April 2021 has been a very productive and successful month. Plenty of DH content published, the celebration of Disability Horizons tenth birthday, got my first commissioned story published and… I had a trip to the pub – I’m starting to feel like the only way is up!
Disability Horizons
I’m so glad I keep a log of all my DH work for both my editor and I to refer to as there has been so much this month.
At the beginning of April, we had ten days of celebrations to mark our 10th birthday on 10th April. We had many articles, social media posts, videos and competitions throughout the week.
Check out my blog post Celebrating 10 years of Disability Horizons, which includes my personal story reflecting over my time at DH, plus links to our other birthday content.
On the day itself, we had a virtual team party, which was great fun. My highlight, of course, was winning the music game after recognising Rope by Foo Fighter in one second!
Following our birthday celebrations, I published an interview with CBBC’s Commissioning Editor Kez Margrie, who happens to be a wheelchair user.
I also published three news stories too:
- Disabled comedian Rosie Jones stars in new travel series Trip Hazard: My Great British Adventure
- Access Card recognised at UK theme parks – get a DISCOUNT with Disability Horizons
- Paralympian Kadeena Cox MBE and former Corrie actress Melissa Johns join the line-up for Celebrity MasterChef 2021
In addition, I’ve spent the past week uploading blog posts to the Disability Horizons Shop, which includes advice pieces and reviews on the products we sell.
All my Disability Horizons content is now available to view in one place on the Emma Purcell Author’s page. This link can also be accessed on the “Disability Horizons” button on the menu page on the left of this site.
My featured content, product articles and sponsored posts for Disability Horizons can be viewed in my Journo Portfolio.
To read my latest news stories, interviews and featured articles on a regular basis, as well as browse other content from the rest of the amazing DH team, subscribe to the Disability Horizons newsletter.
Pitching & Publishing
As many of you know, I’ve been trying to pursue this freelance journalism career for over 18 months, but it has taken time due to other work commitments, available time and finding story ideas.
But this month, I finally found the time, idea and motivation to pitch a story. Friday 16th April was Audio Description Awareness Day and as you may know, I’ve been campaigning for AD on all pre-recorded content.
I decided to do research on how much audio description each UK TV network and streaming service provide and the reasons why not all content have AD. I also asked some well-known blind people their experiences of accessing AD.
After three weeks of gathering quotes, statements and statistics, I wrote up a pitch and sent simultaneous submissions to TV and disability publications.
Within a few hours of submitting my pitch, PosAbility Magazine accepted my pitch and my article – Report: audio description missing from three-quarters of Netflix content -was published on Friday 16th April. A print version is scheduled to be published in June/July 2021.
This has given me more confidence to pitch more stories and I’m already making preparations for my next idea – stay tuned!
Pub trip
Now I know this wasn’t the most extravagant event but after a year of being pretty much housebound, it was a relief to be let free and enjoy a drink at the pub.
It was my parent’s anniversary, so I offered to buy them a drink to celebrate. Plus, I got to wear my new Disability Horizons T-shirt with pride.
Music
Finally found out that the My Chemical Romance gig in Milton Keynes has now been postponed until May 2022. It wasn’t really a surprise and I’m kind of relieved as I hadn’t arranged a hotel or PA support.
However, I’ve managed to book tickets to see Biffy Clyro in Southampton this November – fingers crossed!
Books
I’m now on book five of Septimus Heap. They are getting more dramatic with several different events happening at once.
I wouldn’t say this is one of my favourite book series but as I’ve read this much, I’m eager to find out how it ends.
TV
Despite having so much work on, I still managed to watch a lot of TV this month. I finally finished Buffy the Vampire Slayer on 31st March.
It was a dramatic ending and definitely not what I expected. I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t see a one month or one year later scene to find out where the gang go next.
I’m planning to watch the spin-off series Angel soon but need a break from vampires, demons and monsters.
Although just before that, I spent Easter bank holiday weekend binge watching the entire box set of Stranger Things. It is by far my favourite Netflix Original series.
As we were still in lockdown and I wanted a weekend free from work and eating takeaways and chocolate, I thought binge watching my favourite show would be the best thing.
I then watched Raising Dion on Netflix, which is about a young boy called Dion who has superpowers and him and his Mum Nicole find out the truth behind Dion’s father’s death. I thought it was quite good and had a Stranger Things element to it.
When I published my article about audio description on PosAbility, I found out all Amazon Originals had audio description. This is technically still not true as there were some that still didn’t.
However, I’ve still managed to watch three series on Amazon Prime Video this month.
Firstly, my friend suggested The Wilds, which is about a group of teenage girls who think they’re travelling to a summer retreat in Hawaii when their plane crashes and they’re stranded on a deserted island. When actually the plane crash was set up and the girls have been sent there deliberately left on the island.
It was a dramatic and intense show and so bingeworthy that I finished it in three days. There was an explosive cliff-hanger too, so I can’t wait for series two.
The second show I watched was a comedy series called Forever, which is about a couple called Oscar and June who lived a boring, predictable life when they suddenly die in two separate freak accidents and end up back together in an alternate after life world. It was good and a nice easy, relaxing watch.
I’m now currently halfway through watching The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, a comedy drama that is set in New York City in the late 1950’s.
It is about a young woman who lived as a housewife but after her husband had an affair, she discovers she has a talent for stand-up comedy.
This also very bingeworthy and both funny, dramatic and emotional. It’s also interesting to what life was like in the 1950’s in America.
If you can suggest any other TV shows or films with AD on Amazon Prime Video, I’d really appreciate it.
Audio Description petition
My campaign for audio description has continued throughout April 2021.
Since my article on PosAbility got published, the petition has now gained an outstanding 225 more signatures, making the total 2798 signatures, which is incredible!
But I’m eager to reach thousands. The more signatures we get, the more likely changes could be made within the TV & films industries. Please, please, PLEASE continue to sign & share my petition!
Guest Bloggers Wanted
I’m still eager to collaborate with even more bloggers in 2021. So, if you’re a lifestyle, disability and/or music blogger, send me your blog stories. Plus let me know if you’d like me to feature on your blog as a guest blogger.
I’m flexible with any type of blog posts; life story, disability awareness, music event, musician promotion – basically anything to do with life, disability or music!
In addition, I have a guest blog series called “RFD Question Time with…” where I interview disabled people and/or bloggers. If you’d like to be interviewed in this series, please also contact me.
Blog post roundup
In case you missed any of my blog posts this month, here is a roundup of them:
5 favourite blog posts
Here are my 5 favourite blog posts I’ve read this month:
- Redefining the word ‘independence’ at My life, Kerry’s way
- I am officially an employee at Hannah’s Hope
- Finding the balance between sharing the positivity and reality as a disabled person at Life of a Blind Girl
- Chasing my tail thanks to a beautiful puupy called Kip at Despite Pain
- Driving with a Disability: What to do if you Break Down at Simply Emma
Yay! Congratulations Emma on your commissioned piece! Looking forward to seeing what you get up to next month! 🙂