The book "50 shades of gray" became a sensation immediately after it was published. Some considered her offensive and vulgar. Others re-read the work several times, dreaming of being in the place of one of the main characters. Over time, the hype subsided. But the interest of people flared up with renewed vigor after it was announced about the film adaptation of the book. After reading the first part of the trilogy, many are wondering who wrote "50 shades of gray."
The author of the trilogy is the English writer E.L. James. For some, she became the object of criticism, and for some, an idol.
E.L. James, author of 50 Shades of Gray. Biography
The writer, known under the pseudonym E.L. James, really is Eric Mitchell. She was born in 1963 in London. In her family there were Scots and Chileans, because she did not look like a typical Englishwoman. An unusual beauty attracted the attention of Niall Leonard. After some time, Erica became his wife. After marriage, she received the name 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 the turning point in the life of the future writer can be called her acquaintance with the vampire saga "Twilight". This love story 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 as well. Among them was Erica.
Erica Leonard, the future author of “50 Shades of Gray,” was not a simple reader who was ready to part with his favorite story after turning over the last page. The woman found like-minded people, argued about what would happen to the heroes if they were in a different situation. And these thoughts became the basis for fan fiction 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 her plans. What was conceived as a fan fiction has become an independent work.
Spelling
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 first place in the list of world best-sellers for a long time. Erica considered them a reflection of her midlife crisis. The writer poured all those desires and fantasies that were not reflected in real life onto the pages of her book. As it turned out, many women around the world dreamed about the same.
The very first pages were written by Erica on her mobile phone when she returned home. This work was a combination of fan fiction based on the saga "Twilight" and the first works of the writer who never saw the light of day.
Erica really wanted everything that happens on the pages of her book to look believable. She had never been to Seattle before she began writing the work. Erica came to the aid of modern technology. She used Google to explore the city.
The author of “50 Shades of Gray” told her readers that they could find it on the pages of the book. But she did not admit which heroine she had written off herself. The riddle was guessed by one attentive reader who sent the answer on Twitter. The writer replied to her message with an emoticon. This was taken as confirmation of the correctness of the answer.
Erica admitted that she wrote the trilogy to the music. Therefore, she invited fans to read chapters under the same compositions under which they were written. She posted the full list on her YouTube page. In this collection were a variety of songs and artists.
Heroes of the novel
Fans often asked who wrote “50 Shades of Gray.” Having learned the name of the author, they asked the writer questions about their favorite characters. On social networks and in an interview for the talk show, Erica talked about how she came up with her characters and how to choose names for them.
The thesis of the future writer was a 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 Tsar’s daughters, 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 protagonist of "50 shades of gray." The author admits that she considers this name to be very beautiful and suitable for a man with such a character as the hero of her trilogy.
The surname Christian also did not become an accident. Translated from English, the word "gray" means "gray." In the course of the story about the hero “50 shades of gray”, the author (a photo of a woman is presented in the article) told that Christian sees the world not in black and white, all shades of gray are available to him. Erica believes that those who paint the world around them in only two colors are not able to create something new.
Looking for a place of residence for Christian, the author of “50 Shades of Gray” tried to find, as she admitted, “the most pathos place”.
Popularity period
The author of 50 Shades of Gray did not even suspect how famous the first book would make her . She immediately found her readers, but critics appeared.
Deciding to publish her first work, Erica Leonard took the pseudonym E.L. James. This name has eclipsed many on radio, television and in the press. The writer has become a frequent guest on various talk shows. Fans of the work longed to see the author.
The second and third books of the trilogy were expected by readers around the world. They snapped up like hot cakes. In a short period, Erica became a star.
The plot of "50 shades of gray"
E.L. James became a writer who highlighted the previously unpopular theme of BDSM. The author of “50 Shades of Gray” tells the story of a young college student Anastacia Steele, who, by fate, met the handsome millionaire Christian Gray.
This meeting became fateful 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 on the pages of her work again. Increasingly, the girl and the young man wanted to know each other better. But Christian was hiding from Anastacia a secret that could destroy his impeccable image.
In order to understand Gray and find out his secret desires, Miss Steele had to sign a contract, according to which she had no right to publicly disclose anything that she learns 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, she ceased to be a simple toy. But Anastacia understood that it was not enough for Gray to just meet her, he wanted to control her life. And the experiments carried out by a man gave her unbearable pain. Steele decides to leave his lover and try to start life from scratch.
Writer's Plans
E.L. James in an interview also talked about his plans. Now, about who wrote "50 shades of gray," everyone knows. At the end of March 2014, Erica said that she began work on her new work. As it became known later, the novel will talk about 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 of “50 Shades of Gray” want to find out if there will be a continuation of their favorite trilogy. Erica did not give fans a definite answer. In an interview, she said: "Never say never."
Also, Erica did not give a definite 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 a job.
Not all fans of the trilogy know the biography of the one who wrote 50 Shades of Gray. A writer publishing books under the pseudonym E.L. James does not like to talk about his personal life. She is much nicer to discuss her work.