‘50 Shades of Grey’ author E.L. James at Comic-Con

One woman credited “50 Shades of Grey� with her third pregnancy. A husband high-fived author E.L. James after she signed his wife’s e-reader, saying, “My love life is awesome. Thank you!�

James is a former British television producer whose erotic novel “50 Shades of Grey� has become the hottest book to read since “Twilight.� Wait, make that hotter. It and its two sequels -- “50 Shades Darker� and “50 Shades Freed� -- have sold more than 20 million copies.

Although James is no superhero, more than 200 devoted fans lined up for her book-signing at Comic-Con last week. Nicole Sperling, who was there, reports that James is still processing the books’ explosive popularity. James told her, “My only ambition was to see the book in a bookshop. That was it.�

James continued, “This is hugely surreal, and I’ve had no time to digest it.... The first book came out on the first of April [in the U.S.]. The next two came out two weeks later. The U.K. followed the week after that. That was April. This is July. We’ve done a film deal. Gone into 42 languages. So yeah, no, I haven’t had time to process this.�

The book, which began as post-Twilight fan fiction, is about a virginal 22-year-old college literature student, Anastasia. She falls for Christian Grey, a 28-year-old billionaire, who gets a sexual charge out of being in charge. It’s explicitly tie-me-up, tie-me-down; sometimes a necktie is not just for tying around necks.

In addition to the titillating sexual content, James credits the luxury and fantasy elements of “50 Shades of Grey� with helping to boost its appeal. “The whole book is a fantasy: fantasy lifestyle, fantasy man,� she said. “He’s ridiculously accomplished, ridiculously wealthy, ridiculously good in bed and it’s a fantasy. You either buy into it or you don’t. And that’s it.�