Fifty Shades of Grey Author E.L. James Talks to Katie Couric About Writing, Success

Posted on September 24, 2012

E. L. James, the bestselling author of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, is actually quite shy. She doesn't like to do interviews and is uncomfortable in front of the camera, having spent so many years behind the scenes in television production. Katie Couric landed the first interview with James since she hit the big time. So far, 30 million copies of her books have been sold.

James seems quite funny and self-effacing. She's always wanted to be an author, writing stories since she was eleven years old. She says she finds her wild success to be "ridiculous" and can't understand why people line up to meet her. She says she's still processing it all. When she meets women at signings, she says many of them tell her their husbands say "thanks." Take a look:

This video was a teaser for the interview. The full video appears to have been lost. Only a video of E.L. James in the green room answering viewer questions is still available.

E.L. did talk about writing herself into the book during the interview and who might play her characters. She says, "I've actually written myself into the book; I play a very tiny cameo role and I might try and do that if I'm asked to ... we'll see."