NEW YORK.- Thomas Kinkade, the millionaire painter of happy kitsch scenes that are marketed to avid customers through a network of Kinkade Signature Galleries, is branching out into fiction. According to Publisher's Weekly, the painter's first novel is titled Cape Light, the name of his fictional town. At least two additional novels are in the works, co-written with Katherine Spencer and published by Berkley. "His paintings are of beautiful places," said book producer Jane Stine. "This was a marvelous opportunity to people his world." Kinkade's Media Arts print publisher had 2001 revenues of $130 million, and retail sales of Kinkade licensed goods, including gifts, furnishings and even a housing development, are said to exceed $400 million. Cape Light is priced at $16.07 on Amazon.com, which has also posted an excerpt.