Fergie and her Southyork Southfork pardner

Rejoice x 3! Fergie, the Duchess of York, has sold her historical novel Hartmoor to St Martin’s Press for 2008 publication. She is writing it with someone called Laura Van Wormer, described by one critic as a “master of romantic suspense”. As Grumpyoldbookman says, this is a very good thing for publishing – or at least for publicity about publishing. There is a whole literary industry dedicated to lifting the careers of publishers and agents who rep the creative mega-famous, based entirely on deals. Subsequent sales performance is another matter.

As for Van Wormer, she is much much more than a mere master of romance. She is also the master of Dallas, the famous ‘80s TV glamour soap. Van Wormer’s written a novel of the same name and a guide to the Ewing clan – oh, you know, Miss Ellie, JR and his bitter alcoholic wife.

This writer partnership has an unwitting comic antecedents. The Ewings lived on a ranch called Southfork; and years ago, before she divorced Prince Andrew, Fergie lived in a vulgar royal house that invited comparison with the parvenu Dallas property and was dubbed Southyork by the media.

I wonder whether Fergie and the Worm giggle over this possibly fatalistic early association via mockery.