E. L. James was a TV executive in the UK; her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, was published in 2011. It has become a global bestseller. James has added two other novels to the Shades of Grey Trilogy: Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. She lives in West London with her husband, screenwriter Niall Leonard, and their two teenage sons. In 2012, she was listed as one of Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World".