I’ve been privileged to help some fascinating people — movie stars, athletes, politicians and ordinary families facing extraordinary situations — tell their stories. My twenty years as a print journalist prepared me well for this job, teaching me how to stay open to someone else’s perspective and accurately capture that person’s voice. Weaving all of this together in a style that keeps the reader’s attention page after page is what makes a bestseller. I’ve written four and I’m ready for more!
My Bestsellers
Hacks
Written with Donna Brazile, former DNC chair and legendary political operative, an explosive and revealing new look at the 2016 election: the first insider account of the Russian hacking of the DNC and the missteps by the Clinton campaign and Obama administration that enabled a Trump victory.
Staying True
Written with Jenny Sanford, wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose affair with an Argentinean woman thrust the whole family into the national spotlight. Five weeks on the NYT bestseller list topping out at #4. February 2010 (Random House).
Danelle and I worked together beautifully during an incredibly emotional time for me and with an extremely tight schedule. Her literary skills, inquisitive nature and real life experiences and professionalism helped make the entire process successful and fun!
Jenny Sanford
Are You Hungry, Dear?
Written with Doris Roberts, this biography of the Everybody Loves Raymond star was listed on The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. May 2003 (St. Martin’s Press).
I was married to a writer, Bill Goyen, and have been a lifelong reader, but I never thought I’d be capable of writing a book. That was until I met Danelle. We had a wonderful time together sitting in my kitchen examining the episodes of my life as we searched for just what these stories meant over the course of the years. We cried when I shared the story of my second husband’s death. And we laughed too many times to count. The finished product was something I would be proud of even if it hadn’t become a bestseller. And I will always treasure those afternoons I spent with Danelle.
Doris Roberts
Fear Less
Written with Gavin de Becker, about protecting yourself in the age of terrorism, published in a white heat after four intense months of work. Got to number seventeen on The New York Times bestseller list. January 2002 (Little, Brown).
More Books by Danelle
What Can I Do?
My Path from Climate Despair to Action
Written with Jane Fonda. In 2020, as Jane Fonda entered her 80s, she felt she had one last fight in her: climate change. She already recycled and drove a Prius, but how much impact can an individual have? This book charts her education as she answers the question: What Can I Do? September 2021 (Penguin).
Miss D & Me
Written with Kathryn Sermak. For ten years Kathryn Sermak was at Bette Davis’s side–first as an employee, and then as her closest friend–and in Miss D and Me she tells the story of the great star’s harrowing but inspiring final years, a story fans have been waiting decades to hear.
Miss D and Me is a story of two powerful women, one at the end of her life and the other at the beginning. As Bette Davis aged she was looking for an assistant, but she found something more than that in Kathryn: a loyal and loving buddy, a co-conspirator in her jokes and schemes, and a competent assistant whom she trained never to miss a detail. But Miss D had strict rules for Kathryn about everything from how to eat a salad to how to wear her hair…even the spelling of Kathryn’s name was changed (adding the “y”) per Miss D’s request. Throughout their time together, the two grew incredibly close, and Kathryn had a front-row seat to the larger-than-life Davis’s career renaissance in her later years, as well as to the humiliating public betrayal that nearly killed Miss D.
The frame of this story is a four-day road trip Kathryn and Davis took from Biarritz to Paris, during which they disentangled their ferocious dependency. Miss D and Me is a window into the world of the unique and formidable Bette Davis, told by the person who perhaps knew her best of all.
Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection
Written with Sharon Salzberg. This renown Buddhist thinker explores the nature of love in all its forms, not just love between two people. Her soothing notion is that love is not just something we receive, but something we embody and the book lays out many steps along the path to feeling love all around you, even at the worst of times.
Inconceivable
Written with Sean & Carolyn Savage. At the age of 40, it was Carolyn Savage’s last chance to have a baby, but she was implanted with the wrong embryo during an IVF procedure. She and her husband decided to bear the child and give it to the other couple with no string attached. Dateline special, Lifetime movie, 150,000 initial printing. February 2011 (Harper One).
This book would not have been possible without the amazing work of our collaborating writer Danelle Morton. Danelle, thank you for your countless hours of shaping, editing, and writing! Your insights and keen eye for how to arrange a well-told story have been priceless, and your patience and grace through the challenging moments did not go unnoticed. We are especially grateful for the way you motivated us to write through the most painful memories. You said we would be better for it. You were right. We cannot wait to see what you do next, as it seems that everything you touch turns to gold!
from the acknowledgments of Inconceivable
Finishing School
Written with Cary Tennis. All too many people start a writing project with grand ambitions but reach a crisis of completion. Finishing School helps writers reignite the passion that started them on the project in the first place and work steadily to get it done.
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Not My Boy
Written with Rodney Peete, 16-year NFL veteran and later a Oprah radio network host, about the father’s role in raising an autistic child. March 2010 (Hyperion).
I had the joy and pleasure of working with Danelle Morton. As a first time writer, I needed someone with experience and great patience. Her background allowed her to relate to the many experiences I had to share. Danelle was so easy to work with and her interviewing style brought out emotions I had not felt for years. She helped me vividly recall the experiences and episodes that gave my book the impact l was looking for.
Rodney Peete
You’re Lucky You’re Funny
Written with Phil Rosenthal, inside the world of sitcoms with the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond. October 2006 (Viking).
I had the supreme pleasure of working with Danelle on my book… quite simply, I couldn’t have done it without her. Her skills as an interviewer and then as an editor and adviser were invaluable. I might add she’s quite lovely and wonderful to have around. A total joy, and one I hope to have again. So please don’t use her, I want her to myself.
Phil Rosenthal, creator and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond
The Healing Power of Pets
Written with Dr. Marty Becker, veterinarian featured regularly on Good Morning America. February 2002 (Hyperion).
Danelle Morton was a delight to work with from the first hello until the last goodbye. Although the later never happened because we remain great friends after an incredibly complicated and intensive book project, and that in itself, shouts loudly as to why I so highly recommend her. You can get a lot of work done, have harmony doing it, and remain friends afterwards. Danelle has an unparalleled capacity to create a book proposal that doesn’t just sell, it $ells! A book proposal from her has publishers salivating like Pavlov’s dogs. After we sold the book for a whopping advance, she put together a wonderful game plan for writing the book, keeping us on task and on time. The creation of the book was a true collaborative process with lots of “atta-boys” and “good-girls” and together we attacked challenges head on and celebrated successes. One of the things I most appreciated about working with Danelle was although she caught me doing things right more often than not, when something wasn’t up to the standards of not just a good book, but a great book, she’d coach me and send me back to work until I had the piece perfect. High standards, hi jinks..we laughed the whole time we created an award winning book. Put your money where your mouth is and hire Danelle for your project. Like me, you’ll call the journey the “road to riches.”
Dr. Marty Becker, veterinarian on Good Morning America
Managing Martians
Co-written with JPL project manager Donna Shirley, about the Pathfinder robot that went to Mars. July 1998 (Broadway Books).
Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover The Natural Choices, and Take Back The Birth Experience
Written with Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, a book inspired by their popular documentary The Business of Being Born describing how to woman get the kind of birth you want. May 2009 (Grand Central).