10年：10个人的成功传奇

不惑之年：埃丽卡•莱昂纳德

出生日期：1963年3月7日

    去年夏天，情色小说《五十度灰》（Fifty Shades）的成功令人无法错过。这个三部曲讲述了大学生安娜斯塔西娅•斯蒂尔和百万富豪企业家克里斯蒂安•格雷之间的爱情，充斥着奴役、支配和虐恋等元素。《出版周刊》（Publishers Weekly）报道称，出版商Vintage得到了2亿多美元的销售收入，纸质书和电子书在美国的销量达到4,000多万册，全球销量高达7,000万册。环球电影公司（Universal）和焦点影业（Focus Features）向作者埃丽卡•莱昂纳德支付了500万美元以获得电影版权。莱昂纳德用E. L.詹姆斯的笔名撰写了该系列小说。

    “着手去做那些事情的时候，根本没有预料到能取得这样的成功，”莱昂纳德对《好莱坞报道》（Hollywood Reporter）说。“我作出了非常清醒的决定：‘我在那里？我现在在干什么？接下来是什么？这真是令人惊叹。’享受它。感受它。不管周围发生什么，接受它，享受此时此刻。我就是这么做的。”

    莱昂纳德是已婚母亲，膝下有两个已经进入青少年时期的儿子。她受到吸血鬼爱情小说和电影《暮光之城》（Twilight）的启发，开始以同人小说的形式写作，吸引了一群读者，他们提供反馈意见并把这本书推荐给朋友。她最终重写这部小说以实现独立，消除了《暮光之城》里的角色和背景，并在2010年底把书搬到了自己的网站上。2011年，澳大利亚的独立出版商作家咖啡店（The Writer's Coffee Shop）以电子书和按需印刷形式出版了这个三部曲。该系列小说大受欢迎，引起了制片公司的兴趣。

40-something: Erika Leonard

Born: March 7, 1963

    Last summer, it was impossible to avoid the success of the Fifty Shades erotic romance novels, a trilogy about the relationship between college student Anastasia Steele and millionaire business-owner Christian Grey, featuring elements of bondage, dominance, and sadomasochism. Publisher Vintage reaped more than $200 million in sales, according to Publishers Weekly, selling more than 40 million copies in the U.S. and 70 million copies worldwide of paperback and e-book versions. Universal and Focus Features reportedly paid $5 million for film rights to author Erika Leonard, who writes under the pen name E. L. James.

    "When you set out to do those things, you don't anticipate this type of success at all," Leonard toldThe Hollywood Reporter. "I make very conscious decisions to say, 'Where am I? What am I doing now? What now? This is amazing.' Just enjoy it. Feel it. What's happening around you, just take it all in and enjoy this moment, and I do that."

    Leonard, a married mother of two teenage sons, began the novels as fan fiction inspired by theTwilight vampire romance books and movies, drawing a following of readers who gave feedback on her writing and recommended it to friends. She eventually recast the books to stand alone, eliminating the Twilight characters and setting, and moving them to her own website in late 2010. In 2011, an independent publisher in Australia, The Writer's Coffee Shop, published the trilogy in e-book and print-on-demand versions, where the popularity of the series led to interest from film studios.