Courtney Thorne Smith says her novel is not based on herself.

She's cute, can act and write? Is there anything wrong with Courtney? Oh ya, she stars in "According To Jim"......
CNN
In Courtney Thorne-Smith's debut novel, "Outside In," the characters include a vulnerable TV star, a philandering husband and a callous mom. None of them is plucked directly from her own life, the actress says firmly.
"I know people are going to think it's autobiographical," Thorne-Smith said. But the cad is not her ex-husband and the dreadful mother is "so comically not my mom. My mom would crawl over hot coals to have lunch with me."