Jenice Armstrong: Lisa Wu Hartwell is off 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta,' reality show; co-authors novel with Philly writer

LISA WU HARTWELL should have snatched the wig off someone's head or gone ahead and made good on that threat to flip a cast mate over a sofa.

It would have been great for ratings. Then, maybe - just maybe - Hartwell would still be co-starring on the reality TV show "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." Although she was on the show last night, Hartwell's no longer part of the cast. And Bravo's not saying why Hartwell is no longer an official housewife.

Too bad, since she was the only seemingly normal woman on the show.

"For some reason, they said it's boring," Hartwell told me during a phone interview last week. "When has class become boring? I feel like you should be able to conduct yourself in any situation. I'm not willing to do that stuff for a rating."

That "stuff" includes jumping in a friend's face, like NeNe Leakes did to hairdresser Dwight Eubanks because he bad-mouthed her husband. Or proclaiming herself a bisexual, the way Kim Zolciak did.

"I'm not going to fight anybody on television," Hartwell said. "I just think people need to be really careful with reality shows. You can get typecast. They [viewers] are laughing at you. They're not laughing with you."

Hartwell was reluctant to dwell on the reason that she's no longer one of the featured housewives.

"I'm not really supposed to discuss it anymore," she explained.

But surely she's watching the Bravo series. I know I am. Even when I tell myself not to, I can't help but check in to see what madness these housewives have cooked up.

"I DVR it. I haven't watched an episode yet," Hartwell said, a tad airily. "But I get different people reaching out to me discussing it. I plan to catch up.

"It was a great ride. It was a great platform, but it's a time and a season for everything. I have other things going on now."

One of them is the publication of her first novel, "When the Cake is Made," co-written with West Philly homegirl Miasha Coleman.

They became collaborators after Coleman's husband, Rich, chatted up Hartwell's spouse, Ed, at a gym in Atlanta this spring and discovered their wives' mutual love of writing. Coleman and Hartwell met and discovered that they had an almost instant connection.

"It's like, that's crazy," Hartwell said. "We are in sync. I get Miasha. We have fun. We have probably too much fun. We went to Essence [music festival] and were promoting the book. We just enjoyed ourselves. . . . I really believe that the way you start off is how you finish."

Speaking of finishing, that's exactly what Coleman did for Hartwell. She picked up the novel that Hartwell had developed and finished it for her, and also shepherded it through the publishing process, something she's familiar with, having written four novels.

But this was Coleman's first collaboration. "I was a little apprehensive about the process," said Coleman, who was in on our phone call. "I didn't know how it's supposed to work. I'd write. She'd write. And we'd come together. . . . It just so happens that we both loved everything that we brought to the table."

They finished the book the end of June, and it's expected to hit stores in about a week.

But back to those Atlanta housewives. What about that NeNe? I wanted to dish about the show's most obnoxious character.

"She's totally bigheaded," Hartwell said. "She will tell a fan in a minute, 'No, no pictures. Get out of here.' "

Not surprising. But what I really wanted to know is how much of the "Housewives" drama that unfolds is real and how much of it is cooked up by ratings-hungry producers.

"My thing is this: It's not so much that the drama is fake," Hartwell said. "They stir the pot and take it up a notch. I've been told stuff that wasn't even true. I was like, 'What?' If I have an issue with you, I'll address it right away. [But] you do have some producers that do have integrity and will allow things to happen naturally."

But real-life interaction doesn't make for good TV.

"No one wants to watch me and Miasha discussing books," Hartwell pointed out. "It has to be something that is engaging."

Coleman hopes to make a leap into reality TV herself, possibly as a relationship guru.

"I probably would not have lasted [on 'Housewives']," she said. "Can you hit somebody on there and not go home?"

"People have gotten away with all kinds of stuff," Hartwell pointed out.

"Especially that NeNe," Coleman said.

Kandi Burruss, formerly of the singing group Xscape, is one of the few cast members with whom Hartwell still associates. "NeNe and I were cool at one time," Hartwell said. "I do not talk to Sheree [Whitfield]. It's not that I don't like her. I wish her well. I believe Sheree is about Sheree, and that's OK. It's not good in relationships. Any relationship, whether it's marriage or a relationship, it's not always about just you."

And Kim Zolciak, a/k/a Miss Tardy for the Party?

"Kim is Kim. Everybody knows who she is. She is crazy. . . . When you realize people need medication, you give them slack. Before, I was, like, 'What's the deal with her?' Whatever. She loves attention."

And Dwight Eubanks, the hairdresser?

"We were never really friends. If you saw in the second season, I thought he was disrespectful," she said referring to his criticism of the fashion show she produced for Closet Freak, her clothing line. "I think there's a time and a place for that. He was, like, 'They told me to do it.' I said, 'If they told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?'

"They want puppets, and people excited to be on television," said Hartwell, who has two children with her ex-husband,

Keith Sweat. "If you don't have anything else going on, then, hey, give it all you've got. I've pretty much seen it all and done it all. I just remain true to who I am."

Lisa Wu Hartwell and Miasha Coleman will be in Philadelphia on Nov. 6 for three book-signings and a book party from 7-10 p.m. at Karl J. Salon in Pennsauken. The signings will be at noon at Black and Nobel bookstore at Broad and Erie; 1 p.m. at Khalil's Book Stand, 11th and Market streets; and 2-4 p.m. at Horizon Books, inside the Gallery.