By Jae-Ha Kim
October 2, 2007
Courtney Thorne-Smith made a name for herself as good girl Allison Parker on “Melrose Place” and later as attorney Georgia Thomas on “Ally McBeal.” But now the star of the ABC sitcom “According to Jim,” can add author to her resume.
The first-time novelist has written Outside In (Broadway Books, $23.95), a wickedly funny book that skewers Hollywood’s fascination with underfed actresses and oversized egos. Thorne-Smith, who has written several articles for magazines, including Self, Allure and InStyle, spent more than a year writing her novel.
Currently pregnant with her first child, the 39-year-old writer-actress is busy balancing home life with her husband, Roger Fishman, with her “According to Jim” shooting schedule and a national book tour. Time doesn’t permit her to take long vacations these days, but when she has a free day or two, she heads for the hills of Northern California.
TRAVEL MUCH? You know, I was never a big traveler before I met my husband, but Roger loves to travel and he makes me laugh, so I will go anywhere with him. I used to always worry and plan too much and that took all the fun out of traveling. But he basically books our trips and puts me in the car or on the plane. When you have someone that calm who is so enthusiastic about experiencing new things, it rubs off on you. I’ve become a traveler because of him, and I love it!
ROAD MUCH TRAVELED: We’ve been to some amazing places. We’ve visited Thailand, Croatia, Israel and Jordan, but the favorite trip we took so far was to Northern California, not far from where I grew up. We started in Mendocino (located about 155 miles north of San Francisco), drove down to Point Reyes and then to Big Sur. We hiked all day long through Redwood (National Park). The trees are gorgeous. The redwoods are these gentle giants and it’s incredible to be among them.
BACK IN THE DAY: A couple weeks ago, we took the moms to Mendocino and the Redwoods again to hike. I used to hike about nine miles a day. Now it takes me just as long to do 2-1/2 miles ’cause I’m pregnant. I call it hiking but I kind of shuffle along at a snail’s pace. But my mother will roll her eyes at me when I tell her we should go hiking because she remembers all the times she tried to get me to do it when I was a kid. But I was a teenage brat who wanted nothing to do with something as “uncool” as hiking. Now, I wish I had more free time to just go away and hike all the time.
SOUVENIRS YOU COLLECT: We try to keep it focused on things we love that we’ll actually use. I’m not into tchotchkes. When we were in Thailand and Cambodia, we brought back beautiful silver serving spoons. When we were in San Miguel, Mexico, we had a painting commissioned by an artist there for the baby’s room. I know that if we get anything cooking related, I’ll use it and it’ll also trigger a memory of our trip, it’s the same with art. That makes souvenirs more meaningful to me.
THINGS YOU BROUGHT ON YOUR LAST TRIP: Well, I don’t have a BlackBerry. My husband does, so people can always get in touch with us, but we’re not obsessive about checking our messages. We like to hike and go into the mountains. I don’t like watching TV on vacation, but I love to read. On our last trip, I did bring my computer with me ’cause I was finishing my book. So instead of reading, I wrote a few hours every day. But it was still surprisingly fun and relaxing.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CALIFORNIA:
CAPITAL: Sacramento.
POPULATION (2006 estimate): 36,457,549.
FACTOID: Located about 300 miles north of San Francisco – or about a 5-1/2 hour drive from the Bay Area – the Redwood National and State Parks have trees that are 2,000 years old and 300 feet tall. For more information on California’s Redwood Coast, visit www.redwoods.info.
© 2007 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
