5 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Danielle Steele

— -- Celebrity author Danielle Steele has sold more than 800 million books and holds the record for longest time spent on the New York Times bestseller list at 800 weeks. It's safe to say she’s a book legend.

Despite all her time in the limelight, though, she’s managed to maintain an air of privacy.

Here are five surprising things you may not know about the fascinating author:

She writes all her books on a typewriter from 1946.

“I paid $20 for that typewriter the beginning of my career and I’m getting my money out of it,” she said on “Good Morning America.”

She’s not big on email.

“Half the time I send them to the wrong people and the other half I delete them so I try and stay away from it.”

She wanted to be a fashion stylist.

“Even as a kid I wanted to be a fashion designer and somehow I missed the boat and starting writing in my teens and wrote my first book at 19,” she said. “But the bug is genetic because three of my five daughters are professional stylists.”

She has a thing for plush animals.

Steele has a bold style and has even worn plush animals on her coats. “I bought it when the children were little,” she revealed. “I thought it would be hysterically adorable, only it weights about 50 pounds, and I could barely stand up. But it was a fun coat”

She somehow manages to write four books a year.

“The fans have been asking for more so we’ve just gone from three a year to four a year.”