Actor Also Writes Hot Novels

From the big screen to the small screen, Stephen Collins has long been one of Hollywood's busiest actors.

These days, Collins stars as a minister on the family drama 7th Heaven. but his idea of paradise isn't the pulpit. It's pulp fiction.

A laptop and a blank page are a slice of Â"heaven" for Collins. Between takes as Reverend Camden on 7th Heaven, Collins retreats to his trailer and taps out erotic thrillers.

"I can totally understand why there's so much cybersex on the Internet, because words are very sexy," he says. "I would get messages on my machine -- it would beep and say, 'Stephen, I just read your book. I loved it, but where did this come from?'"

Collins' stories borrow from his real-life experiences. His first two books became bestsellers. But as the star of a family drama, Collins is careful to keep them out of the hands of his young fans.

"And I would say to them, 'You can't buy the book,' or, 'If your mom says you can read this, you can. But I'm telling your mom you shouldn't read this until you're 18.' And they'd go, 'Oh.'Â"

Next month, Collins stars in a CBS suspense thriller, As Time Runs Out. He'll also appear opposite Melissa Joan Hart in a feature called Drive Me Crazy.

Collins' wife of 14 years, actress Faye Grant, plays his ex in the film. He credits her with encouraging him to become a novelist.

"Writing unconsciously became a place to play out stuff that's not appropriate to play out in real life. And so it's really fun. I get to do anything in my head. I can do anything."

Stephen Collins' steamy novels, Eye Contact and Double Exposure, are now available in paperback.

Collins is working on his third book. Not Jackie Collins, Stephen Collins.