The author of the most successful erotic novel in history is Eric James and her "50 shades of gray"

Erica James, a shy housewife who is the author of the acclaimed trilogy of "50 shades of gray", spends time at home with her family, doing cooking, washing and cleaning, and there is no sign of a "red pain room" in her home in London.

The author of the most successful erotic novel in history

Erica James is a middle-aged married woman who lives in a modest two-apartment red brick house in the west of London, where you can soon find fluffy pink slippers than the fluffy pink handcuffs. The author of the most successful erotic novel in history acquired the reputation of a recluse. She gave only a few interviews and not so often appears in public. With her husband Niall Leonard, Erica James has lived for more than 20 years and has two sons.

Facts from biography

Erica James was born in 1963 in the capital of England - London. Family Name before Marriage - Mitchell. The real name is Eric Leonard. Her father worked as a cameraman on the BBC channel, and the family lived in Buckinghamshire, in South East England. Erica studied at the University of Kent, where she studied history. After graduating, she began her career on television. In 1987, she married the screenwriter and director Niall Leonard.

James Erica: "Fifty shades of gray"

While Erika was building her career on television, she did not try herself as a writer until 2009. However, inspired by the twilight vampire saga written by Stephanie Meyer, she began writing her own love stories. So there was a novel with the title "The Lord of the Universe", which was published on the Internet and was intended for a young adult audience where the elements of sadomasochism and subordination passed by the red line. The names of the two main characters (Bella and Edward) were replaced by Anastasia and Christian Gray. Since then, Erica James has stated that her novel no longer has anything to do with the material that inspired her initially.

In 2011, the first part of the trilogy was published, which was called "50 shades of gray". The novel was originally prepared as an e-book, and was later published in paperback. After some time, in the same year, the second volume "On 50 shades darker" was published, and a year later the third part of the trilogy was published. For a short time erotic novels with a touch of BDSM have become incredibly popular on the Internet. Sales continued to grow, e-books were particularly popular among middle-aged women, the novel could be read covertly in electronic form, even in public places.

World fame

In April 2012, you could purchase a copy of the book in hard copy. By the end of the summer, the novel on the sold number of copies overtook such a record holder as "Harry Potter" in the United Kingdom.

The book also became a real bestseller in the United States, despite the initial gloomy reception of critics. In the same year 2012, the companies Universal Studios and Focus Fichez were assigned the rights to film the novel.

Interesting Facts

1. The author of the novel, Eric Leonard, was directly involved in the filming of the film.
2. Several large companies fought for the adaptation of the novel.
3. Many actresses claimed the role of Anastasia Steele, including Kara Delevine, Mila Kunis, Emma Watson and Kristen Stewart, and the role of Christian Gray could be played by Michael Fassbender, Chris Hemsworth and Ryan Gosling.
4. Fans of the book even offered their actors - Matt Bomer and Alexis Bledel. This alternative was supported by more than 50 thousand people. But the producers still chose Dakota Johnson and actor Jamie Dornan.
5. Sister Mia Gray plays a real English singer.
8. Among the actors was also the owner of the "Oscar" - Marcia Gay Harden, who received the "Best Actress" award for the film "Pollock."
9. Mark Mostov, one of the artists working on the film, was awarded the first place in the category "Best Costume Design" for his work in the black and white film "Artist".
10. As the actors recognized, there was nothing romantic during the filming of erotic scenes, on the screen of the body and movement looked very erotic, but before the cameras it was more like a dance or an acrobatic number.

In early 2012, Erica decided to focus completely on her writing activities. And there was enough reason for this. Her first serious novel was an instant hit. The author's erotic style for a long time was the subject of various discussions, but, probably, it was thanks to him that the book sold millions of copies.

The story of the relationship between a young college student and a sex business tycoon has made the book of the humble housewife the best selling paperback book in history, and the writer herself, who made a profit of $ 95 million, is the highest-paid writer in the world. Despite the fact that the novel received negative criticism for idealizing the dark side of male sexuality and subsequent rigid behavior towards women, the film based on the novel and released in the rental in 2014 found many positive responses in the hearts of just the weak half of humanity .