Gigi Levangie may not be a household name outside of Hollywood insider circles, but she wrote a best-selling novel “The Starter Wife,” which became a popular Debra Messing mini-series on USA Network that also ended up getting one season in as a TV series. Her book “Maneater” was also recently converted into a popular Lifetime miniseries starring Sarah Chalke (”Scrubs”).

Levangie was in Atlanta last month to promote her latest summer page-turner “Queen Takes King.”

“The Starter Wife” did not get a second season this year due to disappointing ratings and high production costs. She said she hopes it could return perhaps in another miniseries form.

“I’m sure Debra Messing would do it again,” she said, during the interview at the Ritz Carlton in Buckhead. “She’s just a terrific actress. She knows how to do funny. She got the tone exactly right.” And the show, in her opinion, captured the tone of her book just right — not too slapstick but funny.

Levangie said she loved the people at USA but wondered if “The Starter Wife” may have been too female-friendly for the network, which has more shows (”WWE Raw” anybody?) catering to guys. She is also pondering a book sequel to “The Starter Wife.”

Levangie got into gossip rounds in Hollywood recently when she divorced her husband and Academy Award-winning movie producer Brian Glazer (”8 Mile,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13″).

She insists neither “The Starter Wife” nor “Queen Takes King” has anything to do with her problems with her ex-husband. “The Starter Wife” was written longer before issues surfaced, she said. “It was out of my subconscious. It had nothing to do with reality.” She then added, “I still haven’t found that cute homeless guy.” [Yes, there was a cute homeless guy in the book and TV show.]

Levangie said her divorce did start happening while she was editing “Queen Takes King.” The characters are not she and Brian, she said.

In “Queen Takes King,” the Trump-ian New York City real estate mogul Jackson Power (note the unsubtle name) is caught philandering and his wife Cynthia seeks a divorce. They go all “War of the Roses” on each other. He even hires a bartender to pretend to be a rich hedge fund manager to entice her to bed. Levangie said she got that idea from a friend who considered doing it , but presumably didn’t follow through.

Although she is a Los Angeles resident, she spent six months in New York City and used her time there to write the book while her ex was working on “American Gangster.”

Reviewers and readers seem to be responding well, based on what they are saying on Amazon.com. It’s a light, frothy concoction.

“I try to make sense of rich people’s lives,” she said. “I try to make sense of divorce.”

Though Power comes across as a bit of a jerk, she actually sees her lead male character with some level of sympathy. “He’s like a wounded child, searching for acceptance,” she said. “He’s sort of sweet and desperate.” And even though Cynthia is a victim, “she’s not innocent. She let her desires and wants and needs fall on the wayside. She went along for the ride being with this man.”

She’s love to see “Queen Takes King” turn into a film. Her ideal actors would be George Clooney for Jackson Power and Sandra Bullock for Cynthia.

She said she’s been offered her own reality show (who hasn’t?). She won’t do it. “I’m not putting my kids on the air,” she said.

Here’s a snippet of “The Starter Wife.”

And here’s a trailer for “Maneater”