Who wrote "50 shades of gray"? Biography of the author of the novel "50 shades of gray"

The book "50 shades of gray" became a sensation right after it was published. Some considered it offensive and vulgar. Others re-read the work several times, dreaming to be in place of one of the main characters. Over time, the excitement subsided. But the interest of people flared up with new force after it was announced about the adaptation of the book. After reading the first part of the trilogy, many are wondering about who wrote "50 shades of gray."

The author of the trilogy is the English writer E.L. James. For someone, she became the object of criticism, and for someone - an idol.

E.L. James, the author of "50 shades of gray." Biography

The writer, known under the pseudonym E.L. James, in fact, is Eric Mitchell. She was born in 1963 in London. In her family were Scots and Chileans, because she did not look like a typical Englishwoman. An unusual beauty attracted the attention of Niall Leonard. After a while Erica became his wife. After marriage, she received the name of Eric Leonard.

She gave birth to two sons and led the life of an exemplary Englishwoman, not hoping to ever become famous. In the past, she had literary experiences that remained unknown to the general public.

"50 shades of gray" and "Twilight"

Perhaps, a turning point in the life of the future writer can be called her acquaintance with the vampire saga "Twilight". This story about the love of an ancient vampire and a human girl won many hearts. Despite the fact that the work was considered a beautiful fairy tale for teenagers, it attracted the attention of adults. Among them was Erica.

Erika Leonard, the future author of "50 shades of gray", was not a simple reader who was ready to part with the favorite story after turning over the last page. The woman found like-minded people, she reasoned about what would happen to the heroes if they were in a different situation. And these reflections became the basis for the fanfic based on the Twilight saga.

The future writer registered under the nickname Snowqueens Icedragon and offered readers a completely different story of the protagonists of the saga. But a little later the author of "50 shades of gray" changed his plans. What was conceived as a fanfic, became an independent work.

Writing

People who know who wrote "50 shades of gray" are happy to read Erica's stories about how she wrote her books.

She herself still does not understand how it turned out that her books took the first place on the list of world best sellers for a long time. Erica considered them to be a reflection of her mid-life crisis. All those desires and fantasies that were not reflected in real life, the writer poured into the pages of her book. As it turned out, many women all over the world dreamed about the same thing.

The very first pages were written by Erica on her mobile phone when she returned home. This work became a combination of fanfic based on the saga "Twilight" and the first works of the writer, who never saw the light.

Erika really wanted everything that happens on the pages of her book to look believable. She was never in Seattle before she started writing the work. To help Erica came modern technology. She used Google to explore the city.

The author of "50 shades of gray" told her readers that they can find it on the pages of the book. But she did not admit, what a heroine wrote off from herself. The riddle was guessed by one attentive reader who sent a reply to Twitter. The writer responded to her message with an emoticon. This was perceived as confirmation of the correctness of the answer.

Erica admitted that she wrote a trilogy to music. Therefore, she invited the fans and read the chapters for the same songs, to which they were written. The full list she posted on her page on YouTube. In this collection were the most diverse songs and performers.

Heroes of the novel

Fans often asked about who wrote "50 shades of gray". Learning the name of the author, asked the writer questions about their favorite heroes. In social networks and in an interview for a talk show, Erica talked about how she invented her characters and how she chose names for them.

Thesis work of the future writer was the study of the life of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II. In memory of this period of her life, Erica named the main character of her work in honor of one of the daughters of the king, Anastasia.

The author of "50 shades of gray" wrote several works that did not become popular. The main character of one of the works was called Christian. A little later this name passed from him to the main character "50 shades of gray." The author admits that he considers this name to be very beautiful and suitable for a man with such a character as the hero of her trilogy.

Christian's surname also did not become an accident. In English, the word "gray" means "gray". In the course of the story about the hero of "50 shades of gray", the author (photo of a woman presented in the article) told that Christian sees the world not in black and white colors, all shades of gray are available to him. Erica believes that those who paint the world around themselves in only two colors, are not able to create something new.

Looking for a place to live for Christian, the author of "50 shades of gray" tried to find, as she admitted, "the most pathos place".

Popularity period

The author of the book "50 shades of gray" did not even suspect how famous the first book would be. She immediately found her readers, but there were also critics.

Having decided to publish her first work, Erica Leonard took the pseudonym EL. James. This name eclipsed many on radio, television and in the press. The writer became a frequent guest on various talk shows. Fans of the product were eager to see the author.

The second and third books of the trilogy were expected by readers around the world. They were bought like hot cakes. In a short period, Erika became a star.

The plot of "50 shades of gray"

E.L. James became a writer who covered the previously unpopular topic of BDSM. The author of "50 shades of gray" tells the story of a young college student Anastacia Steel, who by fate decided to meet the handsome millionaire Christian Gray.

This meeting was a fateful girl for the girl. It seemed that this conversation was the first and last. But the author of the book "50 shades of gray" allowed her characters to meet in the pages of her work again. The girl and the young man wanted to know each other more closely. But Christian hid from Anastasis a secret that could destroy his impeccable image.

In order to understand Gray and learn his secret desires, Miss Steele had to sign a contract, according to which she had no right to disclose in public anything that he would learn from a man. As it turned out, for him there was nothing more attractive than BDSM.

Every day Christian and Anastacia became attached to each other more and more. For him, it ceased to be a simple toy. But Anastacia understood that it was not enough for Gray to meet her, he wanted to control her life. Yes, and experiments conducted by a man, gave her unbearable pain. Steele decides to leave her lover and try to start life from scratch.

Plans of the writer

E.L. In the interview, James also talked about her plans. Now, everyone knows about who wrote "50 shades of gray". At the end of March, 2014, Erika said that she had begun work on her new work. As it became known later, the novel will deal with family life.

The writer noted that she would like to rework her old sketches written up to "50 shades of gray". She likes some ideas, so she would like to give them a new life.

Of course, fans who know who the author is "50 shades of gray", want to find out whether the continuation of the beloved trilogy. Erica did not give the fans a definitive answer. In an interview she said: "Never say never."

Also Erika did not give an unambiguous answer to the question of whether she would write the work on behalf of Christian. The writer said that she would be interested in such work.

Not all fans of the trilogy know the biography of the one who wrote "50 shades of gray". A writer who publishes books under the pseudonym E.L. James, does not like to talk about his personal life. It is much more pleasant for her to discuss her work.