Literary flair may not have been the most obvious of her talents to date, but yesterday the Frankfurt book fair saw the launch of Pamela Anderson's career as a novelist.
In one of the week's more eye-opening announcements, the publisher Judith Curr, of Simon & Schuster Inc, said: "We have just done the deal for two novels, for an undisclosed sum. They are romans à clef ."
The news that the former Baywatch star is to create two novels, titled Above the Waist and Below the Belt, might surprise some. Anderson's ex-husband, Tommy Lee, helped instigate the signing by introducing her to Ms Curr with his recommendation. Lee is a published author too: he has written an autobiography called An Illustrated Man (the Mötley Crüe drummer is heavily tattooed).
Ms Curr reported "enormous curiosity" at the fair about her new signing. "It'll have to be a bodice-ripper, surely?" asked one publisher. In some quarters, the main question people were asking was whether Anderson could actually write.
It is largely irrelevant. Anderson will have a ghost-writer, following the precedent set by the supermodel Naomi Campbell in 1994 with "her" novel Swan, which was actually written by Caroline Upcher. Anderson will supply plot, characters, and her "voice".
"She is going to have someone to help her," admitted Ms Curr. "She's worked on the outline with one of my editors."
No British publisher has yet made a firm offer for Anderson's thrillers, and Ms Curr is likely to hold back until she has several chapters to show.
A UK deal may have to wait until the London book fair in March, at which Ms Curr expects Anderson will make an appearance.
"I want to make sure they're fabulous. They're going to be sexy and funny," Ms Curr said of the novels. "We're not taking the high road."
Elsewhere at the Frankfurt book fair, celebrity autobiography continued to set the pace this week. First came the rumours about who had acquired Woody Allen's memoirs. The speculation ended with the announcement that Random House had agreed to pay $1.25m (£750,000) for the US edition, while HarperCollins had offered a matching amount for the British rights.
These sums are for a book that Allen has not yet committed to write. An executive at HarperCollins said the star's 10-page proposal insisted that publishers should to make it worth Allen's while to take time out from his schedule to reflect on his relationships with Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi Previn.
A brisk auction was also under way for Justin Timberlake's autobiography. Despite covering a considerably shorter timespan - and certainly a less tangled love-life - than Allen's, offers for UK rights were reported to exceed £1m.
