Actress Molly Ringwald publishes first novel, "When It Happens to You"
(CBS News) You remember Molly Ringwald, the red-headed actress known for her roles in teenage angst movies like "Sixteen Candles" and "Pretty in Pink"?
Well, now she is 44, a wife and mother of three and a newly published novelist. Her 256-page novel, "When It Happens to You," was released Tuesday by It Books. The novel brings together the stories of a Los Angeles couple and their friends and neighbors who all struggle with marriage problems, betrayals, child-rearing and the death of spouses.
It's Ringwald's second book. Her first, "Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick," is an advice book published in the spring of 2010.
Ringwald has been doing a lot of stage work in recent years and still appears onscreen on ABC's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager."
The actress tells Reuters that she spends up to two hours a day writing and likes to write with other people, preferably writers, around.
"There's a certain comfort in that, that everyone's going through the same thing," she said. "And you can look around and you can see people being absolutely as tortured as you are.''
One of the original eight members of Hollywood's Brat Pack, Ringwald also does a lot of blogging and tweeting.
''(Twitter) has given me a connection to fans that I've never really had before because I'm a pretty private person, and I don't do a ton of events," the actress told Reuters. "It's been amazing to connect with these people who have followed me for all of these years."