Danielle Steel

A publishing phenomenon, Steel's new novels regularly top the best-seller lists. She began her writing career by creating ad copy and publishing poems in women's magazines in the 1970s. Her first romantic novel, Going Home, was published in 1973. Her fourth, The Promise (1979), was a best-seller and launched a steady stream of successes that have made Steel a very wealthy woman. By 1988, 85 million copies of her works had been sold in 42 countries. Though the critics pan her, her fans keep the sales figures robustly healthy. Twenty-one of her novels have been made into TV movies. Steel has also written children's books.