From the one-and-only Gail Shister, TVNewser columnist:

57-year-old Bob Franken, a 21-year CNN veteran who got the boot last month, is writing a "snarky" novel about a 50-ish Washington producer for "World Network" who gets the boot.

No title or publisher for the tome, which Franken insists is not autobiographical. "I have gone to huge lengths to make everybody a composite," he says. One of the characters, for example, is a pompous, dim-witted correspondent who fancies himself "a Ted Koppel, but he's more like a Ted Baxter." (Send us your nominations.)

Despite pressure from friends to do his memoirs, Franken says his dream has always been to write a novel in the vein of his hero, Joseph Heller. "I could not imagine that anyone would want to read my memoirs. I know I wouldn't. There are a hell of a lot more exciting stories out there than mine."

Here's one: his cousin, ex-Saturday Night Live star Al Franken, a rabid leftie, is running for the Senate in Minnesota. "I ran into Walter Mondale the other day and he said Al was running a smart, professional campaign," cousin Franken says proudly.