Wow – what a busy New Year it has been. I’ve hardly blinked and it’s February already.

So far we’ve moved to larger offices so that we’re no longer sat on each others laps. We’ve said goodbye to one of our original FF writers, Lorna Gray, who has taken a position at Pick Me Up magazine (we wish you all the best Lorna). We’ve got some new faces in the team.  Pre-Christmas, Joe Mellor took up the position of News Reporter and Isy Loynes (ex features editor at Full House and Take a Break Magazine) strengthened the features team. This year Christina Earle, a successful freelance journalist, has now become part of the FF fold too.  Everyone has settled in tremendously and we really are getting all of the best people under one roof.

What with all of these changes, we’ve just sold a record number of stories to the national magazines, newspapers and television companies, not to mention fitting in the launch of the new-look FamousFeatures website: www.FamousFeatures.co.uk

FamousFeatures Team - January 2011

The team are, from left:

Joe Mellor, Jo Burrows, Christina Earle, Isy Loynes, Frankie Cary, Sally Windsor, Ollie McAninch.

Apart from our permanent team, we are working with many freelance writers who provide us with great stories from the comfort of their own home, and we are growing our large network of tipsters and spies! Just email us if you’d like to be involved, or you have anything that we’d be interested in.

I’d like to send out a big, big thanks to all of the people who have come to us with stories.  Without you our agency wouldn’t be one of the top News & Features agencies in the UK.  We hope you agree that we are able to give you the best service and get you the best deals for selling your stories. Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, and earn £50 every time we use one of their stories.

Anyway, here’s to a successful 2011.  We’re all on the lookout for any great stories, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you want to sell a story.  You can reach us on the website, or via our story hotline 0845 83 88 555.

If you need some inspiration, check out our latest stories page: www.famousfeatures.co.uk/index.php?page=story_requests

Happy New Year.

Well, it’s just days away and the Famous Features office is a hub of festive activity and excitement. Frankie is about to dye her hair to match the baubles on her Christmas tree, Isy has just moved house, and acquired a few more flatmates than she expected, Jo Burrows is sitting pretty with the in-laws, Ollie is ’snowed in’ in Bath and as for Joe Mellor? Well, he’s sporting the kind of ‘Christmas Elf’-like haircut only a mother could love.

As for me, I’m looking forward to a madcap Christmas with my three-year-old daughter, her dad and my dad Bob, not to mention cooking my very first Christmas dinner for us all! Nervous, not much. It’s just like putting a chicken in the oven and sticking a few potatoes in, right? Perhaps more stresses will catch up with me nearer the day, but in the meantime I intend to relax, enjoy the merriment and watch a lot of rubbish telly!

From us all at Famous Features, thank you all for making this year an absolute belter for our ever expanding agency which, next year will see us taking over new premises, launching more websites and establishing ourselves as one of the UK’s leading agencies to sell your story.

Those who made it into the office...

You’ve been wonderful to talk to, and brought us tears of happiness and sorrow with your moving tales. Don’t forget where we are and have a very merry Christmas, and a fantastic 2011!

www.FamousFeatures.co.uk

We would like to wish Alex all the best and thank her for her dedication, great copy, roving-reporterness, and for being an all round great gal!

Good luck Alex!!!

Alex McGowan leaves Famous Features to take up a position within News of the World's Features Team

By Sally Windsor, FF Editor.

Today is my mum Brenda’s 70^th birthday. 70! She had me when she was 40, and I was always the one at school with the older mum. ‘Is that your granny?’ some of the other children used to say to me.   But I didn’t mind, in fact – I sort of liked it. It made me feel that my mum was special, which to me, she was of course.

Earlier this year, I celebrated my 30^th birthday with more of a whisper than a bang. Not really in the party mood in the snow of January, I settled for a family dinner and a DVD, rock and roll!   Mum however, will be having an outdoors party this afternoon in the garden with cupcakes galore. Here’s hoping it will be a birthday to remember, for all the right reasons.

Of course, everyone has had the kind of birthday that has not gone so well. When I was 11, I tripped over and cracked my front tooth. Then there was the neighbour who set their own house on fire – on their 40^th birthday. Can you imagine?!?  For good or bad, if you’ve had a birthday to remember, why not tell us about it?  If it was a day you’ll never forget for all good or bad reasons – we’d love to hear about it.

And if you’ve got a birthday around the corner, have a fabulous day – and don’t forget to send us a cupcake… buttercream icing please!

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘festival’?

Portaloos? Mudslides? Headline acts? The Great Unwashed? Good times? Or misery?

Love them or hate them, festival season is upon us.

I got my very own festival fix last month when I found myself surrounded by beautiful scenery, knee-deep in mud and watching one of my favourite bands ever.  I was at Rockness in the Highlands of Scotland, a little worse for wear and watching Debbie Harry strut her stuff on stage after what had been a fantastic weekend.   The traditional Scottish weather could’ve put a damper on the festivities as it poured down the majority of the time but in traditional festival goer fashion, we just got on with it.  At one point, I wore every item of clothing I had with me because I was so cold. I looked more Heather from Eastenders than the festival-chic  Fearne Cotton I was going for, but at least I was warm.

As veteran festival goers, we knew the tricks of the trade to make the weekend go hitch-free. We were stocked up with babywipes, raincoats and cereal bars.  So my friends and I had avoided any sort of festival faux pas but some people aren’t as lucky.  Who can forget the infamous ‘poo girl’ as she was cruelly dubbed after being stuck in one of the stanching Portaloos at Leeds festival last year?  And you don’t have to walk far to see some unfortunate person having a miserable time due to too much booze.

Or are festivals really the place dreams are made of?  Here at Famous Features, we want to hear all about your festival experiences.  Have you ever had a life-changing experience on one of those fields?  Maybe you met the love of your life… or even a rockstar. Or did your festival plans end up as dried up as last night’s leftover takeaway?  Good or bad story, we want to hear about it. Famous Features went down a storm at Glastonbury this year and now, we’d love you to share your festival story in one of the national magazines or newspapers for a great fee.

So get in touch with one of the Famous Features team today by emailing your story to sell-my-story@famousfeatures.co.uk, or call our story hotline: 0845 83 88 55.   If you’re lucky enough to have tickets for any of the upcoming festivals, have fun and don’t forget to look out for Famous Features banners!

By Alexandra McGowan for Famous Features

Don’t get me wrong, there are a number of incredibly wonderful things about being a woman.  We are able to carry children, multi-task, and spend a month’s salary on shoes without wasting time on silly emotions like guilt.

I think all of the above are pretty special!

However, there are times when being a woman is downright lousy – for a number of reasons.

One of them materialises once a month, every month…for most of our adult lives.  The dreaded…PMT (for any males, or women fortunate enough not to know what this is, it’s pre-menstrual tension).  It’s caused by an imbalance of hormones at the onset of a period, and usually lasts for a few days.

Most women get a bit down, use it as an excuse to pig out on chocolate, then carry on as normal.  But some women have to stay locked away in darkened rooms, such is the madness that comes upon them with the ‘monthly miseries’.

For too long, people have sneered at sufferers of PMT as being over-dramatic, or slightly unstable mentally.  But it’s not true. If your body is affected by hormonal changes, there is nothing you can do about it…except sit tight and ride the storm.

We’re interested in real life cases of severe PMT. Did it break up your marriage? Did you find yourself nearly snapping (verbally and perhaps even physically) at your children one day, because you were so irrational and upset?

If anyone understands what you’re going through, it’s other women, which is who we would love you to share your story with in one of the national magazines or newspapers.  You will be paid a great fee for sharing your story – and maybe it will reach out to someone else who has been affected in the same way you have.

So please get in touch with one of the Famous Features team today by emailing your story to sell-my-story@famousfeatures.co.uk,  or call our hotline: 0845 83 88 55

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.

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!

‘First Day Jitters’

Starting a new job can be pretty daunting so I was feeling suitably nervous when I began my first week as staff reporter at Famous Features last Monday. Now I’ve worked a variety of jobs in my time. In my late teens I worked at a garden centre and a chip shop – neither of which agreed my nails but I enjoyed them nonetheless.  So no horror stories there.  Unless you count getting slapped with a bit of haddock or having to dress up as an elf at Christmas…

During university, I worked at a popular high street clothes shop – heaven for me but don’t think my bank balance would agree. Then I entered the wondrous world of journalism. I can safely say – every day is a new learning experience and an adventure in this line of work. So it’s best to keep your wits about you at all times unless you want to look like a prize tool.

And the editors? Trust me – the ladies I’ve worked under mean business (one work experience boy went out at lunch and didn’t come back because he was so scared of one particularly scary news editor).  But I have a feeling this is going to be different. I’ve reached the end of my first week relatively unscathed (apart from the awful impersonations of my Scottish accent!). And I’m not fearful of getting hit by fish or having an embarrassing uniform forced upon me…not yet anyway.

Here at Famous Features, we’d love to hear about things that have happened to you in your workplace.  Have you got any horror stories you’d like to tell? Whether it be an affair with your boss or wars at the water-cooler – we want to hear about it! Tell us and get your story into print!

Me?

Run?

I don’t think so!

I’ve always liked to keep fit, but only with light-hearted forms of exercise – swimming, dancing, aerobics, nothing too hardcore, thank you very much.

The agonising cross-country sessions at school, where I trailed behind at the back, struggling to breath, had pretty much scarred me for life.

Or so I thought.

When my dad and his brother – my uncle Pete, were both diagnosed with cancer within a week of each other, I was terrified.

My dad’s was in his kidney. They removed the organ and the nasty disease with it.

But Pete wasn’t so lucky. He had bowel cancer. He fought it with such strength for a long time. But then it finally got the better of him and he died.

It was around this time I figured I needed to do something to acknowledge the good work of Cancer Research UK – who had saved my dad and done their best for Pete.

The Cancer Research UK Race For Life was being held in a park near my home – I knew it would be a massive challenge – but that’s what fundraising is all about, isn’t it?

Well, my first training run was a disaster – I actually didn’t make it to the end of the road before I collapsed in a heap.

The shame!

But I kept at it – I’m a stubborn one about most things, which always helps.

I started run/walking, and soon enough I was cutting out the walking bit.

I completed the run with my stepmum and had a fantastic day – the atmosphere was amazing.

I know it’s a leap, but from there I decided I needed to do the marathon – to really show my appreciation to Cancer Research UK and raise them some cash.

Whenever the training runs got hard, I thought of my dad and Pete and it was enough to keep me going.

I made it round in five hours last year, and this year I’m back for more.

Illness and an ankle problem mean I haven’t done as much training as I should’ve done, and I know it will be really hard on the day – but that’s when I’ll think of my dad and Pete, and let my stubborn side take over – I WILL make it round again, even if I have to crawl!

Here at Famous Features, we’d love to hear about things that have inspired you do so something; have you lost a loved one and done something in their memory? Tell us about it and get your story into print! We’ll always donate to your charity too if you’d like us to, so get in touch!