(born 1947) Alternatively termed a “teflon novelist,” and the companion to “Sunday afternoons with a box of bonbons,” Danielle Steele remains unarguably a publishing sensation. Her romance novels, featuring often glamorous heroines grappling with the demands of work, love and family and moving through melodrama towards emotional catharsis, have soared to the top of the bestseller list over twenty-five times and sold 85 million copies in over forty-two countries. Steele’s readers run the gamut of age and income; 40 percent are male. Born to privilege (the Lowenbrau beer family), Steele found writing—poems, reviews and ad copy as well—a comfort from loneliness after a divorce, and quietude from the limelight. Her reign also encompasses the television miniseries, including ABC’s Crossings, Wanderlust and Thurston Place.