Natasha Lukin loves life and never misses a chance to be challenged. She has been a human biologist, strategic psychology practitioner, NLP life coach, health educator and enrichment speaker for the Royal Caribbean.
An unusual twist in Natasha Lukin’s life has happened recently. It is a quantum leap from being a scientist and psychologist authoring serious self-help books into the writer of psychological thrillers.
She writes ultra-modern romance, crime and punishment stories, encompassing current digital culture, where people not just getting connected by a click of a finger on their digital device, but where dating, love and life itself happen in the virtual world, and then what becomes of it when they meet and connect in a real life.
Natasha’s sharp razor-like cut into the new reality uncovers the fact that we subconsciously prefer to ignore. The fact that - whether we like it or not –people often pay a heavy price for the illusional unrestrained freedom of choices. When temptations are too great to resist, so are the consequences.
Lukin’s writing is energetic, with tangible pulse and fast rolling and unfolding of the events leading the characters to the point of no return and then to culmination and often to inescapable demise.
Lukin also has her non-fiction books on psychology and natural medicine published before she turned to her passion for fiction novels.
Originally from Moscow, Russia, Natasha lives and works in Australia, and all her fictional events happen in her favourite city of Melbourne, where she resides for the last 30 years.
Lukin's detailed life story
I remember my childhood in the USSR, where I grew up in the beautiful town of Sukhimi by the Black Sea. That Sea supplied us with the yummiest fish such as mullet, little surmullet, horse mackerel and flounder. As soon as they were unloaded from the fishermen’s boats they went straight to our kitchen. We used kerosene devices for cooking, hot water was boiled in them too, but we didn’t know any better and we were happy with what we got.
We rode our bikes to go for a swim with no supervision; we collected mussels on the beach and ate them. We had an excellent school and wonderful teachers whose names I will remember forever.
The society was multicultural, and nobody cared whether you were ethnic Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Greek (lots of Greeks lived there), Abkhazian, Chechen or something else.
Well, it’s all long gone, and my heart is aching for half-ruined Sukhumi. Due to the blood and hatred between nationals, hundreds perished in the war, thousands fled their homes leaving all their belongings behind. It was so incredibly sad.
After graduating from school, I made my way to Moscow and because of my excellent school records (I was awarded a Gold Medal, 20g of pure 14-carat gold!), I was accepted to the most prestigious Moscow State Lomonosoff University. My field of studies included various aspects of biology such as human physiology, biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, epidemiology, psychology and many others.
My first job was a junior scientist in a biochemistry laboratory at the major trauma and orthopaedic hospital. However, I soon discovered my natural calling that was creative and popular psychology writing.
I did more studies and became a journalist and the author.
I worked as a reporter and scriptwriter for news and current affairs on Moscow television, including the popular in the late 80s – early 90s program Good evening, Moscow!
I also was a freelance journalist for various Soviet newspapers and magazine and authored several non- fiction books, all in the Russian language.
In 1992 I was offered a part-time job as a Russian language tutor at the University of Melbourne, which led me to relocate to Australia. Therefore, I started my new life with teaching Russian at the University of Melbourne. Then I had don a course in Interpreting/translating art the RMIT and got accredited by NAATI as a professional interpreter/ translator. For the next ten years, I worked as a Health Educator for the Cancer Council of Victoria.
That was a completely new life, a new beginning. I was overwhelmed by living in the different environment. I constantly observed how this society operates. I paid attention to my own feelings. Meeting other migrants I saw their ways to adjust to the new life in the new country. Out of all those feelings and observations, a desire to put it all in writing came over me like a giant ocean wave. I had to put in on a paper. But I wanted to make it interesting, intriguing, captivating - I wanted it to be a fiction story based on my new, many and varied experiences as a Russian and Australian. THat is how my first novel The Bride from Moscow was born.
Currently, I live in Melbourne, being self-employed as an NLP life coach, lifestyle and positive psychology practitioner. I am very passionate about helping people to stay younger for longer by applying my Lukin Longevity System.
I have a few more books in my pipeline and hope to publish them soon
