Steamy, Private

Jewel has decided not to release a book of love poems she calls "too steamy, too private" for publication. In a message posted at www.jeweljk.com, the 31-year-old explains, "They're too explicit...when I wrote these poems, everything was fair game."

Instead, she's compiling her writings into a volume for her boyfriend. "So it's written, but I don't know how to change it. It wouldn't be honest. It wouldn't be me. But maybe one day."

Jewel's first book of poetry resulted in her being skewered during an MTV interview with Kurt Loder, who read aloud a line from "Kiss the Flame": "there are people selling thoughtlessness with such casualty." When Loder pointed out that "casualty" means "badly harmed" rather than "nonchalance," she glowered and told him, "You're a smart-ass for pointing that out. Next topic."