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Very misty eyed and proud to see Natasja’s star continue to rise today. After her appearance in Bella and the Sunday Mirror, BBC Radio Four contacted me requesting an interview with Natasja.

You can listen to it here. http://goo.gl/kNO49 at 09.53 minutes in. She does so well and doesn’t sound at all nervous, as I would be! A very good interview about the power of love.

We have had This Morning also hoping for an interview with Natasja when she returns from America. She’s very much looking forward to a sofa session with Holly and Phil!

Next stop, Hollywood? I’ll be fending off calls from Angelina Jolie soon, wanting to play Natasja in a Hollywood remake of her incredible life. Watch this space…

I’ve been working with the lovely Natasja on her incredibly unusual story. Natasja didn’t have the easiest start in life – her mother died when she was a baby, her father was in prison. After a few years in foster care she was adopted, age four. A longing to know her roots never left Natasja, who spent every waking moment wondering who her real family were. She searched high and low for her long lost brother, eventually finding him serving a life sentence for murdering a drug dealer in America.

Natasja didn’t flinch – Laurence was her brother and she still loved him. She is now in regular communication with him and in a few week’s time, is flying out to meet him for the first time since they were babies. Her unwavering loyalty has brought joy to Laurence’s life and given her the family ties she always longed for.

Here’s what Natasja said about working with Phoenix Features:

“You have been sensitive, efficient and extremely proactive in placing my story. You have been communicative and informative and it has been a pleasure doing business with you.”

I am about as good at writing this blog as I am remembering that I have a Twitter account. Oh modern technology, I can not keep up with your many ways of communicating!

Happy New Year to everyone. We at Phoenix Features hope you have enjoyed the festivities and are looking forward to the challenges and opportunities of 2012 with aplomb.

The office is on a detox following a particularly lavish Christmas. There are a lot of smoothies and oat cakes going around, and no chocolate in sight. In other news, we’re working on some really fantastic stories already this year and are looking forward to many more.

My photographer, Gareth, and I spent Saturday at a Wacky Warehouse celebrating Christmas… despite it being closer to Halloween! The magazines tend to work a few months ahead of schedule so when That’s Life magazine gave our client Susan a Christmas Life Line, we had to pretend Christmas had come early. Susan’s son, William, was born with Down’s Syndrome and in the early days, Susan felt like she was the only mum in the world with a child with special needs. So she set up a support group and now people all across the country are connected. That’s Life hosted a Christmas Party for William and his many friends. There was face painting, a ball pond, an obstacle course and Santa even turned up to give out pressies. It was a lovely day which made me equally frazzled and broody!

Look out for the story in a Christmas issue of That’s Life, coming soon.

If you, or someone you know, would like a Lifeline, you can email lifeline@thatslife.co.uk

Every year, the shops start their onslaught of Christmas jingles, baubles and brussel sprouts earlier and earlier, don’t they? We’ve no sooner recovered from Halloween and the sleigh bells start ringing. Well, at the magazines, Christmas starts even earlier. In fact, by the time it actually is Christmas, the magazines are commissioning stories about Valentine’s Day. By Valentine’s Day, we’re looking for summer holidays. It can all get very confusing.

So right now, we’re looking for all things festive. We love stories about families experiencing a particularly happy time this Christmas, or funny stories about Christmas going wrong. Maybe you burnt the Christmas dinner or are allergic to sprouts. (Who isn’t?) We’re also looking for more serious stories – maybe you left your husband on Christmas day after years of dreaming about another life, or maybe you donated all your Christmas presents to a good cause. Whatever your story, if it’s got a fairy at the top of the tree and Santa on his sleigh, we want to hear it. You can email ideas to kim@phoenixfeatures.co.uk