Topic: Danielle Steele

Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born August 14, 1947), better known as Danielle Steel, is an American romantic novelist and author of mainstream dramas.

Best known for drama and romance novels, Steel has sold more than 800 million copies of her books (as of 2005) worldwide and is the eighth best selling writer of all time, and is currently the bestselling author alive. Her novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks and 22 have been adapted for television.

Steel was born in New York City. Her parents were John Schulein-Steel, a descendant of the founders of Löwenbräu beer, and Norma da Câmara Stone dos Reis, the daughter of a Portuguese diplomat. Steel spent much of her early childhood in France, where from an early age she was included in her parents' dinner parties, giving her an opportunity to observe the habits and lives of the wealthy and famous. Her parents divorced when she was seven, however, and she was raised primarily in New York City and Europe by her father, rarely seeing her mother.