David Handschuh/New York Daily News
Bethenny Frankel, of 'Real Housewives of New York City,' was 'a little intimidated' when she sat down to write her first novel.
Bethenny Frankel never had a problem revealing intimate details to the public, but when it came to writing her first novel, she finally felt nervous.
I was a little intimidated, Frankel says of Skinnydipping (Touchstone Books, $ 25), which hits stores Tuesday.
The former Real Housewife of New York and star of her own Bravo show, Bethenny Ever After, has already written three best sellers, but the jump to fiction was a new challenge she soon found herself relishing.
Once I started to write, it was by far the most exhilarating, most inspiring, most exciting project that Ive ever worked on, she says. I loved it.
A thinly veiled memoir packaged as a light beach read, Skinnydipping traces Frankel alter ego Faith Brightstones path from aspiring actress in L.A. to amateur baker and reality TV show contestant in New York.
Part of the fun is recognizing the caricatures in the book. One character bears an uncanny resemblance to Martha Stewart, who hosted the Apprentice competition in 2005 where Frankel got her TV start. But not everything is true to life.
Its like a woman with plastic surgery, Frankel says. Theres a lot thats real but there are some things that are accentuated.
Skinnydipping, which took just six months to write, is Frankels latest shift away from the reality roles that made her famous. After eight seasons on TV and three books on dieting and healthy cooking, she was ready to change gears.
It felt like a palate cleanser, she says. I dont want to tell people what to do right now. I just want to laugh about it all and kind of take a little break.
This summer, Frankel will have her own talk show, a six-week trial on Fox produced by Ellen DeGeneres team. If all goes well, shes ready to pack up permanently and take her family to L.A.
I think its pretty mediocre, she says of her competition in the crowded field of daytime talk shows, arguing her brutal honesty will set her apart. You may like some of it, you may not like some of it, but youre going to be able to trust it.
Frankel doesnt want to be seen as the next anyone, but points to aspects from Oprah, Ellen and Wendy Williams she hopes to bring to her own show
She wants the program to feel like a conversation with your girlfriends when you go out at night and have a cocktail what you actually talk about.
Frankel is avoiding watching other talk shows to draw inspiration, but has gotten advice from Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Rachael Ray, Ellen and Hoda Kotb.
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