Patricia Heaton wants to help usher people into their "Second Act."

In fact, the actress has written a book to do just that. Your Second Act: Inspiring Stories of Transformation (out Tuesday) is a collection of essays from people who, as Heaton puts it, “were mostly forced, because of circumstances, to rethink their life and everything they had to do and overcome in order to make that happen.”

Heaton, 62, says the canceled CBS sitcom Carol's Second Act served as partial inspiration for the book. Heaton portrayed the title character, a former teacher who went to medical school later in life.

"Maybe that’s the cosmic reason for 'Carol' to have come into being for one season, is to inspire this book," she says. "And with the pandemic … it makes you realize how precious and how sort of fragile life is. We need to make the most of the opportunities we have here."