Fiction by Julia Parker

Julia has published two romantic novels. Hearts of Fire came out in 1995 (Piatkus) and tells the story of two young girls in the closing decade of the 19th century: precise, reserved Emma and fiery, passionate Lizzie. Emma, the daughter of a London cobbler, becomes companion and friend of elderly Lady Alston at her Kensington home, while Lizzie, her father a naval captain, is a reluctant student teacher in Plymouth. The two girls could not be more different, but their accidental meeting develops into a friendship which changes both their lives. Emma finds romance with Eustace, a clumsy young man who becomes tutor to Lizzie's brother. Lizzie finds her own romance in an unexpected quarter. As the century ends, the two girls challenge the conventions of class and wealth and look forward to life as business partners.

The Stars Shine Bright (Piatkus) takes up the story of Lizzie's daughter Alice, whose ambition to become a dancer disrupts the life of her loving home. Clashing with her mother, she runs away and lives hand-to-mouth in the slums of London while beginning to make a career in the theatre. For some time she is unsuccessful; then makes the long journey to America, and after appearing on Broadway travels even further - to Hollywood, where she makes it as a film star, and makes it too with the greatest star of his time, Rudolph Valentino...

Neither book, sadly, is yet available in the US.

AND ON THE WILDER SIDE...

And if you want to make the leap from romantic fiction to something raunchier - and even perhaps fancy your chances as a writer - why not try Derek's Writing Erotic Fiction? This has been described as the best book of its kind, and apart from explaining how to write the best kind of sexy novel, is also an extensive anthology of adult erotic writing - not for the faint-hearted! Published in the UK by A. & C. Black and in the US by Marlowe & Co.