E. L. James's erotic Fifty Shades trilogy is currently one of the bestselling paperbacks of all time, outpacing the master wizard himself, Harry Potter. More than 40 million copies have been sold worldwide, which means that yes, even in Seattle, we're surreptitiously reading about spanking on our Kindles and unabashedly showing off erotica on the morning bus. (Read Fifty Shades of Fan Fiction for more on the sort-porny craze.)

Things get giggly when we queue up to meet the author...

E. L. James book signing, September 22, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park
Video and reporting by Lucas Anderson and Ana Sofia Knauf.

E. L. James Book Signing @ Third Place Books from Lucas Anderson on Vimeo.