DianaOne of my clients recently emailed me to say that a biopic on the late Princess Diana that I helped to research had been very well-received by viewers.

The programme, which formed part of the well-known series roughly translated as Another Life, was screened on NHK-B in Japan to coincide with Prince William’s visit and the birth of Princess Charlotte, and apparently received some of the highest ratings the channel has ever had.

The email went on to say that:

Many of the viewers came back to NHK and commented on the depth of interviews and variety of the speakers who contributed to the show. Those did not happen without your hard and intelligent work.

Always nice to know that my efforts are appreciated!

Whilst I suspect that the rave reviews and sky high ratings had a lot to do with the continued star power of the royal family (and the birth of a certain princess), I’d also like to think that I tried my best to help produce a fitting tribute to an icon who I have admired since I was a child, despite the many people who refused to talk or who slammed the phone down in my ear. Having good sources also helped – and I am grateful to my sources for their suggestions and advice.

For those interested in astrology, I have written an article on the horoscope of the princess, inspired by my time working on the documentary, which can be found on my Astro-Insights blog, whilst an astrological profile of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge can be found on my main astrology website.

Cover thumbnailI recently had the pleasure of working on a book project for The Aspinall Foundation.

“A Life with Animals,” published in October 2014 (which also happens to be my birthday month!), was commissioned to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the wildlife charity. It tells the story in pictures of the 30-year old love affair between the eccentric but dedicated Aspinall family and the many animals and wildlife species they have reared, rescued and released back into the wild over the years.

It’s something I feel very proud and privileged to have worked on – not only was it thoroughly enjoyable to research and write about, but I feel very passionately about what the organisation is trying to achieve and hope that in some small way, I have helped to make a difference.

As well as writing the copy for each chapter, I also helped to select and shape the pictorial content, with plenty of guidance and feedback from Damian Aspinall and key members of the organisation, including photographer, Dave Rolfe and Amos Courage, Head of TAF’s Overseas Projects.

I know he gets a lot of bad press, but in person I must say I found Damian to be a charming and funny individual who is genuinely passionate about wildlife conservation and concerned for the welfare of animals in captivity everywhere. You can read the latest interview with him in the Telegraph about his views on zoo’s and their role in conservation – the article also contains selected images from the book. Many of these are from the Aspinall family’s private photo album, some of which have never been published before, so I highly recommend you buy a copy and have a leaf through – there are some truly magical moments captured in amongst its pages.

All proceeds from book sales go towards funding the incredible work of the organisation, so do consider it as a Christmas, birthday, thank you or anniversary present – it’s one of those gifts that keeps on giving. Copies are available to order at Waterstones and Amazon. However, the most straightforward way of purchasing your copy is by visiting the TAF Shop.

TNATC FRONT COVERI am very pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of the 1970’s astrology classic on the astrology of England’s civic corporations, updated and edited by yours truly!

The New Astrology of Town’s & Cities, published in association with the Urania Trust, takes the much-loved 1973 classic written by Harold Wigglesworth and brings it bang up to date.  Inside you’ll find an updated and extended list of the incorporation dates of England’s main towns and cities, together with key chart data (Sun, Moon, Ascending sign) for each town plus geographical co-ordinates, allowing you to easily construct your own charts for each place.

The book also contains other useful facts and figures, such as ceremonial county information, Domesday Book mentions as well as a juicy Notes section, outlining the historical development of key locations from ancient burgh to market town or major city, along with alternative dates for royal charters and other important events that have made their mark on the local history of an area as it has grown and metamorphosed over time.

A brand new introduction looks at the main astrological approaches to locational and mundane astrology, as well as defining key concepts, such as ‘burgh’ and  ‘county,’ as they apply to England in particular, and outlines the seminal dates affecting boundary changes and laws affecting the status of local civic bodies.

Drawings of several 20 key historically significant and important commercial centres, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, and Cambridge, have also been included.

In this way,   we hope it will become something more than an astrology reference book, also offering those curious about local history an interesting compendium of information they can draw on or dip in and out of when researching or reading up on the development of their own home town or area of interest.

A big thank you must go to all the Trustees of the UT for initiating the project and giving me the scope and support to give it a completely new lease on life, and to the Astrological Association for agreeing to the updated publication.

Our sincere gratitude must also be extended to Sue Findlay and the Wigglesworth family for so graciously endorsing the project. Next year will be the centenary of Harold Wigglesworth’s birth – he was born in May 1914  – so it seems fitting that the book should be revised and republished now.

Now available at the following outlets:

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