When the word "book" is used in conjunction with Brooks & Dunn, it's usually because they have an agent trying to book a concert date for them.

But come May 12, they'll have another kind of book in the public realm. In this case, it'll be a novel, The Adventures Of Slim And Howdy, co-written with Bill Fitzhugh. The project is built around the characters that have been featured in very short stories in the liner notes on the duo's albums.

"When Ronnie and I were first getting together and really having fun with that first album, Brand New Man, we were sitting around talking about what we liked about albums growing up," Kix Brooks told Billboard. "We both had the whole liner notes deal in common. So we thought, 'Let's get a little adventure story going here and give people something to read.'"

They had no idea at the time that their alter egos, Slim and Howdy, would be the fodder for a much bigger project than liner notes.

In the meantime, Brooks & Dunn have some of their more usual bookings coming up. They performed with Kenny Chesney this weekend in Columbia, S.C., and they've got several more stadium dates due with Kenny in the months ahead, including a performance this weekend in Frisco, Texas. In August, they'll also launch more than 25 shows with ZZ Top.