Crossing over and exploring other fields of entertainment has become such a common practice that few are those who still wonder when they hear about such cases. However, when rapper 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) announced that he would start writing novellas, there was a strong wave of disbelief that swept even through his most loyal fans.

Yet, he proved us that he can do almost anything he sets his mind to: he launched himself in the movies, by starring in his own drama 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' (heavily criticized by some as condoning violence and guns) and, in 2006, in 'Home of the Brave', and was greeted with warm reviews from the critics.

A while ago, 50 also revealed his plans of writing a series of novellas, with characters inspired from G-Unit and on Thursday, he took part at his first book signing. Taking into consideration the large number of people who came to have their copies signed by the rapper/actor/writer, one can only infer that his foray into the literary world took off on a positive note.

'Death Before Dishonor', 'Baby Brother' and 'The Ski Mask Way', the first three novellas to be published in collaboration with MTV and Pocket Books, represent merely the beginning of 50's story. According to his own words, he plans to make his series a best-seller, to take it, quote, 'to the top of the literary world' and, judging by his successful career this far, chances are that he will succeed.

'The stories in the G-Unit [are] about our life on the streets and no one knows it better than us. Not to mention, when it comes to delivering authentic, gritty urban stories of the high and low life, our audience expects the best.', the rapper told the media gathered at his book signing.

However, 50 can't take full credit for the novellas, even if they do resemble his lyrics to a great extent: they are written in collaboration with Nikki Turner and K. Elliot.