These are photos of Britney Spears at an X Factor finalists party last night in LA. She looks happy, healthy and pretty here. I’d like to see her with some lighter eye makeup, but this heavy eyeliner is her signature look and that’s a minor complaint. Britney has actually performed well as a judge on the show, she’s harsher than people expected and more composed than we expected. She seems like she’s in a good place, although there’s still the question of whether she’s being led by her handlers or if she’s making her own decisions about her life. Either way, she seems somewhat content and together. That big lawsuit against her by her former self-declared “manager” has been thrown out of court, so that must be a relief.

Now that Britney is moving on with her life while bringing in piles of cash, she’s going to make some more money by “writing” a thinly veiled work of fiction about her life. This seems like just another way for Britney’s people to package her, while glossing over her very public breakdown. I guess it’s not a bad idea. Here’s more, from The Hollywood Reporter:

Britney Spears is close to signing a book deal, The Hollywood Reporter has learned, with plans to write a novel.
Her rep confirms that It Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, which has released many popular musician memoirs (among them: autobiographies by Sammy Hagar, The Game, Slash and Motley Crue), is having “discussions” with the singer. (A rep for It would not confirm.)

A source tells THR Spears would pen a roman a clef for the publisher. The story would incorporate fictionalized versions of her own experiences, much like Lauren Conrad’s 2009 New York Times bestseller L.A. Candy, which was about a girl who moves to Los Angeles and becomes the star of a reality show. Conrad, who starred in The Hills, has written two more novels since.

Indeed, Spears is the latest in a growing cadre of headline-grabbers who dabble in books. They include the Kardashians and Jersey Shore’s Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi.

No word yet on when a Spears book may be released, but with the singer appearing on a network TV show (and being paid handsomely for it — in the vicinity of $15 million) and having sold nearly 100 million albums worldwide in her career, the advance is likely to be substantial.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Spears rep did semi-confirm this story. He told MTV “To my knowledge there are discussions but nothing confirmed.”

I’ve read portions of Snooki’s book and Nicole Richie’s book, and both were God awful. They read like the celebrities had written the books themselves with minimal editing. In contrast, Levi Johnston’s memoir was interesting and well written. That was down to his talented “co” writers, whom he did thank by name. You know he didn’t write a word. Britney will probably talk to a writer for a few hours, and that person will whip up a decent novel loosely based on her life and painted with a much prettier brush. They’ll send drafts to her people to review, and it will get published with minimal input from Britney. That seems to happen a lot for her – she gets pushed into things and doesn’t have a lot of say in what happens. Maybe I’m wrong, or maybe it’s good for her to be out of her comfort zone. She seems to be in a decent place now so what better time to put out a book? I’m not being entirely facetious, either.

Photo credit: Fayes Vision/WENN.com