My latest Astro.com astrology article, Under the Gaze of the Gorgon: Awakening at 9 Degrees Gemini, was published today, marking the latest step in a writing journey that began when I was twelve years old and first realised I wanted to write.  What makes this article different from others I have written for the site is that I totally bypassed the astrology magazines and submitted directly to the Astrodienst editors. It was accepted immediately. That’s one for the books. As it were.

I posted about this on Facebook and Lynn Bell, one of the astrologers I most admire (I chose her to present me with my honourary PhD in India), commented, “You’re such a good writer, Alex there’s no surprise there.” I nearly cried. All right, I’ll admit it. I did cry.

Anyway, in this latest article, I refer to my first astrology article, “Gone With the Wind: The Zodical Parade” which was published twenty-two years ago and was my first contribution to the world of astrological literature. In it, I mentioned that 9 degrees of Gemini seemed to be a sort of flashpoint as Uranus was located at that degree at the start of the American Revolution, The Civil War and D Day. I remember how excited I was to see my research in print.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

But actually, my writing career started much earlier.

At twelve, I wrote a short story about a robot called Rallo who learned to play the piano, became better than his teacher, and then promptly self-destructed. My teacher loved it and read it out to other classes. I don’t remember the full story, but I remember the feeling — being taken seriously as a writer. That was enough.

I kept journals as a child, although not always truthfully. I had a habit of inventing increasingly outrageous entries, partly because I suspected my mother was reading them. She was. She shouldn’t have been. Even then, I understood that writing wasn’t just about recording life — it was about shaping it.

At university, I wrote for The Western Herald. I loved the physical act of writing — the rhythm of the typewriter, the focus it demanded. My roommates used to say, “there she is, writing again,” but they read everything I produced. I also took creative writing classes with Stuart Dybek and Stanley Crouch and I had a solid circle of writing friends that were always writing, sharing and critiquing.

When I moved to England, my American typewriter stopped working — wrong voltage. It felt oddly symbolic. The tools had to change if the work was going to continue. I scraped together the money for a word processor, then moved through PCs and Macs like everyone else. The tools evolved, but the writing didn’t stop.

Books, Books, Books

Growing Pains was written while I was teaching full-time — two chapters a weekend, steady and disciplined. Mirror Mirror came together during the pandemic, built on years of collecting ideas and biopics. Zeus on the Loose was written in thirty days during one of the most chaotic teaching periods I’ve ever had. I came home every day and wrote 2,000 words. No excuses. Last summer, when my roommate Christine visted me and came with me to an astrology conference where I was speaking (and selling my books), I asked her if she ever thought I would become an author, she said no. Oh well. I never said I wasn’t full of surprises!

Thanks to my publisher, Margaret Cahill at the Wessex Astrologer, Zeus on the Loose made it to a Waterstones launch in August 2025, where I became the first astrologer to give an author talk at a mainstream bookseller in central London. A quiet milestone, but an important one. AND YES I GET TO BOAST ABOUT THIS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Along the way, there were smaller moments that mattered — including an honourable mention from the ISAR Journal. Not a headline, not a defining moment, but enough to register that the work was being seen.

Today’s Astro.com article feels different. It connects directly back to my first published astrology article in The Astrological Journal in 2004. Twenty-two years later, the thread is still there — clearer now, perhaps, but unmistakably the same.

Thank you AI for making my dreams come true!!

And yes, I had some AI help with structuring this latest piece, but the ideas are mine. They always have been. Writing, for me, has never been about producing something out of nothing. It’s about recognising patterns, following them through, and having the discipline to finish what I start.

Mirror Mirror Back in Action on Instagram!

As if that weren’t enough for one day, I’ve also regained control of my Mirror Mirror astrology account after a fairly chaotic week — a small but meaningful victory.

And, rather neatly, today is Elton John’s birthday.

Rocket Man is about distance — about seeing your life from far enough away to understand what you’re actually doing. That feels appropriate.

Because that’s what this moment is.

Meanwhile, back in the classroom, I’ve landed in a genuinely excellent school — French back on the timetable, every child learning the trumpet, and, for once, being paid properly for the work I do. After last week, that feels like a turning point.

It would be easy to call this timing, or luck, or even fate.

But the truth is simpler.

I’ve just kept writing.