Gillian Anderson’s first book, a supernatural thriller, is coming

Actress Gillian Anderson has written a supernatural/science fiction thriller, “A Vision of Fire,” which will begin a series to be published by Simon & Schuster. Anderson’s EarthEnd Saga will launch Simon451, a new Simon & Schuster imprint publishing science fiction, fantasy, dystopias, apocalyptic fiction and stories of the supernatural.

“A Vision of Fire” was co-written with bestselling author Jeff Rovin; the book will be published in hardcover in October.

Anderson has won accolades for a wide variety of roles, but she became a celebrity starring in “The X Files.” The 1990s television series spawned two films, a video game and more cultural ephemera (I had a Windows computer that booted up with the X Files theme).

In “The X Files,” Anderson starred as Dana Scully, a by-the-book FBI agent with a conspiracy-theory partner; the two investigated claims of supernatural phenomena.

Did that background inform her first book? Here’s the publisher’s synopsis:

“The daughter of India’s ambassador to the United Nations starts speaking in tongues and having violent visions. A young Haitian girl claws at her throat, apparently drowning on dry land. An Iranian boy suddenly sets himself on fire,” Simon & Schuster says in a statement.

It continues, “Called to treat the ambassador’s daughter, renowned child psychologist Caitlin O’Hara is sure the fits have something to do with the recent assassination attempt on her father — a shooting that has escalated nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan — but when teenagers around the world start having similar outbursts, Caitlin is forced to consider a more sinister force at work.”

Certainly sounds like a rational female investigator whose job takes her down the road of the supernatural.

Anderson has had a particularly literary acting career; her roles have included characters from Charles Dickens (Miss Havisham in “Great Expectations,” Lady Dedlock in “Bleak House”), Edith Wharton (Lily Bart in “House of Mirth”), Herman Melville (Elizabeth in “Moby-Dick”) and Laurence Stern (Widow Wadman in “Tristram Shandy”).

Her own book -- less 19th century classic, more supernatural thriller -- will hit shelves Oct. 7.

Like passing notes in class; I’m @paperhaus on Twitter