Rowena Granice Steele (née Graniss; after first marriage, Claughley; after second marriage, Steele; June 20, 1824 – February 7, 1901) was an American performer (actress, singer, elocutionist), author of poetry and novels, as well as a newspaper journalist, editor, and publisher. The first novel written by a woman in California was Steele's, The Victims of Fate, a work of fiction loosely based on David C. Broderick, the preface stating: "Some of the incidents of this little story, (although mingled with fiction,) are real facts. I had the honor of being acquainted with the hero, from my earliest childhood. First as a lad of little promise, although to use a quaint expression, King-Bee among his boy companions. After, as a young, terprising aspirant for political fame. Last, as the finished