Book by Book with the best-selling Danielle Steel
Authors may dream of selling millions of books. But a billion? Danielle Steel, one of the top-selling authors in the world, has sold over a billion books. She continues to write best seller after best seller, and her most recent books include Happiness and the soon to be best sellers Second Act (October 3) and The Ball at Versailles (November 21).
To celebrate this milestone and her prolific career, we asked Danielle Steel herself to take us through the books she’s written and to share a little bit more about what they mean to her, including her favorite book, which she says “is always the one I am currently working on. I fall in love with the characters while I write it, and they become real to me.”
My most recent book
I think this is an important book, because it is a close-up, intimate, poignant, and carefully thought out view of the impact of an important movie studio CEO losing his job, position and career when he is suddenly fired from his long time 20 year career as CEO. How deeply emotionally damaging it is, how hard he must struggle to rebuild his own identity and self-confidence and forge a new life, and he must eventually decide how deeply he believes in the changes he made, professionally and deep within himself. Male authors frequently write about what men DO and how women LOOK. Female authors write about how men LOOK (and what they do) and how women FEEL. Few authors write about how men FEEL, especially when torn down to their very core with a soul-crushing blow. It was a privilege and deeply moving to look deep into the heart and soul of a man facing the crash of everything he has known, and his agonizing climb back up, with all the pain and change and ultimately reward that entails. –Danielle Steel
I think this is an important book, because it is a close-up, intimate, poignant, and carefully thought out view of the impact of an important movie studio CEO losing his job, position and career when he is suddenly fired from his long time 20 year career as CEO. How deeply emotionally damaging it is, how hard he must struggle to rebuild his own identity and self-confidence and forge a new life, and he must eventually decide how deeply he believes in the changes he made, professionally and deep within himself. Male authors frequently write about what men DO and how women LOOK. Female authors write about how men LOOK (and what they do) and how women FEEL. Few authors write about how men FEEL, especially when torn down to their very core with a soul-crushing blow. It was a privilege and deeply moving to look deep into the heart and soul of a man facing the crash of everything he has known, and his agonizing climb back up, with all the pain and change and ultimately reward that entails. –Danielle Steel
My funniest book
My funniest book is one I wrote as a joke and Christmas gift for my late husband. He travelled a great deal and we were apart for nine months a year. He worked in a high-tech field and assured me he would send me a clone to keep me company. And I wrote a book about a man who sends his clone to his girlfriend. The "real" man is serious, conservative, not very amusing, but a decent person. The clone is wild, outrageous, terribly behaved, sexy and fun. She falls in love with both man and clone, and eventually can no longer decide which one she wants. I had fun writing it, it's not for everyone, but it's a very funny book. –Danielle Steel
My funniest book is one I wrote as a joke and Christmas gift for my late husband. He travelled a great deal and we were apart for nine months a year. He worked in a high-tech field and assured me he would send me a clone to keep me company. And I wrote a book about a man who sends his clone to his girlfriend. The "real" man is serious, conservative, not very amusing, but a decent person. The clone is wild, outrageous, terribly behaved, sexy and fun. She falls in love with both man and clone, and eventually can no longer decide which one she wants. I had fun writing it, it's not for everyone, but it's a very funny book. –Danielle Steel
My most important book
Is my nonfiction book about my son Nick Traina, his life with severe bipolar disease from the age of two until his suicide at the age of 19. He was an extraordinary, talented, charming, funny, loving, brave boy. The book has broken through some of the stigma of speaking up about mental illness. And it is an intimate view of the challenges of life as a bipolar person, and with a bipolar person. I get thousands of letters from sufferers of the illness, and those who love them, thanking me for the book. It has helped many, many people on this topic. –Danielle Steel
Is my nonfiction book about my son Nick Traina, his life with severe bipolar disease from the age of two until his suicide at the age of 19. He was an extraordinary, talented, charming, funny, loving, brave boy. The book has broken through some of the stigma of speaking up about mental illness. And it is an intimate view of the challenges of life as a bipolar person, and with a bipolar person. I get thousands of letters from sufferers of the illness, and those who love them, thanking me for the book. It has helped many, many people on this topic. –Danielle Steel
My best book to give as a gift
I have collected quotations all my life, and I shared 100 of them in this book, to give one hope, courage, and sometimes a good laugh. –Danielle Steel
I have collected quotations all my life, and I shared 100 of them in this book, to give one hope, courage, and sometimes a good laugh. –Danielle Steel
My best historical fiction
One of my very best historical fiction books, minutely and meticulously researched, is about nurses on flight missions to the front to save dying men in World War II. I think it's one of my best books. –Danielle Steel
One of my very best historical fiction books, minutely and meticulously researched, is about nurses on flight missions to the front to save dying men in World War II. I think it's one of my best books. –Danielle Steel
My best children’s book
Two of my best illustrated children's books, and the most recent, are Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie In Hollywood. Minnie is a white, long haired, teacup two pound Chihuahua who lives in Paris, loves pretty clothes, and in the second book, she goes to Hollywood to star in a movie. I LOVE these two books, and little girls love them (age range 2 to 7). –Danielle Steel
Two of my best illustrated children's books, and the most recent, are Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie In Hollywood. Minnie is a white, long haired, teacup two pound Chihuahua who lives in Paris, loves pretty clothes, and in the second book, she goes to Hollywood to star in a movie. I LOVE these two books, and little girls love them (age range 2 to 7). –Danielle Steel
Photo credit: Brigitte Lacombe
