"Fifty Shades of Grey" author E.L. James was at Comic-Con 2012 San Diego on Thursday, July 12.
Fans lined up at 9 a.m. for tickets to the afternoon signing, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., according to the Hollywood Reporter. Within an hour, all three hundred tickets were gone.
"We are Team Christian now," declared a fan waiting in line to get her copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" signed by James.
Situated next to Richard Hatch (of Battlestar Galatica) and across from Larry Thomas (the Seinfeld Soup Nazi) and Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman of the Six Million Dollar Man) in the autograph hall, James, a suburban-mom-looking former TV executive and mother of two from London who has rocketed to fame in the last six months as her erotic trilogy has topped bestseller lists, made an interesting contrast, said Hollywood Reporter.
Before her day of book signing, James spoke to U-T San Diego about going to Comic-Con.
"I love the craziness of Comic-Con," she said. "Last time I was there, I met a friend at a small plaza nearby. And she was in amongst lots of zombies. We felt like we were in zombie land. It was surreal and a lot of fun."
"It's just crazy," James said, sipping a latte on the patio of a hotel near the San Diego Convention Center. "This whole thing has just been mindboggling, how it's happened and how it's exploded, and so quickly," according to CBS News.
"I don't think I've ever been swept up in something like I was swept up with that," James said Thursday before her Comic-Con appearance in San Diego. "I read them and reread them and reread them, and then I sat down and wrote a novel," CBS News also reported.
James wrote on her Twitter page how she felt about her experience at Comic-Con, "Fav moments so far ‪#SDCC: Shooting the breeze with twihard pals at CampTwilight, signing & meeting lovely readers & partying last night :)"
"The relationship that's in the book is something that I've always wanted and haven't gotten in previous relationships, so it kind of gave me that hope that there's something still out there," Lola De La Cruz,29, said as she wiped away tears after meeting James Thursday at the pop-culture convention, according to CBS. "It brought me back to life, so to speak."
As 30-year-old fan Jennifer Norling of San Francisco put it: "There's humor, there's love, it's intense. It's pretty much everything a woman would want in her love life."
The British author said she was compelled to write her books (the other two are "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed") after the success of "The Twilight Saga."
The novels follow the relationship between 22-year-old college student Anastasia Steele, who enters into a dominant/submissive sexual relationship with 27-year-old BDSM-crazed billionaire named Christian Grey. The books were published in April by a division of Random House, Inc., have already sold more than 16 million copies, and stay at the bestsellers list.
An upcoming movie for "Fifty Shades of Grey" is in the works. Fans are itching to know who will play the popular roles of Christian and Anastasia.
According to the Examiner, "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson said he would "lick the pages" of "Fifty Shades of Grey" at the "Breaking Dawn Part 2" panel at Comic-Con. Sadly, James confirmed that Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will not play the important roles.
In recent casting news, a new poll conducted by USA Today revealed that fans of the erotic novel want "The Vampire Diaries" Ian Somerhalder to play the dominating Christian Grey, and Felicity Jones, from the TV series "The Worst Witch," to play innocent Anastasia Steele.
Also in the forefront to play the two roles are "Mike Mike" star Channing Tatum, "Immortals" star Henry Cavill, Matt Bomer, "The Hangover" star Bradley Cooper, "True Blood" star Alexander Skarsgard, "Pretty Little Liars" star Lucy Hale, Emma Stone, "Gilmore Girls" star Alexis Bledel, and "Skins" star Kaya Scodelariore.