In Stores: July 24, 2012

Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy, and Sean—each bursting with their own personality, strikingly different looks and talents, in sports, science, and the arts. Each drawn by the magical spark of connection that happens to the young. At the exclusive Atwood School, on a bright September day, starting in kindergarten they become an inseparable group known to outsiders as the Big Five. In this rarefied world, five families grow closer, and five children bloom beside one another, unaware of the storms gathering around them.

As they turn from grade-schoolers to teenagers, seemingly perfect lives are buffeted by unraveling families, unfortunate missteps, and losses and victories great and small. And, one by one, they turn back to the Big Five to regain their footing and their steady course. But as they emerge from Atwood and enter the college years, the way forward is neither safe nor clear. As their lives separate and diverge, the challenges and risks become greater, the losses sharper, and the right paths harder to choose, in a journey of friendship, survival, and love.

In what may be her most intricate and emotionally powerful novel yet, Danielle Steel tells a heart-wrenching, ultimately triumphant story that spans decades, weaves together a vivid cast of characters, and captures the challenges we face in life—sometimes, if we’re lucky, with a friend forever by our side.

In Stores: Now

At thirty-nine, Tallie Jones is a Hollywood legend. Her work as a film director is her passion and the center of her life; one after another, her award-winning productions achieve the rare combination of critical and commercial success. With no interest in the perks of her profession or the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, Tallie maintains close and loving relationships with her college-age daughter and her aging father, and has a happy collaboration with Hunter Lloyd, her respected producing partner, confidant, and live-in lover. Rounding out the circle and making it all work is Brigitte Parker, Tallie’s devoted personal assistant. Friends since film school, they are a study in contrasts, with Brigitte’s polished glamour balancing Tallie’s artless natural beauty, and her hard-driving, highly organized style a protective shield for Tallie’s casual, down-to-earth approach.

As Tallie is in the midst of directing the most ambitious film she has yet undertaken, small disturbances begin to ripple through her well-ordered world. An outside audit reveals troubling discrepancies in the financial records maintained by Victor Carson, Tallie’s longtime, trusted accountant. Mysterious receipts hint at activities of which she has no knowledge. Soon it becomes clear that someone close to Tallie has been steadily funneling away enormous amounts of her money. In the wake of an escalating series of shattering revelations, Tallie will find herself playing the most dangerous game of all—to trap a predator stalking her in plain sight.

In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel reveals the dark side of fame and fortune. At the same time, she brilliantly captures a woman’s will to navigate a minefield of hurt and loss—toward a new beginning.

I’m very excited because I had a new book come out in hardcover about a week ago, called “Happy Birthday!”. It’s a fun book that I really enjoyed writing, and I am hoping you’ll enjoy it too. I just got word this week that next week it will come out as #3 on the New York Times Bestseller List, which is incredibly exciting and gratifying for me. People probably think I’m blasé about being on bestseller lists, because I’ve been on them for a long time, but for me it’s exciting every time. I write the books, I spend several years editing them, and finally they come out, and I always hold my breath, hoping that my readers will love the story as much as I did when I conceived it and wrote it (and re-wrote it, and re-wrote it and re-wrote it. I have a VERY exacting editor who makes me do a lot of re-writes, which always makes the books better. It’s like writing term papers for school, and then having the teacher make you correct it and do it again and again until you get it right. It’s not fun to do, but it’s worth doing and tightens it up). But you never know how people will feel about the story until they read it, and buy it. Book sales are a barometer of how much people liked that particular book———-so #3 is great news to me, particularly for the opening week.  I never take my readers’ reactions for granted, and I am truly grateful when a book does well. I pay close attention to detail, do a lot of research on the books, and strive to make each one different and better than the previous ones. So your reaction means the world to me. You’re who I write for!!! So I am really happy that this book is doing well!!! “Family Ties” is also on the mass market (paperback) bestseller list, so that’s exciting too. And e book sales on Happy Birthday are great too. Wow!!!

I had fun with the theme of “Happy Birthday!!”. It’s about 3 people who turn ‘landmark’ ages on the same day. 60 (a woman), 50 (a man), and 30 (a woman). Potentially they are all traumatic ages, and we all read more into the numbers than we should, and identify with our chronological age. (On the other hand, those of you who saw me in whoopee cushion costume on this blog two years ago, on Halloween, know that I have an outlandish childish streak that defies ‘maturity’ and age. I have my juvenile moments, and hopefully always will. Some of you disapproved of the costume, others thought it was funny. I thought it was hysterical of course, but I have a terrible sense of humor, which gets me in trouble at times. I used to carry a lipstick that was actually a tiny water pistol. Now you know some of my worst traits).  In any case, in the book Happy Birthday, the 60 year old woman has a TV show, is very glamorous, and doesn’t look her age—but she is outed on the radio as turning 60 on her birthday, and hates that!!! The man turning 50 in the book, a retired football star turned TV sports announcer, herniates a disk in his back during acrobatic sex with a pretty young thing the night before his 50th birthday, and the young woman turning 30, whose whole life is making her restaurant in downtown New York a success, to the exclusion of all else, makes a shocking discovery she considers anything but good news. And thus the book begins. It’s a fun book to read, with some humor in it, but some serious themes too. The most important thing to come from the book for me, as I wrote it, was that as the three main characters wrestled with their unhappiness about their ages, in the end they decided to throw off the limitations of age, and open their arms, hearts and minds to ageless, exciting new ideas in a spirit of “Why not?”. That theme stayed with me long after I finished the book. Instead of answering “No” to what life hands us, why not say “Why Not?” I love that idea!!! I hope you enjoy the book!!!

Love, Danielle

In Stores:

The hotel was old, run-down. But to Swiss-born Hugues Martin, a young, ambitious hotelier trained in the most illustrious European traditions, it is a rough diamond, tucked away on a quiet, perfectly situated Manhattan street. After begging and borrowing every penny he can scrape together, Hugues purchases the building—and transforms it into one of the world’s finest luxury hotels.

Under Hugues’s tireless, exacting supervision, the Hotel Vendôme is soon renowned for its elegance, its efficiency, its unparalleled service and discretion—the ideal New York refuge for the rich and famous, as well as a perfect home for Hugues’s beautiful young wife and their daughter. But when his wife runs off with a notorious rock star, Hugues is suddenly a single parent to four-year-old Heloise—who will grow up happily regardless, amid a fascinating milieu of celebrities, socialites, politicians, world travelers, and the countless hotel employees who all adore her.

As the years pass, Hugues and the hotel are the center of Heloise’s life, a universe of unexpected mysteries and pleasures, crises and celebrations that make every day magical. She longs to follow in her father’s footsteps and one day run the Vendôme with him. New challenges mark her way: an unexpected romance for Hugues and her own journey to hotel school in Switzerland. The lessons she has learned at her father’s side, in their exciting upstairs/downstairs world, will carry her through it all, as they illuminate a story no reader will forget.

Welcome to the Hotel Vendôme.

Happy Birthday

In Stores: July 24, 2012

Valerie Wyatt is the queen of gracious living and the arbiter of taste. Since her long-ago divorce, she’s worked hard to reach the pinnacle of her profession and to create a camera-ready life in her Fifth Avenue penthouse. So why is she so depressed? All the hours with her personal trainer, the careful work of New York’s best hairdressers, cosmetic surgeons, and her own God-given bone structure and great looks can’t fudge the truth or her lies about it: Valerie is turning sixty.

Valerie’s daughter, April, has no love life, no rest, and no prospect of that changing in the foreseeable future. Her popular one-of-a-kind restaurant in downtown New York, where she is chef and owner, consumes every ounce of her attention and energy. Ready or not, though, April’s life is about to change, in a tumultuous transformation that begins the morning it hits her: She’s thirty. And what does she have to show for it? A restaurant, no man, no kids.

Jack Adams once threw a football like a guided missile. Twelve years after retiring from the NFL, he is the most charismatic sports analyst on TV, a man who has his pick of the most desirable twentysomething women. But after a particularly memorable Halloween party, Jack wakes up on his fiftieth birthday, his back thrown out of whack, feeling every year his age.

A terrifying act of violence, an out-of-the-blue blessing, and two extremely unlikely love affairs soon turn lives inside out and upside down. In a novel brimming with warmth and insight, beginning on one birthday and ending on another, Valerie, April, and Jack discover that life itself can be a celebration—and that its greatest gifts are always a surprise.

I loved the idea of these 3 people hitting ages that none of us like to face, all on the same day. And in the book, there lives become intertwined, and little by little, they realize that whatever age they are may not be so bad; I came up with the idea on my own birthday, on a year that I was growing with horror at my age. Whatever age I am, or have been, I have always been convinced that I was ancient—since I was about 25. Maybe even 21. I started everything early in life. I went to college at 15, got married at 17, had kids at 19, and by the time I was 21, I actually felt old. These days everyone seems to act, feel, dress and think young. When I was young, it was all about being ‘responsible’ and ‘grown up’. Now it’s all about youth. And whatever age I was, I look at pictures of myself and think ‘yerghk, I’m ancient’, and then 5 years later would see the same pictures and think ‘wow, I looked really young then! But NOW I’m ancient. The numbers are really silly, and maybe they’re irrelevant. (I wrote my first book at 19, so I’ve always been on some sort of fast track, speeding ahead). And I guess our obsession with age is still an issue, since I recently discovered that almost all my daughters’ friends, in their early 20’s are getting Botox shots! Now THAT is silly! Really silly! Or at least I think so.

So writing the book “Happy Birthday” gave me a chance to think about ages, landmark ages, and how we view ourselves. And as I wrote the book, and urged my characters to do new and different things, the theme of ‘why not?’ emerged, and it became an important theme in the book—-and in my life. The three people in the book wind up in totally unexpected love affairs with startling results in all three cases. They do new and different things, and find themselves thinking ‘why not?’ which opens new doors for them—and the mood of the book became contagious. I found myself thinking ‘why not?’ too. Why do we have to tread the same path we always have? Why can’t we do something totally new and different and unexpected? Why do we have to be limited by age, at any age? We are a person, not a number. The concept of ‘why not?’ opens new doors, can lead to new lives or careers; can bring us to new people. The concept is incredibly liberating!

The Why Not experiences in my life have almost always been good ones, only with a few exceptions. I have always loved art, and several years ago I decided to open an art gallery, which was one of the happiest, most exciting things I’ve ever done. I loved every minute of it. I didn’t know how to run a gallery, and it was all new to me, but it was a truly fabulous experience for the four years I did it. My first book was a ‘why not’ idea. Having many children; people were always telling me that you can’t have a career and a family. Why not, if you’re willing to do the work that goes with it? My first house, that I bought, was a huge stretch for me. It was a major why not. When I divorced, I missed spending time on boats since my ex-husband was an avid sailor. And I realized that boats didn’t have to be history for me and my kids. I found a way for us to spend a week on a boat every summer—another stretch, but well worth it. I also love to play poker (and still do), and I started a poker game every two weeks that was great fun.

We so easily accept limitations of time and age and circumstances, and if we’re brave enough to throw open closed doors and say ‘why not?’ suddenly the possibilities are endless.

The theme for that book has stayed with me. And when I tell myself I can’t do something, because its not ‘sensible’, or I shouldn’t’ or its too silly, or I’m too old, or I can’t because I can’t, because I’m single and single people can’t do that—-I think of ‘why not?’ now, and I get braver and more creative. The truth is, with some ingenuity, we can do a lot of things we never thought we could. Sometimes it takes courage, and there are still some things I’ve never done and maybe will never do, but life has been a lot more fun since I’ve responded ‘why not?’ to a number of possibilities. I hope the book will inspire you too. And even if you never read the book, the next time you start to squash yourself and tell yourself why you can’t do something—-ask yourself ‘why not?’ (even if its eating a hamburger for breakfast if you want to, or trying new make-up, a new hair color, or meeting new person, or dating someone you may never have considered—-ask yourself ‘why not?’—-I bet it will put a lot more fun and excitement in your life ‘why not?’—-the result of asking yourself that question, and being open to new possibilities, can be amazing! Why not?

Love, Danielle

In Stores: Now

44 Charles Street presents some of the real issues of today’s ever changing world, where life is not quite as simple as it was many years ago. We all take on more responsibilities now than men and women used to, and there is a lot more to juggle in modern life.

In the book, the main female character is faced with trying not to lose her house or business after a break-up with a long term live in boyfriend, and trying to untangle their commingled financial interests. Once apart, the responsibility of keeping it all together, both her art gallery and her home, falls entirely on her. To try and make ends meet and not lose her house, she decides to take in 3 roommates, and the fun begins. A fresh faced freckled recent college graduate is the first to sign up, a sweet young girl, who immerses herself in internet dating, sometimes to a frightening degree. The second addition to the group is a somewhat mysterious divorced man, recovering from a bad divorce, with an irresistible seven year old son. And one by one the mysterious circumstances in his life are revealed. And the third resident of the house is a famous, recently widowed female chef, who loves the other residents of the house, uses them as a testing lab for her fabulous gourmet meals, and unexpectedly finds love with a well known French chef, proving that ‘love has no age’. The ages in the book span from 22 to 60, their previous life histories are as varied. Their careers range from teaching, to running an art gallery, architecture, and haute cuisine. Each one has their private challenges, from single fatherhood, to adjusting to widowhood, financial challenges for the owner of 44 Charles Street, and some very risky dating practices by the youngest member of the group, as she navigates the uncharted waters of computer dating, with both its appeal and its risks. It’s a book that touches on some very contemporary themes. I hope you love it, and find it relevant for your life today as well. There is something for everyone in 44 Charles Street; with four very different and very appealing people living under one roof!!!

You probably know I have a new book out in hardcover, called “Legacy”.  It’s both historical and modern, and I really love that book.  There are two main characters in the book, a modern woman, and a woman set in history.  The main character is a Dakota Sioux woman, actually a young girl, who traveled from the Sioux village where she lived (and was kidnapped by a warring tribe, when she was in her later teens.  She is the chief’s daughter), she travels to New Orleans, and from there to France.

She arrives in France, in Brittany, eventually travels to Paris, and visits the court of Louis XVI, before the French Revolution, settles in Brittany, and survives the Revolution there.

The story fascinated me as I researched and wrote it, because I discovered the Louis the XVI, the French king, was fascinated by American Indians/Native Americans, and brought many chiefs to France, to visit his court as honored guests. The main port of entry in France in the 18^th century was through Brittany, and apparently several of those chiefs actually decided to stay in France, and settled in Brittany. And there are still descendants of them there now.  I loved learning that piece of history, and it inspired this story.  And as I worked on the outline, the young Indian girl in my story emerged.  Her name is Wachiwi.  I was mesmerized by a young girl, greatly respected in her tribe as the chief’s daughter, and how she could venture so far from home, to entirely different world, different customs, and make a new life there.  I fell in love with her, and the courage she represented, as I wrote it. And as I did the research, I discovered that both Pocahontas and Sacajawea had gone to Europe as well.  It is amazing to think of young Dakota Sioux girl winding up at the French court (in the days of Marie Antoinette!).

More than anything, the girl in the story symbolized courage, adventure, and perseverance.  And I’m sure there were a few remarkable young women like her.

The modern woman in the story discovers her ancestor, a young Sioux girl, many generations back, while tracing her family genealogy, and becomes fascinated with her. And in turn, what she learns of this young girl gives her courage for her own life—something she had lacked until then.  And it changes her life.

As always with my books, I did extensive research, and I really hope you love this book.  I think its special, and I hope you find Wachiwi, and her brave journey, inspiring too.

One of the mentors of my early writing career, and a great friend was Alex Haley, the man who wrote ‘Roots’, which was inspired by his researching one of his ancestors, and his journey from Africa to America by slave ship.  Alex told me about his excitement, while going through volumes and volumes of ship logs, and finding the ancestor he new about Kunta Kinte.  The book ‘Roots’ was inspired by that discovery.  Alex was an extraordinary writer and human being.  I was in awe of him, his talent and his kindness when we became friends.

I couldn’t help thinking about him, as I wrote Legacy, and told the story of Wachiwi.  I tried to infuse the book with the same excitement when my modern character finds her young Sioux relative in the course of her research—as Alex must have felt when he found his relative’s name in the ship log, listed as ‘cargo’.
Suddenly, it all became real!

I really hope you love this book!!

Love,
Danielle

In the second chapter, you fast forward 16 years. The kids are pretty much grown up, the oldest is the jewelry editor of a fashion magazine and leads a high powered very stressful life (afraid to attach to anyone since her parents died). The middle child, a boy, is a law student, and the youngest child is an art student and a very independent kid (tattoos, piercings, and very much her own person). The aunt who brought them up adores them, and they love her. And she is now adjusting to their having grown up and moved out, and the void they have left in her life. For 16 years, her whole life has centered around them, so now what does she do? She has a successful business, but an empty nest, and hasn’t had the time or inclination to have a serious man in her life for 16 years, she was too busy bringing up the kids.

The book is about everything that happens after that, to the 3 young people, to the aunt, their relationship with each other, and with other people. The people they get involved with, the situations they face. There are a lot of touching things in it, and some funny ones (a series of terrible blind dates set up by friends who insist she has to find a guy, and she really doesn’t want to—particularly after those dates.). I love the book, and I hope you will too. It’s about 4 people, facing real life and the real world, and the situations that some of us face, with kids, and just trying to cope, particularly as single parents—-and in this case, the kids aren’t even hers, but they might as well be, she has been a wonderful stand-in single parent for them. And of course there is some excitement and adventure and a few hairy scary moments.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you that the book is out. I hope that you’ll buy it and love it. I have a paperback out right now too, “Matters of the Heart”, about the very unnerving story of a woman who gets involved with a charming sociopath. Parts of that are terrifying, and experiences like that must happen to a lot of people, because I got an enormous amount of mail from people who had survived similar situations. I try to write about the things that happen to real people, and affect us all. If you have time for summer reading, I hope you’ll buy the books!!! Love, Danielle

Family Ties

In Stores Now

Annie Ferguson was a bright young Manhattan architect. Talented, beautiful, just starting out with her first job, new apartment and boyfriend, she had the world in the palm of her hand-until a single phone call altered the course of her life forever. Overnight, she became the mother to her sister’s three orphaned children, keeping a promise she never regretted making, even if it meant putting her own life indefinitely on hold.

Now, at forty-two, as independent as ever, with a satisfying career and a family that means everything to her, Annie is comfortable being single and staying that way. She appears to have no time for anything else. With her nephew and nieces now young adults and confronting major challenges of their own, Annie is navigating a parent’s difficult passage between lending them a hand and letting go, and suddenly facing an empty nest. The eldest, twenty-eight-year-old Liz, an overworked, struggling editor in a high-powered job at Vogue, has never allowed any man to come close enough to hurt her. Ted, at twenty-four a serious and hardworking law student, is captivated by a much older, much more experienced woman with children, who is leading him much further than he wants to go. And the youngest, twenty-one-year-old Katie-impulsive, artistic, rebellious-is an art student about to make a choice that will lead her to an entirely different world she is in no way prepared for but determined to embrace.

Then, just when least expected, a chance encounter changes Annie’s life yet again in the most unexpected direction of all.

From Manhattan to Paris and all the way to Tehran, Family Ties is a novel that reminds us how challenging and unpredictable life can be, and that the powerful bonds of family are the strongest of all.