Best-selling author Danielle Steel has scored a whole new legion of fans after she opened up about her intense writing process that includes her beloved typewriter and 20-hour work days — despite giving up caffeine 25 years ago.
The 71-year-old, who has penned 179 books and releases seven new titles a year, shared her daily routine with Glamour while promoting her new novel, Blessing in Disguise.
The profile quickly went viral, with people taking to Twitter to share their favorite quotes and facts about the prolific author, who typically dons a cashmere nightgown and snacks on bittersweet chocolate bars while writing in her luxurious homes in San Francisco and Paris.
Say what? Danielle Steel, 71, has opened up about her writing process, revealing she spends 20 to 22 hours a day at her desk writing. She’s pictured in 2017
Best-selling author: Steel has penned 179 books over the past four decades and releases seven new titles a year. She is pictured in 1995 (left) and 1996 (right)
Then there is her desk: a one-of-a-kind, custom-made creation that is shaped like three of her best-sellers — Star, Heartbeat, and Daddy — and sits inside her office in her San Francisco mansion.
Steel is worth an estimated $350 million, and while she can easily pack it in and spend the rest of time living a life of leisure, she has made it clear in her latest interview that she will be churning out novels until she drops dead because she simply loves writing.
Next up: The author is currently promoting her new novel, Blessing in Disguise
‘When I was first starting out, I had the same agent as Agatha Christie,’ Steel told Glamour. ‘I was about 19 years old and she was in her nineties. I met her once, and I remember she said, “I want to die face-first in my typewriter.” And I feel that way. I mean, I want to go on forever, just writing.’
The author is so close with her 1946 Olympia standard typewriter that she has nicknamed it ‘Olly.’ She bought it for $20 at the beginning of her career and hasn’t been able to write on anything else since.
‘Olly’s a big, heavy machine and it’s older than I am,’ she explained. ‘It has a very smooth flow to it and I can’t write on anything else.
‘I have anywhere between 12 to 15 of them that I’ve bought over the years, but they’re not good enough to work on. I keep them for parts in case there’s ever a problem, because this is a very endangered species!
But the true secret to Steel’s success? Not sleeping. The author admitted that she works 20 to 22 hours a day, and sometimes when a deadline is looming, she will sit at her desk for a full 24 hours.
Mansion: Steel typically dons a cashmere nightgown and snacks on bittersweet chocolate bars while writing in her luxurious home in San Francisco (pictured)
Glamorous: When she’s not in San Francisco, Steel (pictured at Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week show in 2016) also writes at her home in Paris. She is worth an estimated $350 million
‘I don’t get to bed until I’m so tired I could sleep on the floor. If I have four hours, it’s really a good night for me,’ she said.
Steel’s morning routine starts with her heading to her home office at 8:00 a.m. in a cashmere nightgown. For breakfast, she has one piece of toast and an iced decaf coffee. Miniature bittersweet chocolate bars are what she snacks on throughout the day.
To combat writer’s block, she just keeps working, preferring to have to correct pages that didn’t hit the mark rather than be left with nothing to work with.
Start of it all: Steel was just 26 years old when her first boo, Going Home, came out in 1973
She admittedly can’t read other books when she is working on her own, and because she juggles writing five or six novels at a time, she is almost never able to dive into someone else’s work.
If she has a spare moment, she likes to watch shows on Netflix, The Bodyguard with Richard Madden being her new favorite.
Steel also takes off one full week in the summer when she travels to the South of France. While on vacation, she spends time with her grandchildren and reads all the books she wasn’t able to enjoy during the year.
Twitter users were amazed by her discipline, including Glamour editor Samantha Leach, who interviewed the author for the profile.
‘I used to use “you have the same amount of hours in the day as Beyoncé,” as my inspiration to work harder. Then I profiled Danielle Steel for @glamourmag and every single word out of her mouth was a masterclass in productivity,’ she tweeted.
‘Danielle Steel has written 179 books, has nine children, and doesn’t drink coffee. My jaw is on the floor,’ writer Hannah Orenstein commented.
And Quincy Larson noted: ‘There’s productive. And then there’s Danielle Steel productive.’
Throwback: Steel, who grew up in France, said she has always been someone who burns the candle at both ends and plans on writing until she dies
Dedication: The author (pictured with her ex-husband John Traina) admitted that two of her five ex-husbands didn’t like the fact that she worked. She wrote when her children were asleep
Steel, who grew up in France, said she has always been someone who burns the candle at both ends. She wrote her first novel at 19, but it took some time for her to get published. She was 26 when her first book, Going Home, came out in 1973, and it’s been smooth sailing ever since.
Interestingly enough, she never set out to be a best-selling author. The mother of nine (Steel has seven children and two stepchildren) admitted that two of her five ex-husbands didn’t like the fact that she worked, so she wrote when her kids were asleep.
Although Steel didn’t discuss her marriages, the profile inspired some new fans to look into her colorful romances.
The writer married her first husband, French banker Claude-Eric Lazard, when she was just 18 years old. Together, they welcomed a daughter, Beatrix.
She wed her second spouse, Danny Zugelder, in prison in 1975 when he was serving time for robbery and sexual assault.
Mother of nine: Steel (pictured with two of her daughters in the ’80s) has seven children and two stepchildren
Quality time: Steel is pictured with her daughters Samantha and Vanessa in 2015 (left). She attended the Chanel Haute Couture show with her son Max in 2018 (right)
Loving it: The profile on Steel quickly went viral, with people taking to Twitter to share their favorite quotes and facts about the prolific author
Showstopper: People were amazed by the desk in her San Francisco offic, which is a custom-made creation that is shaped like three of her best-sellers — Star, Heartbeat, and Daddy
Can’t get over it: Twitter users were amazed by her discipline, including Glamour editor Samantha Leach, who interviewed the author for the profile
Steel married her third husband, William Toth, the day after her divorce from Zugelder was finalized; she was nearly nine months pregnant with their son, Nick.
In 1981, the same year she divorced Toth, she wed shipping executive John Traina, who adopted Nick and gave him his surname.
Over the course of their 17-year marriage, they had five more children: Samantha, Victoria, Vanessa, Maximilian, and Zara. In 1997, her son Nick committed suicide and she wrote about his life and death in her nonfiction book His Bright Light.
‘Writing that book about his life was like bringing him back to life. It was like he was alive again,’ she told Refinery29 in November. ‘It was wonderful. But the book did not have a happy ending.
‘I once wrote one about the Titanic [No Greater Love, 1996] and my husband at the time said, “I get a feeling something happens to the boat.” So, it was a given that something would happen to the boat in the book I wrote about my son. Life is complicated.’
A year later, she married her fifth husband, Silicon Valley financier Thomas James Perkins, but they divorced just four years later in 2002.
For many fans, Steel’s life is just as interesting as her books.
‘I could talk about Danielle Steel all day,’ Rachel Syme tweeted. ‘For example, she was once married to a bank robber!!!!! She has nine kids and 5 husbands!!!! She lives in a mansion! A full mansion.’
‘Danielle Steel doesn’t drink coffee and writes 7 books a year,’ another person commented. ‘This interview every writer must read and weep. A powerful portrayal of a mega-successful writer.’
And Tom Lasseter wrote: ‘Not something I expected to say this morning. But y’all, Danielle Steel is a BOSS.’