Seen around town: That would be one Rosanne Cash, of the country dynasty. She was hanging around the Cincinnatian sipping tea in the bar, then signing books at Joseph-Beth. But not singing.

        Cash, don't you see, has joined the growing ranks of celebs doing kids books (Naomi Judd, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Lithgow with illustrations by Cincinnati's C.F. Payne, Katie Couric).

        Cash's entry is Penelope Jane (Joanna Cotler Books, $15.95, includes a CD), a kids book about an eyelash-high fairy who causes chaos at school, but eventually winds up a hero when a fire breaks out.

        What's more, Cash has a book she edited due in March — a book of prose by famous songwriters — a sequel to Penelope in a year or so and a new CD in the works.

        Plenty busy, this country singer turned writer. We need to pin her down for five questions while there's time ...

        One thing I'd like to tackle but haven't ...

French classes, and I mean really learn it so I can understand and converse. I'm a bit of a Francophile, but I can only say the most elementary things. What I need to do is find the time.

        The best thing about being an eyelash-high fairy ...

        Is that you can go places and not be seen. You can have all kinds of experiences and not really participate.

        Music fans or kid readers are the hardest to please ...

I'd give them equal weight. Kids have an instinctive response. If you don't hit on it, they dismiss you. Music fans are well educated, specific about their likes and can be very critical.

        One thing I'm learning on this book tour ...

That it's as hard as a concert tour. It gets so blurry because the hours are so early. You get up early for morning TV and radio, then do afternoon interviews, then your signing at night. At least with a concert tour you get to sleep 'til 4.

        What I keep hearing at signings ...

"Are you going to do a Penelope sequel and will it have a CD?' "Why haven't you been making records' (vocal polyps during my last pregnancy; they're gone now). And, "I love your dad (Johnny).'

        Drummer boy: This much we've always known about former Red and current Yankee Paul O'Neill: Great ball player.

        This much we never knew: Great drummer, too.

        That came out last weekend at a Christmas party at the Montgomery home of Check 'n Go exec David Davis, who had hinted on his invitations that there would be a celeb guest.

        It was Backbeat, the four Anderson teens who do Beatles music. As always, they charmed the daylights out of the adults.

        They also found out that O'Neill was a drummer and dragged him onstage where he played for over an hour, first some Beatles stuff, then a bit of everything — country, blues, jazz, good old rock 'n' roll.

        “The amazing thing,” guest Rob Riggsbee said, “is he knew every song. It turned into an open mike thing with people yelling out songs. He knew every one.”

        Hmmm. New career maybe? Say post-Yankees?

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