Danielle Steel’s Desk Is Truly a Sight to Behold

A woman opened the door to her office. Powerful, successful, creative, she seemingly had it all. But something was missing. Love? No, with millions of adoring fans she had that in spades. Family? No, she was a mother of nine, the matriarch of a warm and happy home. She leaned back into her 4 inch high heels and took stock of the room. As she cast her eyes over her writing desk she knew in an instant what she needed. She scrolled through her Rolodex, “yes, artisans? I’d like to order a desk.” Placing the phone gently down into the receiver, she felt that flurry of excitement one gets when one’s life is about to change.

Vanity Fair brought record breaking romance novelist Danielle Steel’s desk to our collective attention and it is truly a sight to behold. Three larger than life versions of her own novels stacked on top of each other, the desk is disarmingly charming in its own special way. And to be honest, if you write upwards of 150 books and happen to be the best selling author alive, your desk should probably be a nice reminder of all you accomplished.

We don’t learn a ton about the genesis of said desk in the profile: “I had my desk made by some artisans about 25 years ago. They chose the colors and book titles—I love it,” but it’s fun to imagine how the whole process went down. The rest of her office is filled with art by her kids, an antique typewriter and, reassuringly enough, a stack of projects she has yet to get to.

The plot thickens, however, as this 2014 article from Curbed mentions that “Steel has said in interviews that she writes her novels out of a closet-sized office in her bedroom.” Maybe she has two offices, maybe that was her old office, maybe all of Danielle Steel’s closets are the size of New York studio apartments and her scale is just different than ours. Either way she has given us plenty to think about, and that’s why she stays on the top of the charts.

You can head on over to Vanity Fair for a few more images and fun quotes from the romance queen.