Of course, one of the downsides of being a cultural guru (aka sad anorak) is receiving phone calls at odd times of the day from people asking me who was the lead singer of Sleeper (no really, this happens, and indeed did happen, only a few days ago in fact). Of course, the answer was Britpop pinup Louise Wener, but I can't really blame them for forgetting, because things have gone ominously quiet from the outspoken star since her band split following poor sales of their third album.

But it seems that when Ms. Wener asked herself 'What Do I Do Now?' she has decided upon a bold move from 'The It Girl' to 'The Lit Girl'. And so, say hello to Goodnight Steve McQueen which has been listed over at Amazon with a projected publishing date of August. GSMcQ is rather unpromisingly described as 'a lovelorn novel about men, music and transitional shoes'. There's also a synopsis and excerpt included, but sadly both are similarly grim. Let's hope she's still got a dayjob of some sorts, and keeps hold of it. Or else she could always ring Spiller.

Related links: Louise Wener fansite with additional guestbook (sample entry, of dubious veracity, from 'Matt': 'We all remember Louise as being an incredibly sexually confident individual and I can vouuch [sic] for that. At the height of Sleeper's fame a few years back we met her out in a club in Brighton. My brother spent an hour chatting her up and he really fancied his chances until she turned to one of his mates and said "do you want to come home with me tonight"? Needless to say he did and he's regaled us even[sic] since about the night he went at it "hammer and tongs all night" with Louise from Sleeper. His words not mine. He says she was a fantastic shag and "right goer".)

Louise Wener thumbnail gallery.