Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James famously never actually visited the cities she set her books in until years after they were all released. So while some of the locations are real (Escala, Zig Zag Cafe), others are completely made up (The Portland Coffee House). SIP, the publishing house that Christian Grey buys and Anatasia Steele works at in the second book, was intended as the latter. That's weird because there actually is a SIP in Seattle. SIP Publishing, located in Fremont, is the publishing house behind Sip Northwest Magazine and the newly-launched CIDERCRAFT. Publisher Kristin Ackerman remembers finding out about the coincidence from her mother. "I had not read the book(s) yet and her friend from North Carolina who is a subscriber of Sip Northwest Magazine called her and said 'I just read 50 Shades of Grey and it talks about Sip! Are they talking about your daughter's company?'"
Ackerman says there's been no contact with James and the entire thing appears to be coincidental. Considering fans of the books & film will be flocking to Seattle to tour the sights and locations, she's expecting to get some visits eventually but so far they've only received a few calls from intrepid readers.
Since they cover wine, beer & spirits for a living, there's probably no better resource for asking what one should drink after viewing the film this weekend. "Brown liquor on the rocks – after exhausting their fantasies during the film, viewers are going to want something strong. Lots of local whiskeys to fulfill their needs." Bottoms up, everyone.
· Sip Northwest [SIP]
· Seattle Independent Publishing [FSoG]
· All Fifty Shades of Grey coverage [CS]