When people look at me outside, they think, 'She's so lucky,' but no one's exempt from tragedy.
— Danielle Steel
I'm probably the most uptight, conservative person you'll meet. I'm very religious.
I want to be Miss Universe when I grow up.
You can't have nine children and not be organized. Otherwise it just looks like Appalachia.
People have entire relationships via text message now, but I am not partial to texting. I need context, nuance and the warmth and tone that can only come from a human voice.
I work too hard and don't play enough.
I don't like grand restaurants or kowtowing waiters. I don't need that kind of attention and I don't want it.
I wish I were brave, although I try. I work too hard and don't play enough. Too much work ethic, not enough 'fun'.
A book begins with an image or character or situation that I care about deeply.
I completed my first novel when I was 19 years old.
I have these wonderful homes, and no one to share them with.
I started writing stories as a child.
I try to give people hope. Even though life is bleak, there's hope out there.
I'm astonished by my success. I wrote because I needed to and wanted to. It never occurred to me that I'd become famous.
It's difficult to talk to people... I walk into a room and I'm Danielle Steel, and whatever I say is going to be taken apart.
My kids are more precious to me than anything. I'm with them all day, and I write all night.
The usual way - through a long series of rejections, revising my manuscripts, and kept trying again and again. Finally I was fortunate enough to find a good agent.
I believe in love at first sight for houses - but not for people.
Writing is a solitary endeavor, but not a lonely one. When you write, your world is populated by the characters you invent, and you feel those people filling your life.
I once looked like Norman Mailer in a picture with bad lighting.
It's been very hard, after being mostly a mom, to develop an adult life of my own. And not being married anymore, I have to come up with challenges.
I'm surprisingly practical in much of my life, but not when it comes to my shoes.
I wish I were braver, although I try.
I'm a terribly irresponsible eater - I love soft-boiled eggs and chocolate. I never met a chocolate I could not eat.
If you can see the magic in a fairytale, you can face the future.
At the moment, I'm enjoying John Grisham quite a bit.
I decided I would never do interviews again.
I like summer. I like warmer weather and long days. I'm one of those silly people who still enjoy lying in the sun - my children are horrified!
I studied literature design and fashion design.
I try to write about the stuff that torments us all.
I've shut myself inside these walls, and I'm going to be a very lonely old lady if I'm not careful.
It's hard being visible, so I've made myself invisible.
People are much more inclined to believe and say bad things about you if you're famous.
Sometimes, if you aren't sure about something, you just have to jump off the bridge and grow your wings on the way down.
My relationships were never equitable. My husbands were always older than me, and they made the rules, they ran the show, and I followed them.
Perfume is like a personal signature, which is why I like to mix my own. For years I've paired Femme by Rochas with Shalimar and love the results.
I always try to write about believable people.
Lust is temporary, romance can be nice, but love is the most important thing of all. Because without love, lust and romance will always be short-lived.
I don't buy trends, because the pieces don't last and I wind up never wearing them. That's why I like to shop with my children; they'll always tell me the truth.
I grew up with my father, so I know more about cars than most women.
I'm not an aging gracefully type. But I do believe in aging with grace.
A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it.
I am endlessly busy, bringing up five young kids, and trying to keep up with the three older ones. I still spend most of my life driving car pools.
I did it at night because I loved it. I never did it to make money, as a job. I just did it because I had to.
I move between San Francisco and Paris... I have a wonderful beach house in California.
I think I'm very real as a person, and that comes across in my work.
I wrote because I needed to and wanted to. It never occurred to me that I'd become famous.
In my late teenage years, I developed a real passion for it, and wrote a lot of poetry.
My early reviews were so bad that I decided I didn't want to read them again.
The records of adopted children are sealed in California. That seal is considered inviolable... The judge ruled that, because I was famous, he didn't have the same rights as other kids.
