Beijing (CNN) A Chinese novelist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for writing and distributing homoerotic novels, provoking widespread debate online over the severity of her sentence.

The female writer, surnamed Liu, but more commonly known by her internet pseudonym Tianyi, was arrested in 2017 following the success of her novel "Occupy," according to reports in Chinese state media.

The book was described by police in East China's Anhui Province as depicting "obscene sexual behavior between males" set to themes of "violence, abuse and humiliation."

Despite being sentenced to 10 years in prison by a court in the city of Wuhu on October 31, Liu's case was brought only recently to nationwide attention after being shared widely online.

The popularity of homoerotic fiction, dubbed "boys love," has soared in recent years in China, where a booming cottage industry of self-published authors churn out hundreds of new titles each month.

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