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After all, we all want to share our vision but we also want to sell! The majority of aspiring writers write consciously or unconsciously from their own experience but (unless they are selling their work as a memoir) I want to help broaden their horizons and to teach the deceptively complex techniques which will turn the kernel of an idea into something polished and professional – and marketable. My aim is to be constructive and encouraging, but also to be pretty tough because there are no half-measures or short cuts in an incredibly overcrowded and competitive market. Not only does reading and critiquing the work of aspiring writers keep me learning the craft, it has honed my report writing skills and opened a fascinating door into the real and imaginary worlds of other writers who write for the love of it as well as with the ambition to be published. Primula has delivered workshops at the York Festival of Writing and Eroticon in Bristol on how to write sex scenes and Anastasia has taught general short story techniques.įind Anastasia on Twitter here: Primula on Twitter here: have worked for Jericho Writers for a number of years now, firstly as their erotica expert but since moving away from writing erotic romance myself I now enjoy assessing wide-ranging literary styles. Primula Bond is her alter ego and the successful author of the classy and explosive erotic romance trilogy The Silver Chain, The Golden Locket and The Diamond Ring, published by Harper Collins. Many of these are explored in her short story collection Stabbing the Rain and two novels (written under the pseudonym Maria Lucas) Daddy’s Girl and Loved Ones which are all available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon. She has two creative personae: as Anastasia she writes ‘human interest’ articles for The Times, The Daily Mail, The Lady and The Tablet where her schtick is to tackle, with humour and honesty, intensely personal topics such as single motherhood, older parenthood, living with multiple sclerosis, and life as a young English teacher in 1980s Cairo. She has worked as a temp, a nursery teacher and most recently a defence lawyers’ secretary.Īnastasia Parkes is an Oxford educated 50-something wife and mother of three living in Hampshire. Anastasia has an MA in English Literature from Oxford and has lived in London, Venice and Cairo.

The Golden Locket by Primula Bond