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Erika Mitchell (who is better known by her pen name, E. L. James) was born on March 7, 1963 in London, England. Mitchell is the daughter of a Chilean mother and a Scottish father that worked as a cameraman for BBC. She has two kids and used to be a television executive. One night, she saw the movie “Twilight” and then read the books many times over a period of a couple of days. She then wrote a story called “Master of the Universe” that was “Twilight” fan fiction and would serve as the basis for the “Fifty Shades” novels. When she sat down to write the books, she had never written any fiction before. She had only written the books as a way to entertain herself and some of her friends online. By August of 2013, her work put her at the top of Forbes’ list of the highest earning authors. Her husband, Niall Leonard, helped her edit the novels. Her husband is an author too and has written for television. They met while she was a studio manager’s assistant and now have two sons together.
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Order of Fifty Shades Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fifty Shades of Grey | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Fifty Shades Darker | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Fifty Shades Freed | 2012 | Description / Buy |
Order of Fifty Shades (As Told By Christian) Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grey | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Darker | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Freed | 2021 | Description / Buy |
Order of The Mister Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Mister | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Missus | 2023 | Description / Buy |
E. L. James has written the “Fifty Shades” trilogy and “Grey”. She has written under the pen name Snowqueen’s Icedragon.
EL James, or Erika Mitchell, was born in London in March 1963 to a Chilean mother and a Scottish father, however she was raised in the south of England. James went to an all-girls school in Buckinghamshire, before going on to study History at the University of Kent.
Unlike many of her peers, EL James’ path to literary success was no down to years of slaving away as a journalist or doing another job to supplement their aspiring writing ambitions. Instead, James was a late bloomer into the world of fiction. In fact, her real writing break, so to speak, came about at the start of 2009 thanks in no small part to the Twilight series of books. James had picked up the series after watching the first Twilight film and quickly devoured the series. She then decided to write a fan fiction piece which was essentially a sequel to the final book in the Twilight series. That was quickly followed by another.
When James found there was a market for such works of fan fiction, she released her Twilight books for the Kindle, and then turned her attention to writing her own series of books. In August 2009, EL James began work on the first 50 Shades of Grey book, which was released to great commercial success in 2011. She then followed this up with the sequel, Fifty Shades Darker, and finally 50 Shades Freed. All three books in the trilogy have gone on to sell millions upon millions, which made her the highest-earning author in 2013, according to Forbes. During this time, she also sold the film rights to the Fifty Shades trilogy for $5 million, with the first film being released in 2015, for which EL James has a production credit, but was not involved in the writing of the screenplay.
In 2012, EL James won two National Book awards for Fifty Shades of Grey, Popular Fiction Book of the Year, and also the Book of the Year awards.
E. L. JAMES AWARDS
Time named her one of their 100 most influential people in the world in the year 2012. Publisher’s Weekly named her “Publishing Person of the Year” in the year 2012. She was given awards for popular fiction book of the year and for book of the year by National Book Award that same year.
E. L. JAMES BOOKS INTO MOVIES/TV
All three of the novels in the “Fifty Shades” trilogy have been made into movies. E. L. James served as a producer on each of them. Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele) and Jamie Dornan (Christian Grey) star.
BEST E. L. JAMES BOOKS
For those readers looking to get into novels by E. L. James, this section will help with that. It will go over the novels “Fifty Shades of Grey”, “Fifty Shades Darker”, and “Fifty Shades Freed”.
Fifty Shades of Grey: This is the first novel in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” series and was released in the year 2011. Anastasia Steele, a student of literature, goes and interviews Christian Grey (who is a young entrepreneur). She finds a man that is intimidating, beautiful, and brilliant. She wants this man, the unworldly and innocent woman finds. She is desperate to get closer to him, even though he is enigmatic in his reserve. Grey wants her right back, she is quietly beautiful, full of wit, and has an independent spirit. That being said, he wants her on his terms. Ana is both thrilled and shocked by his erotic tastes, she still hesitates. He has a lot of demons and is obsessed with the need to control. She discovers his secrets, as they go on an affair that is full of physical passion and explores her own darker desires.
Fifty Shades Darker: This is the second novel in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” series and was released in the year 2012. Ana broke off her affair with Christian Grey, finding that his tastes and his demons were too daunting. She went off to start a career at a publishing firm in Seattle. She is consumed by her desire for him and it dominates each and every thought that she has while she is awake. He offers her a new arrangement and it is one that she cannot refuse. She learns more about this damaged man, as they restart their affair. They must both work on themselves (he on his demons, and she with her anger and with her jealousy of the women he had before he met her). It seems that she has a decision to make.
Fifty Shades Freed: This is the third novel in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” series and was released in the year 2012. Ana and Christian now have it all- wealth, love, intimacy, as well as anything they could think of for the future. Ana sees that it will not be easy to love Fifty Shades. This relationship will throw challenges at them that neither one of them would have ever anticipated. She must share his lifestyle, but not to the point that she loses her own identity in the process. He must get over his need to control as he grapples with his demons. It seems that they are stronger than ever and can best anything that is thrown at them. That is when all kinds of bad things turn Ana’s fears into something real.
EL James FAQ
Q: What is EL James’ real name?
A: EL James’ real name is Erika Leonard, nee Mitchell.
Q: Did EL James write the screenplay for the Fifty Shade of Grey film?
A: No, EL James did not write the screenplay for the Fifty Shades of Grey film. The screenplay for the Fifty Shades of Grey film was written by Kelly Marcel, who was also credited with writing the screenplay for Saving Mr Banks.
When Does The Next E L James book come out?
E L James doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Missus and was released on June, 20th 2023. It is the newest book in the The Mister Series.