art.
We’d dance in his kitchen to Sophie Ellis-Bextor songs, write love poems to each other then get them read out on radio stations, have endlessly silly nights out together and put the world to rights. Then last night, I got a call – he was gone. A heart attack after an illness he’d caught on holiday in India – just like that.
24 hours later, and I think already I’ve been through every emotion imaginable. Shock and disbelief at first, then the guilt at not being a better friend. Then anger for him leaving me to go to a better place. The truth is, I’m just so sad that he has gone.
No doubt I’ll feel all these emotions ten-times-over again, and eventually it’ll get easier. But how best to remember him? Doing what I know best – putting pen to paper right now, as Mark* would have expected me to. So, I’d like you to do the same.
At Famous Features, we deal with family tragedies, medical miracles and mishaps on a daily basis – and we do it well. Our clients often tell us that telling the story of their loved one, then seeing the story down in print is like a lasting memento of the person they have lost – ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’, and with so many worthy causes to donate to, you can raise money for a good cause too.
Through my work as a journalist, I’ve realised that feeling helpless after someone’s death doesn’t mean you have to sit and do nothing. You can remember your loved one in your own way. I’d love for you to write in, and tell us what that special person in your life meant to you, and I can’t wait to help you share your memories and photographs with everyone else that loved them too.
If this is something that you would like us to help you with, you can try putting those words down now via our online form at www.FamousFeatures.co.uk – I look forward to hearing from you.
Sally (sally@famousfeatures.co.uk)
*This name has been changed for privacy reasons.
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
LATEST STORY REQUESTS
We urgently need these stories right now…. (see story requests below).
Just go to www.FamousFeatures.co.uk to tell us if you would like to get paid to be in any of these real life stories or features. Send us your details by filling in our online form (located at www.FamousFeatures.co.uk).
You can also get in touch if you have any other stories that you would like us to consider. Your real life experiences and true stories could earn you cash; sell a story now.
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Story / Person Wanted: Please email us any funny / wacky / bizarre / feel-good / upifting stories.
Where the Story will Appear: Woman’s weekly magazine article.
Story / Person Wanted: We are looking for women who have been ‘functioning addicts’ in the past.
Where the Story will Appear: Woman’s weekly magazine feature.
More info: We are looking to interview women between the age of 18 and 35 who have held down a professional job in the past, whilst being addicted to a drug or alcohol. Perhaps they were addicted to cocaine – and had to go to the toilets to take coke at work – or perhaps they could only get through their working day by drinking a bottle of vodka.
Story / Person Wanted: Wedding stories – wacky wedding / weddings from hell / record- breaking wedlocks.
Where the Story will Appear: Woman’s Glossy Magazine Story.
Story / Person Wanted: Good first person stories.
Where the Story will Appear: Woman’s Glossy Magazine Story.
More info: We are after some good, emotional first person features and stories.
Criteria: Women aged mid 30-mid 60, family minded, very ordinary.
Story / Person Wanted: Victims of IVF Blunders.
Where the Story will Appear: National Newspaper Story.
More info: Responding to the news that IVF blunders have risen by 85 per cent in the last year, we are seeking couples (willing to be identified) who have been victim to a blunder themselves. Incidents could include, lost embryos, mis-matched eggs and sperm, embryos given to the wrong couple…
If you have access to anyone who has found themselves in this position, we’d really like to hear from you.
Saturday, May 1st, 2010
FAMOUS FEATURES BLOG
By Alexandra McGowan for Famous Features
‘You say tomay-to, I say tomar-to,’ goes the classic sung by jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
Here in the Famous Features office, we feel like we’re living that song on a daily basis.
This week, there’s been a potent mix of: Crawley (Sally) Germany (Stef), Newcastle (boy Joe), Essex (girl Jo), Glasgow (Lorna) and Manchester (me), all in the one office.
What a melting pot of accents and dialects, and a great excuse to poke fun at each other.
‘Here you gan, pet,’ read one of my emails on Monday. Joe had sent me something to edit, and apparently that was Geordie for ‘Here you go, love.’
‘Nay bother,’ trills our lovely new girl Lorna as she speaks to people about their incredible real life stories, as we sell them to national newspapers and magazines.
‘It’s DAIN-GEROUS!’ exclaims our editor, Sally Windsor, who hails from Crawley but often slips into a sairf-London drawl.
We have concluded that no-one uses the word ‘Wally’ apart from her, either. Is that a suvvern fing as well?
Stef constantly impressed us with her ability to interview in English professionally and completely fluently, before babbling away on her mobile if one of her German friends called her.
And girl Jo? ‘Alright my darlin’’ she drawls in her dulcet Colchester tones. Even though she doesn’t wear white heels, she’s Essex through and through.
The differences between us all lead to no end of hilarity and confusion. For example, when Lorna thinks someone is attractive, we think she’s saying that they’re ‘fat’ – because that’s how it sounds when she says ‘fit’. Jokes!
Do you have a funny story to tell about accents and dialect? Did you meet your now-hubby, who has a completely different accent to you, through a funny misunderstanding down to the different ways you spoke?
Or has an accident left you with a completely different accent, as in the case of Sarah Colwill, who now speaks with a Chinese accent after experiencing chronic migraine pain?
It’s an unusual story, and one that we would be able to sell for a great fee to one of the women’s magazines, or national newspapers.
Get in touch with your funny accent stories – we can’t wait to hear them, whichever part of the country you’re from!
