'50 Shades' Author E.L. James Had a Twitter Q&A and It Went Horribly Wrong
by Andy Neuenschwander
Almost any author is guaranteed to get their share of haters. For E.L. James, author of "Fifty Shades of Grey," the chances are perhaps a bit higher.
James took to Twitter for an open Q&A with fans, and it wasn't long before those who aren't big fans of the books and/or movies hopped on the hashtag train and started lobbing some rather sharp insults at the author.
Some questions were harmless enough, and just a bit of snark about the strange title. "What's your favourite shade out of the 50? Is there a chance that more shades will be added?" wrote one Twitter user. Another questioned the practicality of protagonist Anastasia's quirks: "How on earth did Ana manage to graduate from university in the 21st century without an email address or a laptop?"
It wasn't long, though, before the questions got snarkier and people really started tearing into James, insinuating that she romanticized an abusive relationship, stumbled into writing with almost no skill in prose, and made an entire career off of piggybacking "Twilight" Stephanie Meyer.
Here are some of our favorite questions from the Q&A:
"Did you see the abusive relationship of Bella and Edward and think 'hmm needs more abuse.'"
"Is there a safe word we can use to get you to stop writing such drivel?"
"Can you confirm that you will be writing the story of Ramsay Bolton from his perspective, showing he is just misunderstood?"
"After the success of "Grey," have you considered re-telling the story from the perspective of someone who can write"
"So whats your favourite moment in Twilight? When Bella meets Edward or when Stephanie Meyer sent you a cease and desist?"
We would like to thank the good people of Twitter for endless hours of entertainment just by clicking on the "#AskELJames" hashtag.