Author of Fifty Shades of Grey on the new book

During an event in London in 2012, I mentioned that I wanted to explore Christian’s side of the story, but the idea really gained traction when I began to hear from readers. Over the past few years, I’ve written bits and pieces from his POV and found getting inside his head to be both challenging and satisfying, so I kept at it.

Writing the first two chapters of Fifty Shades of Grey in Christian’s point of view and putting them in the back of Fifty Shades Freed was where this really kicked off. I’ve had many, many emails and tweets and Facebook posts from readers asking me to continue with his side of the story. It was finding the time to do it that was tricky. Once the movie wrapped I found I had more time, and I started to think about it then. Frankly, it was therapy to return to these characters that I adore.

The characters and their voices are always with me. I might be out and about and spot something that I think Christian or Ana might like… and then they start bickering and bantering in my head. It’s tricky because I’ve been writing something else too, so it gets pretty crowded in there.

I think the biggest surprise for me was Christian’s relationship with his brother, Elliot, which was a lot closer than I had imagined. That was fun to explore. Elliot is the polar opposite of Christian – yet they have an easy fraternal camaraderie, which was a pleasure to write about.

I think Christian might have some surprises in store for them – but deep down I just hope they enjoy it!