That includes surfing and a new novel, "Groundswell," which sounds awfully familiar.

The 28-year-old Milton native laughed it off.

"Like any writer," she said, "I draw from my own life, but this is fiction."

"Groundswell" is about Emma, the rags-to-riches wife of a celebrity who divorces her famous husband after she discovers him cheating.

From the book jacket, it reads, "Devastated by her husband's infidelity and hounded mercilessly by the paparazzi, Emma must flee New York to get away from it all and clear her head."

Away from all the glamour, she regroups, discovers surfing and love again.

Lee, of course, was married to Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and pop music icon Billy Joel. When the two met, she was a food writer living in the Hamptons of Long Island. During their five years together, her career in television blossomed. She hosted the first season of "Top Chef" on Bravo, appeared as a guest on several programs and wrote two cookbooks.

Joel and Lee separated in 2009 in a swirl of tabloid accusations.

Both have moved on with their lives, though Lee says they still talk and are great friends. For a time, Joel was working on his autobiography. He eventually canceled the project, but Lee wrote a novel, which draws heavily on her experiences and observations on the red carpet.

Lee has been to her share of celebrity-studded parties and exclusive events. She still goes to them and she says even now she still gets star-struck.

"Everybody does," Lee said. "Everyone is looking around and whispering, 'Did you see who that was?' I don't think it ever wears off."

The novel is something new, even if writing isn't. Lee cut her teeth in publishing with her cookbooks, but she's been writing since she was just a kid growing up in Milton.

"During the summer, my mother would sign me up for creative writing classes," she said. "She was really good at looking out for them, then getting me in them. I loved writing and reading."

She laughed, and added, "I guess I was kind of a dork. I'm still kind of a dork."

Writing about food in some ways wasn't that different than how she wrote her novel. She drew from what was around her -- her family -- and Lee's family loved food.

"We were the type of people who started talking about what we were going to have for dinner at breakfast. At dinner, we talked about what we were having tomorrow night."

Her grandmother, she swore, makes the best biscuits.

"I used to eat, like, four of them every weekend," she said.

Her love of food almost became a liability when she tried writing anything other than cookbooks or magazine articles.

Lee said she was stuck.

"All my characters were, like, this girl who worked in a bakery or this girl who worked in a restaurant," she said, "I could never come up with enough of a story to make it stick."

But two years ago, she was walking on the beach near her home in the Hamptons. Her marriage was over and she was trying to clear her head. The idea grabbed a hold of her and didn't let go.

"I went into my house and just started writing."

The story didn't come out in a single afternoon or even in a single month. Lee knew what she wanted to do and wrote the story at about 1,500 words per day.

"If I didn't meet my goal on a day, I doubled it the next," she said.

Surfing became part of the story because Lee had recently taken up the sport. She said it worked wonders on her. It was therapy, but also very spiritual -- a kind of communion with nature.

"I was so uncoordinated," she said. "This was the first sport I've had some achievement in. I can actually ride a wave, and I just really liked it."

Combining the two came naturally and while the premise may sound familiar, Lee said it's only a story.

"I took inspiration from my own life, from the lives of friends, and things I've witnessed over the years."

She's witnessed a lot and she's taken away some lessons. People are people, she said, regardless of wealth or celebrity. What they really want out of life is the same. That message may be familiar, too, but it's worth repeating.

Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.