KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Dolly Parton’s first novel, “Run, Rose, Run” co-written with bestselling author James Patterson debuted Monday at No. 1 on Amazon’s Best Sellers book list. The Southern fiction thriller was released just a few days after its companion album of the same name came out on Friday.

The Amazon Best Sellers list includes the top 100 most popular books being sold on Amazon.

“Run, Rose, Run” tells the story of a young singer-songwriter on the rise in Nashville, Tenn. who sings about the hard life behind her, according to the novel synopsis, and “she’s also on the run. Find a future, lose a past. Nashville is where she’s come to claim her destiny. It’s also where the darkness she’s fled might find her. And destroy her.” 

Another East Tennessee native, country singer Kelsea Ballerini has joined Parton for the “Run, Rose, Run” audiobook version of the novel by voicing one of the novel’s characters.

Both Parton and Patterson appeared Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and Parton cheered “yay!” at the news of their co-authored novel reaching No. 1 on Amazon’s list.

“We’re celebrating, man,” Patterson said during the GMA interview.

“Number one – yay!” Parton said.

Apart from offering compliments to Patterson for his writing, Parton went on to share during the GMA interview about “Run, Rose, Run” that she saw herself in many of the novel’s characters and how she related to the strong female characters.

The novel is Parton’s first and her love of books and sharing stories has been a long practice of hers for decades. Parton has often said in interviews and in her 2020 book, “Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics” that songwriting was like telling stories from her time growing up in East Tennessee as well as later in her career as she gained new experiences.

Her love of books and sharing them with children through her nonprofit, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has been an ongoing passion project for the superstar since its 1995 launch in Sevier County. The nonprofit then expanded to offer books to children across the country and then internationally. By 2020, the nonprofit had gifted its 150 millionth book.

A virtual book tour for “Run, Rose, Run: A Novel” kicked off Sunday, March 6.

Parton and Ballerini will take to the stage at the Academy of Country Music Awards to perform one of the singles from the “Run, Rose, Run” album in Las Vegas. Parton is also co-hosting the awards show.