Jk Rowling has spelled out the difference between her ‘adult novel’ and a very different kind of ‘adult novel,’ Fifty Shades of Grey. Speaking to 2,500 fans at a Manhattan theatre, USA Today reports that Rowling said it all comes down to sex. Not that there isn’t any in her book (and we all surely know by now that there is plenty of sex in Fifty Shades Of Grey, right?) but, as she explains “The difference is that people have sex in my book, but no one enjoys it,” to which the fans gathered in the auditorium cheered heartily.

Rowling was chatting onstage with the novelist Ann Patchett. When the British author appeared onstage, the crowd gave her a standing ovation, causing Patchett to comment “this is like a Stones concert.”JK Rowling’s new book The Casual Vacancy marks her first move away from writing children’s books and the two authors began to discuss the two very different meanings of the phrase ‘adult novel.’ Both confessed that they had not read Fifty Shades of Grey and Patchett put diplomacy to one side, briefly, to say “everyone tells me the writing is terrible,” to which Rowling responded “but that’s porn!” and began to laugh.

Patchett went on to praise Rowling, for “doing more for reading than anyone else in my lifetime and for single-handedly keeping an industry alive.” Rowling remained humble though, saying “no, no, no, that’s way too much responsibility.”