Bristol Palin dishes about Levi Johnston and Meghan McCain in her new memoir, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far (out today from William Morrow).

In the book, the teenage mother, abstinence advocate and Dancing with the Stars star tells the woeful story of how she lost her virginity. Gawker has more: “she lost her virginity on a camping trip while drunk on wine coolers … Apparently she woke up unable to remember the event, and was reminded only by hearing her then-boyfriend Levi Johnston bragging about it to his friends on the phone.”

Palin also complained about meeting the McCains. ABC.com has more: “Palin writes that the first time she met the 26-year-old daughter of Sen. John McCain, she ‘ignored us during the entire visit’ … Palin adds that she ‘had a sneaking suspicion I might need to watch my back.’ ‘Every time we saw Meghan, she seemed to be constantly checking us out, comparing my family to hers and complaining.’”

Levi Johnston, the man catapulted into the public spotlight after he fathered a child with Bristol Palin, has inked a book deal with Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint. Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs will be published this fall.

Sterling Lord Literistic agent Robert Guinsler negotiated the deal with senior editor Matthew Benjamin. Touchstone publisher Stacy Creamer called it “a sweet and funny book with a touch of irony.”

Johnston had this statement in the release: “I want to tell the truth about my close relationship with the Palins… my sense of Sarah, and my perplexing fall from grace–how I feel and what I’ve learned. I’m doing this for me, for my boy Tripp and for the country.”

Writer Nick Hornby collaborated with musician Ben Folds on the piano player’s latest album, Lonely Avenue. Last night, the duo took to the stage to talk and perform at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City.

Hornby began by reading the lyrics for a particular song, and then Ben Folds would play the song and sing. They performed six songs off the 11-song album: Belinda, Levi Johnston’s Blues, Practical Amanda, Your Dog’s, Picture Window, and Saskia Hamilton. The deluxe version contains the song featured in the video embedded above, Things You Think.

Hornby called Folds his “Cyrano de Bergerac” for transforming his lyrics into music. Folds explained that melodies come easily, but writing lyrics is more difficult. When the musician was asked whether or not he would ever consider writing novels, Folds answered: “No, the long form freaks me out.” When Hornby was asked about the lyric-writing process, he added: “What you’re writing isn’t finished. A lyric isn’t really a lyric until it’s part of a song.”

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Levi Johnston‘s sister, Mercede Johnston, has returned to her blog–alleging that she is being told not to write about the Palin family anymore. In June we noted that Mercede (pictured) was fishing for a book deal.

“[Levi] left left a message saying that if I did not take my blog down by Wednesday that I would never get to see him, or Tripp, again,” she wrote this week. Her brother made headlines earlier this week by apologizing to the Palin family.

In June, she answered a literary question about bestselling author Sarah Palin on the blog. Here’s an excerpt: “Did I ever see books in the Palin home? No I did not. But then again I was not really paying attention. However I asked my mother and she also says she does not remember seeing any books lying around.” (Via Gawker)

Bestselling author Sarah Palin may have a new writer to worry about–her daughter’s old boyfriend.

According to Gawker, Levi Johnston‘s sister Mercede Johnston has started a blog and is already dishing about Sarah’s relationship with Bristol and Levi. Gawker posted about her blog yesterday, generating more than 19,000 views in a single day. The link is no longer active.

In a post earlier this week, Mercede (pictured) was fishing for a book deal: “I would LOVE to write a book. I only wish I knew how to go about doing so. I know that people would be drawn to my story if they had the chance to see it in print. I really hope to get the opportunity to write one sometime soon.”

Stumbling away from our desks after a long Tuesday, here are some morsels of publishing news for your enjoyment…

As her memoir hits bookshelves today, Sarah Palin lashes out at Newsweek‘s cover story art (pictured) in another Facebook missive: “The Runner’s World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness – a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now.”

Science fiction blog io9 rounds up the top seven comic books that no director could possibly adapt.

The Palm CEO knocks Android cell phones, comparing the two machines battling for smartphone eBook readership (via Mike Cane).

Check out the staggering line-up of authors for the Moth Ball benefit tonight.

Finally, one last Palin Memoir Release Day links, Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston are analyzed on today’s Morning Media Menu.

As the afternoon sun sets, much too soon, here are a few publishing links to play with…

Daily Finance analyzes a a $20 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed against Houghton Mifflin Harcourt by Cengage over textbook sales.

NY Daily News excerpted Sarah Palin‘s taped interview with Oprah Winfrey, an interview that will open her book tour next week: “We don’t have to keep going down this road of controversy and drama all the time,” she said, when asked about Levi Johnston‘s frayed relationship with her family.

Worried about publishers printing unfinished copies of Vladimir Nabokov‘s last novel? Flavorpill reminds us of a rich history of unfinished literary works.

MobyLives notes that the man who invented the AK-47 assault rifle really wanted to be a poet.