You ever have one of those things that you conceive as a joke actually come into existence? For me, it started with the Double-Down sandwich from KFC. Some friends and I were joking around, and somehow I invented “a chicken sandwich that’s just a piece of chicken between two other pieces of chicken.” Like, a month later, I see posters for the KFC Double-Down.
Back in April, I saw a headline that read: EL James’ Husband Writing Fifty Shades of Grey Sequel, and I busted a gut laughing, as my first thought was that he was writing a book sequel to Fifty Shades from Christian Grey’s point of view. The staff here at TMS and I were laughing over the possibilities and I even contemplated writing a serialized version of that as a parody for you fine people. However, I need not waste the time. It looks like the author herself has beaten me to the punch.
E.L. James is in fact releasing a new Fifty Shades book simply titled Grey, which will be a version of the first book told from Christian Grey’s point of view. What’s more? It’s being released on June 18th, which is Christian Grey’s birthday, apparently. James posted the cover of the new book on her Instagram:
She’s obviously thrilled about the book, and as reported in The Hollywood Reporter, apparently a lot of people have been waiting for this:
“This book is dedicated to those readers who asked…and asked… and asked… and asked for this,” she writes. James broke the news on social media Monday morning, releasing the below cover image of the new book. James added of her decision to tell the story from Christian’s perspective, “Christian is a complex character, and readers have always been fascinated by his desires and motivations and his troubled past. Also, as anyone who has ever been in a relationship knows, there are two sides to every story. It’s been a great pleasure to return to my happy place — writing, being with Christian and Ana in their universe, and working with the fantastic team at Vintage.”
Well, there you go. I’ve gotta say, I’m biased. I couldn’t even get through the first book because I thought the writing so bad and the depiction of a BDSM relationship inaccurate, problematic (ie: actually abusive, not just play-abusive), so I’m not exactly this project’s biggest fan. Plus, this is in keeping with James’ copycat nature; Stephenie Meyer was famously going to publish a version of Twilight from Edward Cullen’s POV called Midnight Sun, before a portion of it was leaked online. But far be it for me to yuk anyone else’s yum. The people commenting on her Instagram seem happy, so… great?
Meanwhile, I need to learn how to move faster on my brilliant ideas! Because while E.L. James is laughing her way to the bank, I’m regretting the money I’m not making for having invented the Double-Down sandwich.
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Published: Jun 1, 2015 01:35 pm