TVSquad

It looks like guest-starring on Chuck isn't the biggest thing going on in Nicole Richie's TV career. The former Simple Life star has just announced that a TV show based on her 2005 novel is in the works. Richie's roman à clef, titled The Truth About Diamonds, follows Chloe Parker, the adopted daughter of a rock star who runs around with a bad crowd in Hollywood. Throughout the novel, Parker faces struggles with the law, drugs and her friends. Sound familiar?

Not only is Richie planning on producing the show, but she'll be appearing in it as well. Even though she based Chloe Parker on herself, Richie says that she won't necessarily be playing the lead, "I would definitely produce and definitely be in the show, [but] I don't know if I need to be the star of this show." Since production is still in the early stages, the details surrounding the series remain unclear, such as what network it will be on, and whether or not it will be a drama or a comedy.

Nicole Richie has a book. Did you know that? It's called The Truth About Diamonds. It's being sold as a fictional novel written by Richie, but apparently the storylines are pretty transparent. For example, the main character, "Chloe," has a drug addition, much like Richie once did. And, her wealthy girlfriend named "Simone", who appears in "night vision skin flicks", is obviously Paris Hilton. I did not read the book because it costs more than one dollar, but I did read a hilarious recap of the book on Slate. The author makes fun of Richie's grammar, including this triple-negative: "we were nothing if not un-original." And of her contradictions about the character's dismissal of celebrity gossipers, yet tabloid press is what pushes the plot along. The reviewer says there is not much to be learned from the book, except Richie's dependency on the paparazzi. She appears just as obsessed with the tabloids as the rest of America, and her character obviously courts the gossip reporters in the book. If nothing else, the reviewer says, the book exposes how celebrities (at least, celebrities of Paris and Nicole's stature) need the tabloids.

After you're done reading the Slate review, head on over to Amazon to read the customer comments. There are already 33 reviews, and it appears a war is a-brewing over the literary quality of The Truth About Diamonds.