'50 Shades of Grey' author charms LI fans
E.L. James, author of "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy, signed books at today's event held at The Carlyle on the Green. (May 7, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan
Author E.L. James charmed a room of 400 women when she confessed she'd roped her husband into testing the scenarios for her bedroom bondage romance, "Fifty Shades of Grey."
"I had to do a bit of research for these books," she told the crowd at Carlyle on the Green at Bethpage State Park. "That was great, great fun. My husband would give me this sort of terrified look when I'd say, 'Can we try this?' "
James also did quite a bit of investigating on the Internet. "My computer, if it ever gets confiscated by social services, my children will be taken away from me," she joked. James is married with two sons, ages 15 and 17, and lives in London.
James was on Long Island all day Monday as part of a two-week book tour along the East Coast. She bantered with the women at the luncheon, put together by Divalysscious Moms, which charged $85 or $125 a ticket. At 7 p.m., she signed books during a free event at the Barnes & Noble Carle Place, where hundreds of fans gushed about the spicy love story.
"Fifty Shades of Grey" tells the tale of recent college graduate Anastasia Steele and 27-year-old billionaire entrepreneur Christian Grey, who asks Steele to sign a contract to be his submissive partner in a sadomasochistic relationship. The original book as well as two sequels -- "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" -- sold 3 million copies of print and e-books since April 3. James has signed a multimillion deal to have the stories brought to the big screen.
Valerie Schmidt, 50, of Old Westbury, is hoping James will pen a fourth book about the characters, and told her so at the Barnes & Noble signing. "We told E.L. to hurry it up," Schmidt said.
