Welcome to The Steel Mill!
Hello and welcome to The Steel Mill, one woman’s quest to read the complete works of Danielle Steel, one love triangle at a time.
This is the blogic journey of your humble host, Trejon Dunkley, a Phoenix based comedian and writer with a lot of time on her hands apparently, as she reads the complete works of Ms. Danielle Steel, chronologically, from her first release, Going Home, to whatever her latest release is, with some fun articles and special projects thrown in.
You may be asking yourself, Why? Why on Earth would you read 141 romance novels in a row?
One, I’m a little bit of a completionist. I’m of the mind that if I’m gonna do something, I might as well go overboard and get through the whole damn series.
Two, I have a huge respect for the romance genre. I know most people hear “romance” and think goopy bodice rippers with poorly described penises. And you’re right. And that’s why I love it. I want to jump into the works of a writer who has been working since the mid 70’s, and analyze the changing views of romance, women and society in general through the eyes of one of the most popular writers to ever exist. Which is high-falutin’, but what else can you expect from a film theory major?
Three, Danielle Steel is kind of a fascinating human being. Just scroll through her Wikipedia page. Five marriages, eight children, the ability to write five books at a time, once a year, on a goddamn typewriter from the 40’s. I had to take a snack break in the middle of this Medium article that I’m writing on my 2013 MacBook.
Four, as a writer myself, why not study one of the commercial greats? Danielle Steel may not have the critical acclaim of a John Steinbeck, but she also has a 55- room mansion in San Fransisco, and probably a yacht, so I don’t think she’s crying over her lack of a Pulitzer.

This blog will be a work in progress, but I do plan to go through the novels chronologically, and analyze them from a social, literary and comedic standpoint. Because I’m a freelance writer with quite a lot of time on my hands. The first book on my list is her first published novel, Going Home, and will be up September 16. See ya then, Steel Millers.

