PORTLAND – With a new band, a new book, a new fiance and a new house, self-styled “wild child” Bebe Buell says the rock ‘n’ roll life has never been better.

In her boisterous memoir, “Rebel Heart,” the 48-year-old former model, Playboy centerfold and mother of Hollywood actress Liv Tyler details her flings and romances with rock luminaries such as Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Todd Rundgren, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Page, Iggy Pop and Rod Stewart.

“The message of this book is that you can come back bigger and better than ever,” she said. “I want people to see that there are happy endings, that we do achieve our goals, that it’s never too late.”

Publishers had approached Buell for years about a book, she said, but she was struggling with a bad marriage and depression.

Now her life is back on track, she said. Balancing book promotions and high-energy performances with her New York rock band, Buell divides her time between New York and Portland, where she and her fiance, guitarist Jim Wallerstein, are settling into a Victorian-style home that was a gift from her daughter.

To Buell, “Rebel Heart” is a celebration of pop culture that strives to capture the rock spirit of the ’70s as a time of innocence and liberation.

“We were discovering things,” she said in an interview. “We didn’t know that drugs were bad for you, that we would ever age or get old. We thought we were going to live forever.”

The zeitgeist of that period was reflected in Cameron Crowe’s loosely autobiographical movie “Almost Famous.” Buell believes Crowe “put a little bit of my essence” in the Kate Hudson character, Penny Lane. She was flattered that the lead singer in the film’s fictitious band was named Jeff Bebe.

Characterizing herself as a “Band-Aid,” Lane, in “Almost Famous,” takes umbrage at being called a groupie. So does Buell, who prefers the term muse; she says she helped nourish the creative spirits of the artists she knew.

To Buell, groupie “is a misused word, like ‘punk’ or ‘grunge.’ When you’re a diehard rock ‘n’ roller like I am, you know what the word means, and I find it offensive.”

Buell said she wrote her book in a spirit of compassion and respect, with no attempt to settle scores. Nonjudgmental and shorn of self-pity, it inflicts few scars on those who treated her shabbily. As for those who may feel wronged, “they can write their own book,” she said.

The book details how longtime boyfriend Rundgren served as Liv’s father, while Liv’s suspicions about who her biological father was gradually emerged. The truth came out in 1988 when Liv, then 11, spotted Steven Tyler’s daughter Mia backstage at an Aerosmith concert and was struck by her resemblance to her.

Buell takes pride in her daughter’s success as an actress, and regards it as her greatest accomplishment.

“I always taught Liv to put yourself first – never put a man first – concentrate on your education and your career, and look what happened. She turned out great,” Buell said.

Liv bought her mom the new house in Portland, where the two had lived for much of Liv’s childhood. Buell’s cousin, Annie Noyes, helped rear Liv while Buell began her career as a performer with the B-Sides and later with the Gargoyles.

Although she remembers the ’70s as a period of rock that may never be surpassed, Buell finds a lot to like in newer performers. Her favorites include U2, Stone Temple Pilots and Incubus; she also likes Marilyn Manson and Eminem.

“I like artists that can push buttons and make people mad and force them to think,” she said.

Buell’s collaborator on “Rebel Heart” was Victor Bockris, who has written biographies of Lou Reed, John Cale, Keith Richards and Patti Smith.

Buell is working on a second book, which she intends to write herself. It will examine behavior in the rock world. “Take a traditional etiquette book, apply it to rock ‘n’ roll and then you’ve got my book,” she said.

“I think that you can live the most outrageous life, but [it’s OK] as long as you’ve got manners. I think manners never go out of style.”

Neither does hard-edged rock ‘n’ roll, and Buell sees herself performing for another decade or more, following the lead of Tina Turner or Debbie Harry.

“They’re still rockin’,” Buell said. “I just think that you should do what you love until you look ridiculous. So, as long as I can still look hot and entertain people and keep churning out the art, there’s no reason to stop.”