Hello friends. A few words about me for the benefit of new readers. I am devoted to Land, Stars & Mystery. I explore connections between human and other-than-human and weave Nature, myth and magick into my offerings. I am a certified Western Astrologer and Life Coach. I’ve been reading star maps for over two decades. Currently, I am researching LUCK🍀 and how it shows up and plays out in the birth chart. My books are OPEN for readings in October.
When I was ten years old I started writing romantic novellas in soft-covered composition books that I would copy by hand and give to friends. They were simple stories at first, populated by dark-eyed smugglers, bored princes and runaway ladies. Then when I was in high school and obsessed with Kathleen Winsor’s Forever Amber and Karleen Koen’s Through A Glass Darkly they evolved into sagas.
I loved writing those stories of intrigue, love, magic and passion. My heroines were described as feisty and sassy and had names like Sloane and Vixen. All were adventurers and expert horse riders of course, skilled in sword fighting and fluent in several languages. I gave that up at some point and focused on becoming a lawyer because I was obsessed with L.A Law (television series) and because like most people, I had to choose a practical, and “well-paying” job. I was also “guided” into this career choice by our school counsellor after a personality test. Regrettably, schools don’t employ astrologers for career guidance.
By the time I graduated I had given up on both law and teaching as careers and got a job in finance.
The years passed. As they do. In a flash.
My heart longed for deeper creativity. My hands reached for pens, twitched for the feel of smooth paper …
I wanted more than anything to find at the end of a working day hands stained with ink, notebooks filled with daily observations and computer pages of stories.
But there were always more pressing things. I got married at twenty three. There was the gift of nurturing and tending to my two sons and my ailing paternal grandmother who lived with us. There was the job that helped pay the bills. There was the cooking and the cleaning. There were friends to meet and entertain on weekends.
I wrote in stolen moments of course, as so many writers do but I didn’t willingly make big sacrifices for my craft - which this work demands.
In my late thirties after a decade of coaching and mentoring others, I wrote my first self-help book and it was accepted by an imprint of Random House. This was November, 2008. I finished my manuscript and handed it in only to be notified that they had changed their minds (they actually invited me to sue them) and would not publish an unknown author in that economic climate (The Great Recession). I didn’t pursue legal action.
Instead, I did something that was so contrary to the advice I was giving others - I gave up on my publishing dream. For the next decade I wrote magazine articles and as some of you know, focused on growing my digital marketing business.
But the heart knows what it wants and the longing to share my experiences, thoughts and stories with a wider audience returned in my late forties and now at 54 years old, I get to announce that I am collaborating on a book with my beautiful friend,
and our book will be traditionally published by O Books in early 2026.Return to Spring, Becoming Yourself in Midlife is a memoir style book as we both take turns in this book to share our life stories and midlife journey so far.
It feels so incredible to share this with you!
Thank you for being here. 💗
Thank you for your emails and comments. Thank you for your good wishes and prayers. I am much better and am easing back into “normalcy” which includes slow walks in the forest. Here is a pic of me reaching for a blackberry and a foggy morning last week.
My books are open again but only for OCTOBER readings. If your birthday is this month or next month, you can book your SOLAR RETURN here. Click on below image for more testimonials.
You really are a fabulous writer Yolanda, you deserve this so much, I will be the first to order or buy the book. Huge Congratulations , Jane x