She wrote the best-selling Fifty Shades series of erotic romance novels,[3][4] which spawned a multimedia franchise including a film trilogy of the same name.

[5] Prior to this, she wrote the Twilight fan fiction "Master of the Universe" that served as the basis for the Fifty Shades series under the web name Snowqueens Icedragon.

[13] Erika Mitchell was born on 7 March 1963 in Willesden, Middlesex to a Chilean mother and a Scottish father who was a BBC cameraman.

She says she then discovered the phenomenon of fan fiction, and this inspired her to publish her novels as Kindle books under the pen name "Snowqueens Icedragon".

"[19] In August 2013, James topped the Forbes' list of the highest-earning authors due to her book sales[20] with earnings of $95m which included $5m for the film rights to Fifty Shades of Grey.