Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel, better known as Danielle Steel, is an American novelist and currently the best-selling author alive. She is the fourth bestselling fiction author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.

Danielle Steel is best known for her romance novels, having written 190 books, including over 140 novels, as of 2021. Based in California for most of her career, she is known for juggling multiple projects at once, often up to five. Despite a lack of critical acclaim, all her novels have been bestsellers, dealing with themes of rich families in crisis and dark elements such as prison, fraud, blackmail, and suicide.

Her works have been translated into 43 languages, with 22 adapted for television, including two that have received Golden Globe nominations. Besides romance novels, she has published children's fiction and poetry. She has also created a foundation that funds organizations related to mental illness.