Family or career — that’s a question many of Danielle Steel’s heroines have had to face in scores of her wildly successful novels over the last 30 years. And usually they’ve found a way to have it all.
Luckily, for her fans, the author never had to make that choice.
In a rare interview from her San Francisco home, Steel told Tempo that, if push had come to shove, she would have stayed home with her nine children and “my career would have been out the window.”
Steel, 58, who has more than half a billion books in print, recently published her latest novel, “The House” (Delacorte), has another six or so manuscripts in the pipeline and, a few hours before the interview, finished the first draft of her 96th book.
She also spoke of celebrity, retirement, reading, writing and dressing up for the covers of her books. Here’s an edited transcript.
Q. You’re closing in on 100 books.
A. My children are very excited. They keep promising me a party when I finish my 100th — which I hope will be within the next year or so.
I wrote my first book at 19. So I’ve been at this for a while. It is a huge amount of work. Every time I’m working on a book, I think, “Oh, my God, I can’t do this again,” because I work a crazy schedule when I’m doing the first draft. I work about a 20-22-hour day, every day for about a month. Which is a very crazy way to live, and I guess, when I get really old, it’ll be hard to do.
Q. When does retirement happen?
A. When I’m dead.
I always admired Agatha Christie because she wrote to the end. I don’t know what I could do if I would retire. I’m a busy-holic. When my kids were younger, I spent full time with them in the daytime, and I only wrote at night. I just love keeping busy, and I love writing.
I was so annoyed with myself. I finished the book at 4 this morning. I was sort of wandering around, trying to catch my breath. It’s like finishing a marathon. And, as I went to bed, I thought, “What about a book about this?” I was thinking of another idea. I thought, “Oh, this is terrible! Go to sleep!” I love it. It’s a passion.
Q. Because you’re so busy as a writer, do you ever get to read much?
A. No. I read very little. You know, writing is more than a passion. It’s a need. I don’t think I could stop writing. I’ve always needed to write. These stories come up, and I need to get them out of my system. Sort of like a frog with a giant bubble coming out of its mouth.
There’s a period of time that I try to achieve in the summer when, in theory, I’m not writing. Then, I just sit there and devour books and gobble up everything I’ve been dying to read. But, if I’m writing in any form, be it rewriting, galleys, concepts, I do not read anybody else’s work because I don’t want any sort of crossover.
Q. Does that feel like a loss?
A. Yeah. I always have a huge stack of my wish list of what I want to be reading. It’s sad because I love to read. But I guess I like writing better.
Q. When you look back on your life, was there a particular book that had a really big impact on you?
A. I grew up speaking French and in French schools. I very much loved Colette when I was young. When I was young, I was very impressed with Francoise Sagan. I can’t say I liked the book [“Bonjour Tristesse”], but there was something so intriguing that she wrote a book at 19. And the funny thing is, I ended up writing my first book at 19, not in any conscious way to follow in Sagan’s footsteps. The Bible, I’d say, impacted me the most.
Q. Ann Rice just began a series of books about Jesus. Have you ever been tempted to write about the life of Jesus?
A. Honestly, the older I get, the humbler I feel. I would not feel equal to that task. Although I admire her for tackling it, I wouldn’t feel equipped to do it.
Q. You raised nine children. I don’t think a lot of people realize that. How did that help or hurt you as a writer?
A. It helped me in every way as a human being. That is without a doubt the central love and passion and theme of my life. If I had ever had to choose between having my children and my career, my career would have been out the window.
Q. You’ve described yourself in the past as shy. How does it feel to be a writer and a shy person and a celebrity?
A. Really hard. I used to say that I thought God had a sense of humor, and he sort of flips through his Rolodex when he has a little too much wine and says, “Oh, this one’s shy. Let’s make her famous.” I’ve always been extremely shy and retiring.
Q. It seems that one aspect you do enjoy is dressing up for the covers of your books.
A. I try and make the book cover relate to what’s in the book because I [rarely] do interviews. The book covers are really the only contact the readers have with me. It’s the only time they see me. So I try to really be there for them on the book covers.
Q. Do you ever pick up one of your old books and page through it?
A. Never. When they’re done, they’re done. When the last of the rewrite is done, I never look at the book again. They come out two years after I finish the last of the process. By then, I’m so steeped in another book.
I have a library in my house, and my publisher has very kindly over the years given me a leather-bound copy of each book. I know they’re in there, but I don’t know where they are.
Q. Do you remember now all the plots and characters of your books?
A. Absolutely not. By the time the book comes out, I don’t remember the characters’ names. And I’m always getting people who come up to me: “Oh, I loved that book, and when Martha did this to George . . . ” Oh, I cannot for the life of me remember the names of the characters.
I’m very involved with the book I’m writing at the time, and all the others just fade away. Once they’re done, they’re done. I don’t read them again. I don’t look at them again.
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preardon@tribune.com
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THE SYNOPSIS
Born: Aug. 14, 1947, in New York City (educated in France)
First published book: “Going Home” (Pocket Books, 1973)
Latest book: “The House” (Delacorte, in February)
Jobs before becoming a full-time writer: public relations, advertising, creative writing teacher
Goal as a writer: “To get the story out of my system. And I don’t think about it constantly, but I guess there’s a message of hope. I want to reach out to people and, in some way, make them feel better for having read the book.”
390
Consecutive weeks with a book on The New York Times best-seller list
22
Novels adapted for television
5
Number of husbands (currently single)
9
Children
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POP FICTION COMPETITION
How other best-selling authors compare to Danielle Steel on books in print worldwide
Agatha Christie
2 billion
J. K. Rowling
300 million
Sidney Sheldon
300 million
Stephen King
300 million
James Patterson
100 million
John Grisham
60 million
