A Twitter live chat with 50 Shades of Grey author EL James has led to a torrent of criticism from people who feel her bestselling novels promote abuse and misogyny.

James opened herself up to questions from fans on the hashtag #AskELJames, but the questions weren’t exactly what she was expecting.

• Virgin territory: why 50 Shades is spankingly awful
• If famous books were rewritten from another perspective

“Which do you hate more: consent; the English language; strong independent women; [or] all of the above?” one user asked.

“Do you know 15 year olds can write fanfics with healthier relationships than your book?” another pondered.

James’s trilogy explores the sadomasochistic relationship between a young woman (Anastasia Steele) and her wealthy, dominant older boyfriend (Christian Grey).

Despite selling millions of copies globally and spawning a blockbuster film adaptation, the books were critically panned for their poor construction and risqué subject matter.

Unfortunately for James, her critics were the most vocal participants during the social media chat session.

The author, who has recently written another book in the series from the perspective of Mr Grey, was seemingly unfazed by the criticism.

“Thanks so much for an interesting hour…” she signed off, adding a smiley face to her parting tweet.

#AskELJames does the E.L. Stand for ELiterate?

— caitlin stasey (@caitlinstasey) June 29, 2015

#AskELJames did you fire whoever thought this was a good idea

— Churlish (@Cryptoterra) June 29, 2015

#AskELJames how do you feel knowing that you have essentially invalidated the experiences of many abuse survivors around the world?

— daisy (@MELlNDAMAY) June 29, 2015

#AskELJames A lad once punched me on a night out. Does this mean he likes me? Should I have gotten his number?

— natgovin (@notgavin) June 29, 2015