Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born August 14, 1947) is an American writer known for writing romance novels. She is the most successful living author and the fourth most successful fiction author ever, with more than 800 million copies of her books sold. As of 2024, she has written 210 books, including over 182 novels.

Most of her career has taken place in California, where she has written several books each year. She often works on up to five projects at the same time. All of her novels have been bestsellers, even though they are not widely praised by critics, according to Publishers Weekly. Her stories often focus on wealthy families dealing with difficult situations, such as prison, fraud, blackmail, and suicide.

In addition to romance novels, Steel has written children’s fiction and poetry. She started the Nick Traina Foundation in memory of her son. This foundation supports organizations that help people with mental health issues. Her books have been translated into 43 languages, and 22 of them have been adapted for television. Two of these adaptations received Golden Globe nominations.

Early life

Steel was born Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel in New York City. Her father was German, and her mother was Portuguese. Her father, John Schuelein-Steel, was a German-Jewish immigrant and a family member of people who owned Löwenbräu beer. Her mother, Norma da Camara Stone dos Reis, was the child of a Portuguese diplomat.

She lived much of her childhood in France, where she attended dinner parties with her parents when she was very young. These events allowed her to see how wealthy and famous people lived. Her parents separated when she was eight years old, and she was mostly raised by her father, seeing her mother only rarely. Steel began writing stories as a child and started writing poetry by the time she was in her late teens. She was raised Catholic and considered becoming a nun during her early years. She graduated from the Lycée Français de New York in 1965. She studied literature, design, and fashion at Parsons School of Design and later at New York University.

Career

While still in college at New York University, Steel began writing and finished her first book at the age of 19. She worked for a public relations company in New York named Supergirls. A client, John Mack Carter, who was an editor for Ladies' Home Journal, encouraged her to focus on writing after being impressed by her articles. He suggested she write a book, which she did. Later, she moved to San Francisco and worked as a writer for Grey Advertising.

Her first novel, Going Home, was published in 1973. This book included themes that became central to her writing, such as family and human relationships. Her relationship with her second husband influenced two of her early novels, Passion's Promise and Now and Forever, which helped launch her career. After the success of her fourth book, The Promise, she became part of San Francisco’s high society.

Starting in 1991, Steel’s books regularly appeared on The New York Times bestseller lists. In 1999, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having a book on the New York Times Bestseller List for the most consecutive weeks, 456 at that time. She claims her books take about 2½ years to complete and that she can work on up to five projects at once. She researches one book while planning another. Every novel she has written since her first has reached bestseller lists in paperback, and each hardcover book has also been a hardcover bestseller.

During this time, Steel also wrote non-fiction books. In 1984, she published Having a Baby, which included a chapter about her experience with miscarriage. That same year, she wrote a poetry book titled Love: Poems. She also wrote a series of 57 illustrated books for children called the "Max and Martha" series. These books help children learn to deal with real-life challenges, such as welcoming a new baby, starting school, or losing someone they love. She also wrote the "Freddie" series, which addresses other real-life situations, like staying away from home for the first time or visiting a doctor.

In 1993, Steel sued writer Lorenzo Bene after he planned to write about her son Nick being adopted by her then-husband, John Traina. A San Francisco judge ruled that the adoption records, which were kept private in California, could be opened, even though Nick was still a minor. A higher court later agreed, stating that because Steel was famous, her son’s adoption did not have the same privacy rights as others, and the book was allowed to be published.

After years of writing, Steel opened an art gallery in San Francisco in 2003 called the Steel Gallery. It displayed work by emerging artists and closed in 2007. She continues to organize art shows a few times a year for the Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco.

In 2002, Steel was honored by the French government as an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her contributions to world culture.

She has also received the following honors:
– Induction into the California Hall of Fame in December 2009.
– "Distinguished Service in Mental Health Award" (first given to a non-physician) from New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University, and Cornell Medical College in May 2009.
– "Outstanding Achievement Award" for work with adolescents from Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco in May 2003.
– "Service to Youth Award" for helping children with mental health challenges from the University of San Francisco Catholic Youth Organization and St. Mary’s Medical Center in November 1999.
– "Outstanding Achievement Award" in Mental Health from the California Psychiatric Association.
– "Distinguished Service Award" from the American Psychiatric Association.

In 2006, Steel partnered with Elizabeth Arden to create a new perfume called Danielle by Danielle Steel.

In 2014, she wrote an article for SFGate expressing her concern that San Francisco was losing its unique character.

Personal life

In 1965, at the age of 18, Steel married French banker Claude-Éric Lazard. They had a daughter named Beatrix. Steel and Lazard separated in 1972. While still married to Lazard, Steel met Danny Zugelder while interviewing an inmate in a prison near Lompoc, California, where Zugelder was also incarcerated. After Zugelder was released from prison in June 1973, he moved in with Steel. However, he returned to prison in early 1974 due to charges of robbery and rape. In 1975, after receiving her divorce from Lazard, Steel married Zugelder in the prison canteen. During their relationship, Steel experienced several miscarriages. She divorced Zugelder in 1978.

In 1978, Steel married her third husband, William George Toth, while pregnant with their son, Nick. They divorced in March 1981.

In 1981, Steel married John Traina, a business owner in shipping, cruises, wine making, and art collecting. Traina was previously married to Dede Wilsey. Together, they had five children: Samantha, Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara. Traina adopted Steel’s son, Nick, and gave him his family name. Steel also became the stepmother to Traina’s sons, Trevor and Todd. To spend more time with her children, Steel often wrote at night, getting only four hours of sleep each day. Steel and Traina divorced in 1995.

In the early 1980s, Steel’s fear of flying caused challenges. She completed an eight-week course at the San Francisco airport to help her overcome this fear.

In 1981, Steel married for the fourth time to John Traina. In 1981, she married for the fourth time to John Traina, a shipping and cruise magnate and later vintner and art collector who was the ex-husband of Dede Wilsey. Together they had five children, Samantha, Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara. Traina adopted Steel's son Nick and gave him his family name and Steel also became stepmother of Traina's sons Trevor and Todd. Determined to spend as much time as possible with her children, Steel often wrote at night, making do with only four hours of sleep. Steel and Traina divorced in 1995.

Her fear of flying created many challenges in the early 1980s; she went through an eight-week course based at the San Francisco airport to overcome her fear.

Steel married for a fifth time in 2002 to Thomas James Perkins, a financier from Silicon Valley. Their marriage ended in 2002 after four years. Steel has said that her novel The Klone and I was inspired by a private joke between herself and Perkins. In 2006, Perkins dedicated his novel Sex and the Single Zillionaire to Steel.

Steel’s longtime home was in San Francisco, but she now spends most of her time at a second home in Paris. Her 55-room San Francisco home, the Spreckels Mansion, was built around 1912 as the mansion of sugar tycoon Adolph B. Spreckels.

Despite her public image and varied pursuits, Steel is known to be shy. Because of this and her desire to protect her children from the tabloids, she rarely grants interviews or makes public appearances.

Steel’s son, Nick Traina, died by suicide in 1997. Traina was the lead singer of San Francisco punk bands Link 80 and Knowledge. To honor his memory, Steel wrote the nonfiction book His Bright Light, which details Nick’s life and death. The book reached The New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller List, and its proceeds were used to found the Nick Traina Foundation, which Steel runs to support organizations that help treat mental accessibility issues. To raise awareness about children’s mental health, Steel has lobbied for legislation in Washington, D.C., and previously held a fundraiser every two years (called The Star Ball) in San Francisco. In 2002, she founded Yo Angel Foundation to assist the homeless.

Writing style

Steel's novels are often called "predictable" because they usually involve characters facing a problem that could harm their relationships. These stories sometimes show the lives of wealthy or famous people and often discuss serious topics such as illness, death, loss, family problems, and relationships. Some people believe her popular storylines are inspired by events from her own life. Although some critics call her work "fluff," Steel often writes about difficult or unpleasant parts of human behavior, including incest, suicide, divorce, war, and the Holocaust. Over time, her writing has changed. Her later heroines are often stronger and more confident. If they do not receive the respect or attention they want from a man, they choose to move on with their lives. In recent years, Steel has taken more risks with her stories. For example, Ransom focuses more on suspense than romance and follows three groups of characters whose lives become connected. Toxic Bachelors is different from her usual style because it tells the story from the perspectives of three men who are afraid of relationships and eventually find love.

To avoid being compared to her earlier books, Steel does not write sequels. Many of her early books were printed in large numbers, such as 1 million copies. However, by 2004, her publisher reduced the initial print run to 650,000 copies because fewer people were buying books. At that time, her fan base remained very strong, and her books often sold out and topped charts worldwide.

Twenty-two of her books have been turned into television shows, and two received Golden Globe nominations. One is Jewels, which tells the story of a woman and her children surviving World War II in Europe and later rebuilding their lives as a famous jewelry family. In 1998, Columbia Pictures became the first movie studio to buy the rights to one of her novels, The Ghost. In 2005, Steel agreed to sell the film rights to 30 of her novels for DVDs to New Line Home Entertainment.

Steel spends two to three years writing each book and works on multiple projects at the same time. She said in a 2018 interview with The New York Times that she starts by making notes about her characters before creating an outline. She explained, "I need to know the characters really well before I start — who they are, how they think, how they feel, what has happened to them, and how they grew up." In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, she mentioned that she sometimes spends 20 to 30 hours at a time typing on her typewriter, which has drawn both attention and criticism.

Steel has written all of her novels using Olympia SG1 typewriters. She uses two of them: one at her home in San Francisco and another at her home in Paris. The typewriter in San Francisco has been hers since she bought it secondhand for $20 while working on her first book.

Works

Danielle Steel has written over 210 books, including more than 182 novels. Her books have been translated into 43 languages and are available in 69 countries worldwide.

Her books include novels, non-fiction, picture books, and two children's book series: the Max & Martha series and the Freddie series.

Filmography

• The Promise (1979, theatrical film)
• Now and Forever (1983, theatrical film)
• Crossings (1986, miniseries)
• Kaleidoscope (1990, television film)
• Fine Things (1990, television film)
• Changes (1991, television film)
• Palomino (1991, television film)
• Daddy (1991, television film)
• Secrets (1992, television film)
• Jewels (1992, miniseries)
• Heartbeat (1993, television film)
• Star (1993, television film)
• Message from Nam (1993, television film)
• Once in a Lifetime (1994, television film)
• A Perfect Stranger (1994, television film)
• Family Album (1994, miniseries)
• Vanished (1995, television film)
• Zoya (1995, television film)
• Mixed Blessings (1995, television film)
• No Greater Love (1996, television film)
• Remembrance (1996, television film)
• Full Circle (1996, television film)
• The Ring (1996, television film)
• Safe Harbour (2007, direct-to-video)