E. L. James

Erika Mitchell (born 7 March 1963), known by her pen name E. L. James, is an English author. She wrote the bestselling erotic romance trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, along with the companion novel Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian; and under Snowqueen's Icedragon the Twilight fan fiction "Master of the Universe" that was the basis for the Fifty Shades trilogy. The combined novels have sold over 125 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 magazine named her one of "The World's 100 Most Influential People." The novels were subsequently adapted into the films Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and the upcoming Fifty Shades Freed. 2Early life Erika Mitchell was born on 7 March 1963 in London, England, to a Chilean mother and a Scottish father who was a BBC cameraman. She was brought up in Buckinghamshire. 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 in Buckinghamshire, followed by the University of Kent in South East England where she studied History. 2Career After leaving university, James became a studio manager’s assistant at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. She married Niall Leonard, a screenwriter, in 1987, and they have two teenage sons. As of 2012 they reside in Brentford, west Londo