‘Fifty Shades’ author E.L. James turns down the heat for next book

Readers hoping for more erotic exploits with a certain domineering millionaire and innocent college student will be sorely disappointed. Speaking at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Monday night, “Fifty Shades of Grey” author E.L. James told the New York Post that her next novel will be, shall we say, tamer than her first.

It “won’t nearly be so raunchy,” James is quoted as saying, “and I will probably write it under another name.”

Although James has told readers in the past that “I’m looking forward to bringing you some new love stories I’ve got planned,” she says she is unlikely to write another book about the sexy stars of ‘“Fifty Shades,” Ana Steele and Christian Grey. “Never say never -- but they’re on the back burner at the moment, as I have a few other stories to tell first,” she writes on her website.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and was the best-selling e-book of 2012.

Meanwhile, fans of the adult romance trilogy eagerly await news of a planned film adaptation, though no actors have yet been cast. “We don’t even have a filmmaker ... so we are still a long way away from casting. I have some ideas ... but it may not be who people expect,” James said.

One name rumored to be in the running is that much-ogled vampire Alexander Skarsgard. (The Hollywood Reporter has suggested he may be auditioning for the role of Grey by way of his new Calvin Klein ad.) Agents at Graydon Carter’s Oscar party at the Sunset Tower Hotel were reportedly lining up to meet James and pitch their actors.

One thing the “Fifty Shades” film does have locked in, of course, is a writer -- not, to his chagrin, “American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis, but little-known British writer Kelly Marcel. (Easton Ellis, in classic fashion, responded on Twitter last fall, writing: “Kelly Marcel?!? KELLY MARCEL?!? Kelly Marcel is WRITING the script for Fifty Shades of Grey?!? THIS is the movie they want to make? ARGH.”)

For those “Fifty Shades” fans pining for a little more spice on their e-reader, Barnes and Noble has a list for you, including The Sweet Series by Maya Banks, in which “each book features a different hero and heroine as well as a different approach to sex ranging from BSDM to ménage,” while the Guardian recommends Tara Sue Me’s Submissive Trilogy, starring handsome CEO Nathaniel West, a man on the prowl for a new submissive, and the librarian Abby, who is yearning for something more. The series is already out in e-book, and will be released in the U.S. in June.

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