Danielle Steel
Novelist
The first 10 years of my marriage, when my children were small.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The last time I held my children and every time before that. They’ve been my salvation.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 March 2022 source ↗
Others on this question
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Emily Watson
English actress
About half an hour ago, watching through the window as my dad and two-year-old daughter walked to the paper shop together.
Josette Simon
British actor
I don’t have a happiest; I live in the now.
Patrick Stewart
Actor
A year ago, after only four lessons, skiing alone in the Sierras.
More from Carl Barât
View profile →Fear and all of its consequences.
Probably when I didn’t sleep for a week on drugs in 2009. I’d had a lot of meth and my heart felt like it was giving out. I remember climbing over balconies really high up, and I thought I was going to die, until I eventually fell asleep in someone’s garden.
Fear and all of its consequences.
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