After vowing he wouldn't, Steve Earle is writing a memoir for Twelve, the literary imprint of Grand Central Publishing and the Hachette Book Group, The New York Times reports. The singer is also working on a new novel.

Earle called the memoir "the book I swore I would never write" in a chat with TheMusic.com.au. What changed his mind? "They made me an offer I couldn't understand," he cracked.

The memoir will be "a literary work in three acts," according to a statement from Earle's publisher, which plans to release the book in the spring of 2014. The first act will tell the story of his friendship with mentor Townes Van Zandt. Next comes Earle's "bottoming out" in Nashville, where he was sent to prison and eventually got clean. Finally, there's recovery, starting around the recording of Earle's 1995 album Train a Comin'. (read more at Rolling Stone)