MORE and more women are indulging in the fantasies of erotic novels, especially in Mackay.

Books like bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey have sent women and men into a frenzy about the often taboo subject of sex.

Author Brooke McReynolds, who writes under the nom de plume Maggie Brooke, has turned her sultry short story The Guided Tour into a book, which was released in March.

"People kept saying sex sells," Ms McReynolds said.

"So I thought I'd give it a go.

"Readers can expect romance, adventure and some rollicking good sex."

People had always been reading erotica, Ms McReynolds said.

"Authors have always been writing it," she said.

"No one admitted to reading it or sometimes even writing it.

"It's a guilty pleasure.

"Movies and TV are getting more explicit so why not books?"

This isn't the first time Ms McReynolds has written about eroticism.

"I wrote and sold two erotic short stories to an Australian magazine about 10 years ago," she said.

"I have thought of my audience as women.

"Because I haven't talked about erotic novels with men, I'm not sure how many have read it. But there's nothing stopping them.'

Not only is Ms McReynolds a writer, she's also a midwife.

"I spend half time my time nursing and the other writing," Ms McReynolds said.

"I moved to Mackay around 30 years ago from Kansas in the US.

"I've lived here on and off since then.

"I moved to Australia because I needed to be warm and I got a job offer."