By Patty Lamberti

You could call Jackie Collins the godmother of all Lifetime movies: She was one of the first female authors to tell stories about women who triumph over seemingly impossible odds and usually get the hot guy in the end as well. So we could think of no better woman to interview.

Question: What three words would you use to describe your new book?
Answer: Sexy, sleek and strong, just like Lucky Santangelo. She's a woman other women love to read about because she does and says all the things real women want to do and say but don't quite have the nerve to.

Question: This is your 25th book. Do you have a favorite?
Answer: I'm very fond of "Chances," because that's the book where I introduced the character of Lucky.

Question: What's your "aha" moment when writing a sex scene in a book — the point at which you realize you've captured the essence of a hot tryst?
Answer: In "Drop Dead Beautiful," I think the sex between Irma and the gardener is extremely hot because it's so visual. You can picture this sexually frustrated 32-year-old American woman staring out the window as she watches her hot gardener plant flowers. When I was writing it, I knew it would catch people's attention. It's like a scene from "Lady Chatterley's Lover," but set in the 2000s.

Question: Tell us about what you're writing exclusively for LifetimeTV.com and how it relates to your new book.
Answer: I wanted to write a prequel to the novel. It includes a series of e-mail exchanges between Lucky and her daughter, Max. It's obvious that one day Max will take over Lucky's throne, and I wanted to show her at the same age I showed Lucky in "Chances" — as a 16-year-old wild child. Except this is 2007, and the world is different. Still, like Lucky, Max thinks she knows so much more than anyone else.

Question: For many, reading your books is a guilty pleasure. What are your guilty pleasures?
Answer: I'm a TiVo addict. I have five TiVos in my house. I need to go to a meeting and say, "Hi, I'm Jackie Collins. I'm a TiVo addict. Help me! Help me!"

Question: In the book, Lucky makes mouthwatering meatballs for her family. What are your favorite dishes to make?
Answer: I love meatballs. Show me a man who can make meatballs and I'm in love, baby.

Question: Your books are full of women hell-bent on landing rich, hot or famous men. What's your best advice for real women looking to do this?
Answer: Be yourself. A woman who isn't afraid to show her true self is incredibly attractive to men, and she'll end up finding someone who likes the real her. This is also why I'm not a believer in fake lips or having the fat sucked out of you.

Question: Your characters always have secrets — what's one of yours?
Answer: I am eccentric. Like my neighbor Al Pacino, I like to wear black all the time. I do my own manicures. I've never had one done professionally, nor have I ever had a facial. I don't have time for all of that upkeep. But I am a makeup-holic. I'm obsessed. Every Saturday, I meet my girlfriends and we troll makeup counters.

Question: What do you and your sister, Joan, gossip about on the phone?
Answer: Like all sisters, we talk about the things that annoy us. People are always writing that we don't like each other, and that pisses us off. But we laugh about it because we know it's not true. The truth is, we've always been the best of friends. When she got married, there was this whole to-do in the press that I didn't attend her wedding in London. But I was producing a movie here in L.A. at the time. She visited me just before her wedding, and I threw her and her husband a wedding party with 80 people. But the media doesn't mention that, of course.

Question: If "Drop Dead Beautiful" were made into a movie, who would you want cast in it and why?
Answer: Before she won an Oscar and was on the cover of every magazine, I wanted Angelina Jolie to play Lucky. She would have been perfect. Nicollette Sheridan ended up playing Lucky in the movie version of "Chances." If Nicollette agreed to play Lucky now, 15 years later, she'd still be fantastic. In "Chances," she wore a dark wig to hide her blonde hair. And many people don't realize that a young Sandra Bullock played Lucky's mom [in a flashback scene].

Question: In your books, a lot of marriages crumble. What's your best relationship advice based on your personal life?
Answer: I never tried to change a man. Believe me, I've had some bad boys along the way. But I never tried to change them. It helps that I like bad boys. On our second date, my first husband said, "Bring your toothbrush. We're going to the south of France to gamble all weekend." That's the kind of guy I like — unpredictable.

Question: What's one of the most memorable run-ins you've ever had with a fan?
Answer: There are these male twins who are very sweet, but they pop up everywhere I go. I'll go to the makeup counter at Neiman Marcus, and the clerk will tell me, "The twins were just here looking for you."

Question: Do you travel with security?
Answer: Absolutely not. I'm not in the public eye like an actor or actress. Security creates a furor around you. I have famous friends like Michael Caine and Sean Connery who have never had security. Then again, the paparazzi are a lot more aggressive now. I had dinner with Elizabeth Hurley a few months ago. When we came out of the restaurant, there was a pack of paparazzi that descended upon this poor woman. They were two inches away from her face and crawling all over her car. She took it quite calmly, but I thought, How horrible to live like that.

Question: If someone were going to write a new book about you, what would you want it to be called?
Answer: Well, I'd prefer they wouldn't write a book about me at all. I've had a few written about me, and they're appalling. The author will write, "And then she thought …" I say to myself, I don't think that way. If I want anyone to tell my life story, I want it to be me.

Question: So are you promising you'll write an autobiography?
Answer: Maybe in 10 years I'll write my autobiography. I definitely know I've got at least another 25 novels left in me.