E. L. James E. L. James Erika Leonard (née 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 novels "" and ""; and under the name 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
E. L. James list of the highest-earning authors with earnings of $95m which included $5m for the film rights to "Fifty Shades of Grey". On 1 June 2015 James announced the upcoming release of "Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian", which was released into stores on 18 June 2015. "Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian" was released November 28, 2017. James was one of the British celebrities, including Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel Riley, to design and sign her own card for the UK children's charity Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. The campaign was launched by crafting