E.L. James Biography

Erika Leonard, birth name Erika Mitchell (born 7 March 1963), better known by the pseudonym E L James, is the British author of the bestselling erotic romance novels trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. The combined novels have sold over 35 million copies in the United States, and over 70 million copies worldwide, setting the record as the fastest selling paperback of all time. In 2012, Time magazine named her one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People."

Early life

In 1963, Leonard was born Erika Mitchell, to a Chilean mother and Scottish father, a BBC cameraman. Raised in Buckinghamshire, Leonard read history at the University of Kent, before becoming a studio manager's assistant at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield.

Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy

James initially wrote fanfiction under the pen name "Snowqueens Icedragon", with her most notable work being a Twilight fanfiction that eventually developed into Fifty Shades of Grey, and subsequent film adaptation. James has spoken of her shock at the success of the book. "The explosion of interest has taken me completely by surprise" she said. James has described the Fifty Shades trilogy as "my midlife crisis, 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 as Snowqueen's Icedragon: "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 sales of the trilogy saw James top the Forbes' list of the highest-earning authors with earnings of $95m which included $5m for the film rights to Fifty Shades of Grey.

Personal life

James formerly worked as a television executive. She currently resides in west London with her husband, screenwriter and director Niall Leonard, whom she married in 1987, and their two teenage sons.

Awards and honors

• 2012 Time 100 by Time magazine, "The 100 Most Influential People in the World"
• 2012 Publishers Weekly "Publishing Person of the Year".
• 2012 National Book Award (UK), "Popular Fiction Book of the Year", Fifty Shades of Grey
• 2012 National Book Award (UK), "Book of the Year", Fifty Shades of Grey

Bibliography

• Fifty Shades of Grey (2011)
• Fifty Shades Darker (2012)
• Fifty Shades Freed (2012)