Australia's queen of erotica - Natasha Walker, author of the Secret Life of Emma - is actually a man

HER saucy and racy books have propelled Natasha Walker from a nobody to one of Australia's most prolific and successful writers of erotica. But she is actually a he...

John Purcell aka Natasha Walker

HER saucy and racy books have propelled Natasha Walker from a nobody to one of Australia's most prolific and successful writers of erotica.

But the author, who burst on to the literary scene with the series The Secret Life of Emma, has been harbouring a secret - "she" is a man.

John Purcell this week outed himself to the Australian Women's Weekly, revealing he is behind the trilogy that has sold more than 50,000 copies on the back of the Fifty Shades of Grey  phenomenon. The books have made him one of Australia's best-sellers of "mummy porn". The father of two told the Sunday Mail: "A long time ago it was women who weren't ever able to be published as writers. Now it's the other way around in the world of erotic novels.

"I started writing under Natasha's name because those sort of stories would only appeal to women if they knew a woman had written them. Like a secret club in a way."

The Secret Lives of Emma series - which follows a bored housewife and a young man next door - reached the Top 10 in the Australian fiction charts. The books saw Walker become the third-highest selling debut author in 2012.

Purcell said he became tired of his double life and balancing Natasha's racy side with his day job as the head of marketing and chief book buyer at Australia's largest online bookstore Booktopia.

"I was at times finding myself talking to other authors who would start bringing up Natasha's name and having to skirt around the issue," said Purcell. "I had to run separate social media campaigns for myself and Natasha."

Purcell said he had to thank E.L. James for his success as his stories were written years ago but he only managed to find a publisher on the back of James' novel.

"All of a sudden erotica was hot property, so I gave my big manuscript to my agent and the rest is history," he said.

But unlike the female character in Fifty Shades of Grey, the female lead in Purcell's books is in control.

"A lot of the feedback I've had (is) from women who didn't really like Fifty Shades as much," he said. "But they like the idea of Emma being the one with all the power."

Purcell said he was still considering whether to pursue his double life as Natasha, but is also keen to now publish further under his own name.

Meanwhile, Adelaide fans of erotic romance will be able to meet international best-seller Sylvia Day at the launch of her latest novel Entwined with You at Dillon's Norwood Bookshop on June 11.

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