There's no down time for Marlee Matlin. She's wrapped work on the sixth season of "The L Word" — yes, she's back — and is now completing editing her forthcoming Simon & Schuster "I'll Scream Later" autobiography. She's scheduling book promotion time, plus a lengthy road tour for next year. The "Dancing With the Stars" alumna isn't discussing the latter as yet, but she already knows she'll be away from home much of 2009.

"I know I'll miss my kids, but I'm grateful that they'll be visiting me," she tells us in a written interview, referring to her children with hubby Kevin Grandalski.

"I couldn't do it without my husband, who is there 24/7. I've often said that as a child I imagined myself as Marcia Brady, who just happened to be deaf, but now with four kids I've grown into Alice the Maid. But that's OK because my husband is like Alice's Sam the Butcher, ever dependable and always there to fill in."

Already a best-selling author of young people's books, the deaf actress, who won 1986 Best Actress Oscar honors for "Children of a Lesser God" says, "I decided to write about my life now because so many thousands of people wrote in to tell me how much I inspired them as a result of doing what I did on 'Dancing With the Stars.' I realized then that there were parts of my life that I had never spoken of but which might inspire others if I shared them. I've had my obstacles that I've overcome in my life related to my deafness, but that's only a small part of who I am."

"The L Word" has been a prominent part of her life since being signed to play deaf sculptor Jodi, erstwhile girlfriend of Bette (Jennifer Beals, Marlee's close pal) on the show that just got its fifth-season DVD release this week. "We had always hoped to work together ever since we met in New York City 20 years ago," she says. "And we finally did on 'The L Word.' … It was fantastic. The icing on a very delicious cake."

SAD BUT TRUE: Wayne Brady reveals that he's co-writing a feature comedy about "a couple of guys who want to be reality stars." It's a story based on fact, he's afraid. The gifted singer-actor-improvisational-artist-dancer recalls that when he was doing "Whose Line is it Anyway?" with Drew Carey, "'Survivor' came along in 2000. We told ourselves that it would go away and we'd be fine. But instead there were more and more reality shows. Before long we turned a corner, and now it seems that everyone equates being a star with just being on TV and being famous. I'm afraid the trend will never go away."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: "Rita Rocks" star Nicole Sullivan admits she "hadn't really sung in a long time" prior to taking on the lead in her Lifetime series about a wife and mom who returns to her other great love — playing rock music in a garage band. Still, the former "MadTV" and "King of Queens" actress says she wasn't worried about her vocalizing skills. "I realized as a kid I wasn't that good," she says cheerfully. "That's the thing — Rita isn't an amazing singer, she's a good singer. She's not going to cut an album any time soon."

Nicole, who has a 1 1/2-year-old son with husband Jason Packham, could identify with mother-of-two Rita in other respects, too. "The minute you become a mother, it's never going to be about you again. It's always going to be about someone else. I felt that so strongly,' she says. "And for Rita, after 16 years, she was a little tired and wanted a little bit of her own stuff back. That spoke volumes to me."

The show came along at just the right time for Sullivan, she says. "It was like, 'Here is this perfect world you've been thinking and dreaming about.'"

It sounds almost as if she attracted it herself, like something out of "The Secret." She laughs. "Yes, I Oprah-ed it."

TRUE COLORS: "Nick News'" distinguished journalist Linda Ellerbee made a point of reminding youngsters watching her recent election special that voters are not Red or Blue, but individuals — and you can expect her to make that point again as opportunity allows. "When I was at NBC, red and blue were just a random selection of colors for the election night map," she tells us. "This has begun to make me very angry. This is media nonsense. There are plenty of things dividing us. We don't need this sense of having to put on different uniforms and say, 'Rah-rah for my team.'" Rah-rah to that.

With reports by Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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