Danielle Steel is an American novelist who is among the all-time best-selling authors. She is presently the best-selling author alive, with over 800 million copies sold. She is a prolific writer who has written over 90 novels, all of which have been bestsellers. She has also written children’s books, non-fiction works, and poetry in addition to novels. Her books have been published in over 70 countries and have been translated into over 40 languages. Several of her books have also been made into television adaptations. Despite her enormous popularity and economic success, she has been accused of writing “fluff” by critics. She is especially popular among female readers since she writes in a steady, formulaic style. Danielle Steel has always enjoyed writing and began creating stories when she was a child. She worked for a public relations firm after finishing school. A client there, impressed by her freelancing articles, encouraged her to concentrate on writing, and thus her literary career began. Following the publication of her first novel, ‘Going Home,’ she quickly established herself as a well-known and well-loved novelist. She also founded The Nick Traina Foundation, which is named after her late son.
Childhood and Adolescence
Danielle Fernandes was her birth name. Dominique Schuelein-Steel was born on August 14, 1947, in New York City, to a rich family. Norma da Câmara Stone dos Reis and John Schulein-Steel had only one child, her.
She was reared largely in Paris and New York after her parents split when she was seven or eight years old.
As a child, she had a passion for writing. She studied book design and fashion design at Parsons School of Design and later at New York University after graduating from the Lycée Français de New York in 1963.
Career of Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel married young and had a child soon after. Shortly after the birth of her first daughter, she started working at Supergirls, a public relations firm in New York. She received her first compliment on her writing while working there. One of her clients was so taken with her freelance articles that he suggested she try her hand at writing herself.
She subsequently relocated to San Francisco and began working as a copywriter for Grey Advertising. ‘Going Home,’ her first novel, was published in 1973. She authored several more novels after it was published, but none of them were accepted for publication.
In 1977, her work Passion’s Promise’ was finally accepted for publication. The story follows the life of a dazzling socialite who also works as a social justice journalist and is torn between her two identities.
‘Season of Passion,’ a love novel she published in 1979, covers the lives of Kate and Tom Harper and the development of their relationship over time. The pair had a wonderful relationship at first, but as Tom turns suicidal, Kate knows that she wants to start over.
She quickly established herself as a prolific writer, publishing many novels in a single year. Following a string of lesser-known novels in the early 1980s, she published ‘Full Circle’ in 1984, which became a bestseller and was later turned into a television picture.
Several of her novels were adapted for television as her fame expanded over time. ‘Now and Forever’ (1983), ‘Crossings’ (1986), ‘Fine Things’ (1990), ‘Daddy’ (1991), ‘Danielle Steel’s Heartbeat’ (1993), ‘A Perfect Stranger’ (1994), and ‘Family Album’ (1995) are just a few examples (1994). The most successful adaptation was ‘Jewels,’ a miniseries that received two Golden Globe nominations in 1992.
She has also written children’s fiction in addition to novels. She wrote the ‘Max and Martha’ series of ten illustrated books to assist children to deal with real-life issues including having a new sibling, losing a loved one, transferring schools, and so on.
‘A Gift of Hope’ (2012), ‘Until the End of Time’ (2013), ‘First Sight’ (2013), ‘Power Play’ (2014), ‘A Perfect Life’ (2014), and ‘Prodigal Son’ (2014) are some of the prolific author’s latest publications (2015).
Major Projects of Danielle Steel
Her novel ‘Kaleidoscope’ (1987), which explores the love and bonds between siblings, is one of her most successful bestselling works. The story follows three sisters whose father murders their mother and then kills himself. The suspenseful novel was also made into an NBC television film.
Her most well-known non-fiction book is ‘His Bright Life,’ in which she tells the story of her son Nicholas Traina, who committed suicide in 1997. He was afflicted with bipolar disorder. The book’s revenues were used to start a foundation in her son’s honor.
Achievements & Awards
For her contributions to world culture, the French government named her an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002.
She received the “Outstanding Achievement Award” from Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco in May 2003 for her work with adolescents.
In May 2009, she was honored by the New York-Presbyterian Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical School, and Cornell Medical College with the “Distinguished Service in Mental Health Award.”
Personal History and Legacy
Danielle Steel is well-known for her romance novels, but she has had a string of bad luck in love. She has been married five times, each time resulting in a divorce. From all of her marriages, she had six children.
Danielle Steel Net Worth
Danielle Steel is a well-known American novelist with a $400 million fortune. Steel has written over 180 books and is the world’s bestselling novelist, with over 800 million copies sold as of this writing. She is best known for her romantic novels, including “The Promise” (1979), “Once in a Lifetime” (1982), and “Until the End of Time” (2013), but she has also written poetry and picture books for children, as well as the “Max & Martha” and “Freddie” series. More than 20 of Danielle’s novels have been turned into films or miniseries, and her writings have been translated into dozens of languages. After one of her books reached 381 weeks on “The New York Times” Bestseller List, she was inducted into the “Guinness Book of World Records” in 1989.
Trivia
In remembrance of her deceased son, who suffered from psychiatric illnesses and died as a result of a drug overdose, she established the Nick Traina Foundation to support organizations that work to combat mental illness and child abuse.