Erika Mitchell (born 7 March 1963), known by her pen name E. L. James, is a British author. She wrote the best-selling ''Fifty Shades'' series of erotic romance novels, which spawned a multimedia franchise including a film trilogy of the same name. Prior to this, she wrote the ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' fan fiction "Master of the Universe" that served as the basis for the ''Fifty Shades'' series under the web name Snowqueens Icedragon. In 2019, she published her first book unconnected with the fictional world of ''Fifty Shades'', '' The Mister'', to negative critical reaction. The ''Fifty Shades'' novels have sold over 150 million copies worldwide, over 35 million copies in the United States and set the record in the United Kingdom as the fastest selling paperback of all time. In 2012, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine named her one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People".

Early life

Erika Mitchell was born on 7 March 1963, in

Willesden Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...

, to a Chilean mother and a Scottish father who was a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

cameraman. She was brought up in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. James was educated at the independent Pipers Corner School and at Wycombe High School, a state grammar school for girls in the town of

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

in Buckinghamshire, followed by the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

where she studied history. After leaving university, James became a studio manager's assistant at the National Film and Television School in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

Career

James says the idea for the ''Fifty Shades'' trilogy began as a response to the vampire novel series ''

''. In late 2008, James saw the movie ''

'', and then became intensely absorbed with the novels that the movie was based on. She read the novels several times over in a period of a few days and then set out to write a sequel to the books. Between January and August 2009, she wrote two such books in quick succession. She says she then discovered the phenomenon of

fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...

, and this inspired her to publish her novels as Kindle books under the pen name "Snowqueens Icedragon". Beginning in August 2009, she then began to write the ''Fifty Shades'' books. James has spoken of her shock at the success of the books. "The explosion of interest has taken me completely by surprise", she said. James has described the ''Fifty Shades'' trilogy as "my

midlife crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 45 to 65 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...

, writ large. All my fantasies in there, and that's it." She did not start to write until January 2009, as she revealed while still active on

FanFiction.Net FanFiction.Net (often abbreviated as FF.net or FFN) is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was first launched in 1998 by software designer Xing Li, and currently has over 12 million registered users. The site is split into main categorie ...

: "I started writing in January 2009 after I finished the ''Twilight'' saga, and I haven't stopped since. I discovered Fan Fiction in August 2009. Since then I have written my two fics and plan on doing at least one more. After that ... who knows?" In August 2013, James topped the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' list of the highest-earning authors due to her book sales with earnings of US$95 million which included US$5 million for the film rights to ''Fifty Shades of Grey''.

Personal life

James married Niall Leonard, a novelist and screenwriter from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, in 1987. They have two sons. As of 2012, they live in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, West London.

Awards and honours

Bibliography

''Fifty Shades'' trilogy

*'' Fifty Shades of Grey'' (2011) *'' Fifty Shades Darker'' (2012) *'' Fifty Shades Freed'' (2012)

''Fifty Shades as Told by Christian'' trilogy

*'' Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian'' (2015) *'' Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian'' (2017) *'' Freed: Fifty Shades Freed as Told by Christian'' (2021)

''Mister and Missus'' duology

*'' The Mister'' (2019) *''The Missus'' (2023)

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:James, E.L. Living people English erotica writers English people of Chilean descent English people of Scottish descent Fan fiction writers 1963 births People educated at Wycombe High School Pseudonymous women writers Alumni of the University of Kent English romantic fiction writers 21st-century English women writers 21st-century English novelists Writers from Buckinghamshire Women erotica writers British women romantic fiction writers BDSM writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers English women novelists British Book Award winners