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Yesterday, the august literary journal called the New York Daily News dubbed Lori Culwell's self-published novel Hollywood Car Wash one of its "Sizzling Summer Reads." "It's hot because it's said to be written by a former friend of Katie Holmes who got dropped after she met Tom Cruise. It's cool for the same reason," they write. But even the author herself admits that this might not be, technically, the truth: "Hey, I can't control what they say, can I?" she winks on her MySpace blog. How did the Daily News get such a wacky idea? Maybe it's because many blogs received, and posted verbatim, an email that claimed Katie Holmes had read the book and was incensed.

"'Someone gave her a copy last weekend, and she's been reading it non-stop ever since,' said one of the actress' friends. "She's already having problems with Tom, and now she feels like her private life has been exposed. She's really upset." read the email from "a reader of [Glitterati Gossip]." "Hollywood Car Wash focuses on the rise of a young actress on a tv series who is forced to lose weight, takes drugs, is hounded by paparazzi, and gets into a contracted relationship. 'Katie can't believe the similarities,' said the source."

The rumor quickly spread to other gossip blogs, finally trickling up to TMZ, which actually examined the rumor and eked out a denial: according to Katie's publicist, she has "never heard of this book, never read it and doesn't know the author." Culwell countered by saying that "the main character is based on a person that is never, ever going to talk to me again."

For the first time in a while, we're inclined to believe the publicist. How would Culwell, a self-described 34 year old whose previous resume highlights include another self-published book (Improve Your Website, Improve Your Business) and a consultancy with Johnson & Johnson become privy to Katie Holmes' deep dark secrets? More likely is a theory espoused by a source who "know[s] Lori casually" and has reason to believe that "she or someone close to her" generated the email that the gossip blogs posted. This person also describes Lori as a "mad genius of self-promotion," which seems about accurate. After all, looky here. We just wrote about her book.