Award winning erotic fiction writer Tracey O'Hara has claimed that erotica is not porn and it just gives both men and women the opportunity to explore their own sexuality.
O'Hara, who publishes erotic romance under the pen name "Tracie Sommers", told the Sydney Morning Herald that they are stories which contain graphic sex scenes but narratives also centre as much around the mental and emotional journey of the characters as they do about the physical side of things.
O'Hara is preparing to host her second how to write erotic fiction workshop at the ACT Writer's Centre and is hoping to help free the minds and emotions of Canberra's budding writers.
One of her goals of the weekend workshops is to encourage aspiring authors to look past the "vanilla" examples of erotica, like 'Fifty Shades of Grey', and start writting their own passionate novellas or sexy long-form stories.
She said that the biggest challenge for any wannabe EL James is learning how to construct and write a good sex scene.
