Singer, songwriter, actor, entrepreneur, memoirist, children’s book author and philanthropist — it reads like a long list of professionals, but it’s just Dolly Parton and her ever-expanding resume.
And now there’s good news for fans of the beloved entertainer. On Wednesday, she announced another impressive addition to her repertoire: novelist.
“I cannot be more excited about the release of my very first novel #RunRoseRun with @jamespattersonbooks,” the 75-year-old shared on social media.
As with many of her other endeavors, Parton plans to multitask on this one. In addition to her partnership with the mind behind the Women’s Murder Club and Alex Cross novels on “Run, Rose, Run,” she’s releasing new music related to it, too.
“I also have a new CD to go along with the book, based on its characters and situations,” she continued. “I hope you enjoy the book and the songs as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together.”
According to James Patterson, Parton’s music isn’t just based on the novel — it’s part of the storytelling experience.
"The mind-blowing thing about this project is that reading the novel is enhanced by listening to the album and vice versa," he said in a statement to People. "It's a really unique experience that I know readers (and listeners) will love."
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He also noted that working with the country music star has been “an honor,” as well as “a hell of a lot of fun."
The novel comes out March 7, 2022, and publisher Little, Brown and Company calls it “a thriller about a young singer-songwriter on the rise and on the run, and determined to do whatever it takes to survive.”
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“Every song tells a story,” the synopsis on the book’s pre-order page reads. “She’s a star on the rise, singing about the hard life behind her. She’s also on the run. Find a future, lose a past. Nashville is where she’s come to claim her destiny. It’s also where the darkness she’s fled might find her. And destroy her. ‘Run, Rose, Run’ is a novel glittering with danger and desire — a story that only America’s #1 beloved entertainer and its #1 bestselling author could have created.”
While Parton is new to being a novelist, she's a veteran when it comes to bringing books to eager readers.
In 1995, she launched a literacy program called Imagination Library, which first aimed to give children near her home free books every month to carry them through their all-important early years. But it soon expanded from a couple of counties in Tennessee to many countries across the globe.
Parton was honored by the Library of Congress in 2018, shortly after the program sent out its 100 millionth book.