St. Martin's Press is banking that new books from ex-porn star, Heather Hunter, and urban lit king, Shannon Holmes, will be spring/summer blockbusters.

This July, Heather Hunter's novel, Insatiable: The Rise of a Porn Star, drops. I personally didn't hear about Hunter until Lil' Kim gave her that shout-out in "Big Momma Thang." Then dudes in school started lusting after her, with that whole, "she just don't know," declaration.

Anyway, the book is co-written with Michelle Valentine and is a fictional account based on Hunter's own emergence and rise in the adult film industry. I can see Wendy Williams jumping all over this one. Monique Patterson, the acquiring editor on the project, tells me the book is hot like an August day in Las Vegas. St. Martin's is guaranteeing that Insatiable will be one of the most erotic, most unforgettable reads of the summer. I feel forewarned.

Since her days as an adult actress, Hunter has pursued a career as a rapper and entertainer. She makes an appearance in the forthcoming film, American Gangster, which stars Denzel Washington.Before moving on, since we're talking about the adult film industry, author Lawrence Ross' next book is tentatively titled Money Shot, and is described by senior editor Anita Diggs at Thunder's Mouth Press as "an intellectual history of African Americans in the porn industry." Apparently, black folks were discriminated against in that field as well. Look for that book this fall.

Back to the topic at hand, in May, St. Martin's will release Dirty Game by Shannon Holmes. Patterson, who also worked on this book, said that Holmes worked extremely hard on crafting the story, but still retained his signature raw and gritty style.

I recently received an advanced copy of Dirty Game, and in the back there's a slang glossary with definitions for words/phrases like, "crack whores," "triflin'," and "The game." I would think uninformed readers could read between the lines and figure out what a "crack whore" is. Am I assuming too much? Maybe so.

Holmes is planning a sequel to Bad Girlz and a follow-up to B-more Careful. About his novels, he said, "All my books have a message, and that message is simple: nothing good can come out of something bad. If it does, it'll only be temporary; your success will be fleeting." I wish someone would tell Bush that.