Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristin Harmel & Patti Callahan Henry welcome #1 bestselling author Louise Penny to discuss her new novel The Grey Wolf, the 19th installment in her wildly successful Armand Gamache mystery series.

Louise Penny is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She was also the co-author with Hillary Rodham Clinton of the #1 New York Times bestselling thriller State of Terror. A former journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a recipient of the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture, Louise has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and multiple Agatha Awards, and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Louise joins us from her home in a small village south of Montreal to discuss her new book, The Grey Wolf, in which Gamache and his team are propelled toward the terrible realization that something much more sinister than any one murder is fast approaching the tiny Québec village of Three Pines.

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 10/30 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 11/1.

Order Louise’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY Today is her son’s thirtieth birthday and she is celebrating him! Last week was a blur and she ended with a book festival in Jackson Hole Wyoming, the inaugural event where she heard from fascinating authors and spent some time in the gorgeous landscape of that place. Did you hear about her pre-order giveaway? Click HERE for all the news about that! And countdown to seeing her FF family next week in Orlando and Amelia! Click HERE for more on that. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. What an incredible continuation of the Armand Gamache series. Kristin and I loved interviewing her for this week’s episode. Louise is all heart and it shows in her powerful stories. 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is SO excited about one of her top three favorite nights in Beaufort: Halloween, of course! She has an event coming up this Saturday at Par 108 in Cape Carteret, NC. If you’re in the area, check it out! And she’s announcing what book she’ll be reading next as a part of her Chapters Tour on her blog next week. Most of all… she can’t wait to see her F&F crew and incredible readers next week!
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne! I read her holiday novel last year and this is the second in the series. I cannot wait to be back in Shelter Springs again this holiday season!

KRISTIN HARMEL read over her first pass pages for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau this week, which means that she got to review the story, laid out in book form for the first time, which always feels like a meaningful part of the process. She can't wait for advanced review copies to become available (by the end of this year) and to share it with all of you when it's published in June 2025! She also walked proudly in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Orlando over the weekend. The walk was chaired by Kristin’s breast surgeon, Dr. Anu Saigal, one of the most amazing people Kristin knows!
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: To Die For by David Baldacci: I'm looking forward to having David on next week’s show. It will be his first time on F&F, and I can't wait for you all to meet him–and to hear about the exciting latest installment of his 6:20 Man series, as well as his incredible advocacy for literacy.

MARY KAY ANDREWS is trying to keep her distance from that witch’s kettle full of Halloween candy (600 pieces at last count) for the hordes of trick-or-treaters who annually descend on her Atlanta neighborhood. Those Reese’s peanut butter cups keep calling her name. But in the meantime she’s celebrating the Tuesday publication of her first Amazon Original Christmas short story, Holiday Hideaway. Available in digital form only here, you can download it to read on any tablet, laptop or even your phone, or listen to the audio version as an Audible Original. 
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: MKA is absorbed in an advanced reader copy of The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark. This thriller is out June 3. It’s the story of Olivia Dumont, a seasoned ghostwriter whose new client turns out to be her bestselling horror writer father Vincent, who’s hired her to write his memoir–including his first-person account of the long-unsolved murder of his brother and sister, who were found slashed to death five decades earlier.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE. * The last day to buy tickets is Oct. 31, so get yours now!

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will emcee a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes book signing, photo opps, and tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 11am – Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 2pm —  Patti & Kristin together with Kwame Alexander at the 20th Annual Wild Dunes Author Event & Weekend hosted by Mary Alice Monroe. Info & tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, the Fab Four gathered live to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Paula Hawkins, to discuss her propulsive and powerful new book, our October 2024 Pick of the Month, THE BLUE HOUR, an addictive thriller which takes place on a remote Scottish island with only one house, one inhabitant, and one way out. Order Paula’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Sequel
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Sophie Kinsella, What Does It Feel Like
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Marybeth Whalen, Every Moment Since
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Oct. Pick of the Month: Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf
Watch Oct. 30 | Listen Nov. 1

J.T. Ellison, A Very Bad Thing
Watch Nov. 6 | Listen Nov. 8

David Baldacci, To Die For
Watch Nov. 13 | Listen Nov. 15

F&F Pick of the Month: Michael Connelly, The Waiting
WATCH LIVE Nov. 20 | Listen Nov. 22

Craig Johnson, Tooth and Claw
Watch Nov. 27 | Listen Nov. 29

Signe Pike, The Shadowed Land
Watch Dec 4 | Listen Dec. 6

Jillian Cantor, The Greatest Lie of All
Watch Dec. 11 | Listen Dec. 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb, Christmas with the Queen
WATCH LIVE Dec. 18 | Listen Dec. 20

F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party
Watch Dec. 25 | Listen Dec. 27

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Sarah Pekkanen about her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. Mark your calendars for November 18th for their next author guest, Kimberly Brock, when they’ll discuss her novel, THE FABLED EARTH. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The November prompt is to read a collection of short stories or essays.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, October 23rd LIVE at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as the Fab Four gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Paula Hawkins, to discuss her propulsive and powerful new book, our October 2024 Pick of the Month, THE BLUE HOUR, an addictive thriller which takes place on a remote Scottish island with only one house, one inhabitant, and one way out.

Paula Hawkins is the #1 NYT-bestselling author of three suspense novels including Into the Water and A Slow Fire Burning. Her debut novel that shook the nation, The Girl on the Train, spent 80+ weeks on the NYT bestseller list — including 20 weeks at #1 — and was named the USA Today Book of the Year. It has gone on to sell more than 23-million copies worldwide, has been published in more than 50 languages, and was a box office hit film starring Emily Blunt. A former journalist, Paula was born and raised in Zimbabwe and moved to London in 1989 and now splits her time between there and Edinburgh.She joins us to discuss her masterful, page-turning, unsettling new novel that recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Hawkins's place among the very best of our most nuanced and stylish storytellers. Lee Child has called The Blue Hour “the best Paula Hawkins yet — by a tense and haunting mile,” and we cannot wait to talk to her all about it.

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 10/23 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/25.

Order Paula’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY first wants to tell you some exciting news! Her publishing house (S&S/Atria) has organized the most beautiful gift for readers! Check it all out HERE! Once you pre-order from any retailer in any format, you’ll be eligible for lots of great goodies including a gorgeous digital travel journal that shows all the amazing pictures and stories from Patti’s research trip to London and England’s Lake District, along with custom-designed bookplates. Atria has also just launched another Goodreads giveaway on now through Nov 12. Enter HERE to be a winner of one of 100 ARCs. Patti had the most amazing week in New York City with her publishing house and agent, along with Meg Walker and a truly synchronistic visit with our Mary Kay Andrews who was in the city at the same time. From a lunch where Patti met some of the most fascinating people in media, to publishing meetings where they brainstormed some amazing things for our readers, as well as two plays and some time with friends (See instagram post with photos!). It was a whirlwind before she set off to the mountains in NC for the wedding of a dear friend’s daughter whom she’s known since she was four years old. (Time is moving too fast.) She LOVES the fall weather and has so many exciting things coming up with the new release, The Story She Left Behind. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe. “The FF Book Club did a cover reveal for Mary Alice’s newest and I have been diving into this family saga while traveling. This book has all the things that mean the most to Mary Alice – family, nature, and our connection to both! It follows the Rivers family and their deep connection to the land and one very particular place along the river. I can’t wait to see what happens to this complicated family and their matriarch, Eliza Rivers.” 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY was completely enchanted by seeing Taylor Swift in person in Miami last weekend! If you want to see her photos, her instagram is basically a Swiftie fan page right now! She is hard at work on her 2026 novel and is getting so excited to announce her 2025 book to you all this week! Be on the lookout for the exciting news!
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts. “Sheila always gets me in the holiday spirit with her Christmas books and this one is no exception! The Merry Matchmaker is a reimagining of Jane Austen’s, Emma. It is set in a small rural town that is all about Christmas. I am really enjoying it so far!”

KRISTIN HARMEL spent some time on Florida’s east coast over the weekend with her in-laws, to celebrate her niece’s 12th birthday. And now that her 2025 book has a cover and a title (The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau), it will be out in galley form (advanced readers copies) in less than a month, and she’s excited to begin sharing it with early reviewers! She’s also excited that this week marks the re-release of When We Meet Again (originally published in 2016), with a brand-new cover, updated text, and a new Author’s Note! If you haven’t read it yet, she’d be deeply grateful if you’d take a look this week! It’s out now!
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe. “Our friend Mary Alice, one of the original co-founders of Friends & Fiction back in 2020 (alongside me, Mary Kay, Patti, and Kristy), is back this May with a sweeping family saga set in 20th century South Carolina. Spanning between 1908 and 1988, Where the Rivers Merge is the first book in a duology about headstrong family matriarch Eliza Pinckney Rivers, who comes of age during a period of great transition for the South, and in the twilight of her life, is holding on fiercely to the family property she has loved and protected for nearly a century. Filled with both great heartbreak and great joy, the novel is also a reminder to all of us to conserve the land–an environmental message that Mary Alice has long held dear.”

MARY KAY ANDREWS spent a whirlwind few days in New York City last week. She had an amazing lunch with her St. Martin’s Press publishing team, and managed to meet up with PCH and Meg to sneak in dinner and a play–a touching rom-com called Left On Tenth. For research purposes for her next novel she toured the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and then Ellis Island, before heading over to New Jersey for the Morristown Festival of Books. She’s excited about the publication of her Amazon Original Christmas short story Holiday Hideaway, which will be available Tuesday 10/29 as an e-book and as an Audible Original. Go here to pre-order.
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Page Turner by Viola Shipman. “It’s a funny and sharply-observed tale of a young romance writer confronting the secrets and snobbery of her publishing insider family.”

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE. * The last day to buy tickets is Oct. 31, so get yours now!

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will emcee a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes book signing, photo opps, and tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 11am – Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 2pm —  Patti & Kristin together with Kwame Alexander at the 20th Annual Wild Dunes Author Event & Weekend hosted by Mary Alice Monroe. Info & tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Ron Block & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcomed Marybeth Whalen to discuss her new novel EVERY MOMENT SINCE (Harper Muse, Oct. 1), a book that, with hauntingly vivid prose, peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those left behind in a small Southern community after a little boy goes missing.Order Marybeth’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Sequel
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Sophie Kinsella, What Does It Feel Like
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Marybeth Whalen, Every Moment Since
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

F&F Pick of the Month: Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
WATCH LIVE Oct. 23 | Listen Oct. 25

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf
Watch Oct. 30 | Listen Nov. 1

J.T. Ellison, A Very Bad Thing
Watch Nov. 6 | Listen Nov. 8

David Baldacci, To Die For
Watch Nov. 13 | Listen Nov. 15

F&F Pick of the Month: Michael Connelly, The Waiting
WATCH LIVE Nov. 20 | Listen Nov. 22

Craig Johnson, Tooth and Claw
Watch Nov. 27 | Listen Nov. 29

Signe Pike, The Shadowed Land
Watch Dec 4 | Listen Dec. 6

Jillian Cantor, The Greatest Lie of All
Watch Dec. 11 | Listen Dec. 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb, Christmas with the Queen
WATCH LIVE Dec. 18 | Listen Dec. 20

F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party
Watch Dec. 25 | Listen Dec. 27

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Sarah Pekkanen about her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. Mark your calendars for November 18th for their next author guest, Kimberly Brock, when they’ll discuss her novel, THE FABLED EARTH. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The October prompt is “Team Vampire or Team Werewolf: You Decide!” and for November it’s to read a collection of short stories or essays.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, October 16th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Ron Block & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome Marybeth Whalen to discuss her new novel EVERY MOMENT SINCE.

Marybeth Whalen is the author of This Secret Thing, Only Ever Her, When We Were Worthy, The Things We Wish Were True, and five previous novels, which have sold more than a half-million copies. Together with author pal Ariel Lawhon, Marybeth co-founded The Book Tide, a book community dedicated to helping readers find books they’ll love and authors find a loyal, supportive audience. The mother of six and a native of Charlotte, NC, Marybeth joins us from her home in Sunset Beach, NC to discuss her tenth novel, EVERY MOMENT SINCE (Harper Muse, Oct. 1), a book that, with hauntingly vivid prose, peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those left behind in a small Southern community after a little boy goes missing. We are eager to chat with Marybeth about this novel which has been called, “everything you want in a novel,” by Patti Callahan Henry, “unforgettable,” by J.T. Ellison, and “sophisticated, compelling, and unflinching” by Kimberly Brock.

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 10/16 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/18.

Order Marybeth’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY had a glorious week packed full of travel and family. First she was in Brenham Texas for a community read of Once Upon a Wardrobe – this town is the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream so that was a good excuse to have much of it. She stayed in a most assuredly haunted B&B and had a blast. Then she rushed to North Georgia for her nephew’s wedding on a bluebird sky day and was surrounded by the love that reminds us that there is more we have in common than what tears us apart these days. Now she is off to New York City for meetings and videos for The Story She Left Behind and she can’t wait to tell you more! 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: A Very Bad Thing by JT Ellison. I am always looking toward JT’s next book and this one is a banger from page one! I am so thrilled to be diving into this thriller about an author at the pinnacle of her career whose past threatens to destroy everything she has and everyone she loves. A page turner and an Amazon First Reads Pick! 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the most fun fall break with her family and four others. Twenty-two friends with kids of all ages under one roof should be a recipe for disaster, but this annual tradition is one of our very favorites! We had an absolute ball hiking, apple picking, boat riding, and generally relaxing. This weekend she’s crossing something off her bucket list: Kristy heads to Miami for Taylor Swift! She is SO excited. Speaking of the Eras Tour… Have you been following along with Kristy’s Chapters Tour? This month, to kick things off, they are reading FEELS LIKE FALLING. Fewer than 100 Chapters Tour free gift packets remain, so, if you haven’t snagged yours yet, get it now! 
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman. I just started this new release, and, at the very beginning, a woman moving to a Florida retirement community comes into contact with a man from her past–who she thought she’d never see again. I love anything with past loves and grandparent-aged characters, so I’m ALL in!

KRISTIN HARMEL had a wild week, beginning with hunkering down for Hurricane Milton, continuing with a whole day of yard cleanup, then a flight cancelation that nixed a long-planned family trip (to Louisville, KY for her husband, Jason, to run a half-marathon). As usual, Disney saved the day; in lieu of the Kentucky trip–and with her son, Noah, off school because of the hurricane for nearly a week–the family spent a few days at Disney’s Beach Club, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios, so while it wasn’t the vacation they were anticipating, it was still a lovely time.
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: Grace of the Empire State by Gemma Tizzard: This delightful debut, set during the Great Depression, tells the story of an Irish-American immigrant who must step in for her twin brother Patrick when he’s injured on the building site of the Empire State Building. The problem is that in the 1930s, women weren’t allowed to serve as riveters on construction sites–and if she loses the job, their family won’t have enough money for food. So Grace–a recently laid-off dancer–has to keep up the ruse that she’s Patrick, or her family will lose everything. It’s a fascinating look at a pivotal time in American history through the eyes of one woman who played a role in the construction of one of the most iconic buildings in the world. Coming January 2025!

MARY KAY ANDREWS is in New York this week combining research for her 2026 novel with meeting with her publishing team at St. Martin’s Press, and yes, enjoying autumn in the Big Apple. On Saturday, she’ll be on a panel at the Morristown (NJ) Book Festival, with Jamie Brenner and Elle Evans. 
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. This stylish thriller by the novelist whose The Girl on the Train spawned a host of books featuring unreliable narrators is a wildly entertaining look at the nature of an artist’s obsession–set on an island off the coast of Scotland only reachable for twelve hours a day, with one house and one inhabitant and a long-unsolved mystery. The author will be our guest on next week’s live show, and Mary Kay can’t wait to chat with her.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will emcee a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes book signing, photo opps, and tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Mary Kay Andrews welcomed #1 mega internationally bestselling author Sophie Kinsella to discuss her new novella — her most autobiographical work to date — WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? Order Sophie’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Sequel
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Sophie Kinsella, What Does It Feel Like
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Marybeth Whalen, Every Moment Since
Watch Oct. 16 | Listen Oct. 18

F&F Pick of the Month: Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
WATCH LIVE Oct. 23 | Listen Oct. 25

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf
Watch Oct. 30 | Listen Nov. 1

J.T. Ellison, A Very Bad Thing
Watch Nov. 6 | Listen Nov. 8

David Baldacci, To Die For
Watch Nov. 13 | Listen Nov. 15

F&F Pick of the Month: Michael Connelly, The Waiting
WATCH LIVE Nov. 20 | Listen Nov. 22

Craig Johnson, Tooth and Claw
Watch Nov. 27 | Listen Nov. 29

Signe Pike, The Shadowed Land
Watch Dec 4 | Listen Dec. 6

Jillian Cantor, The Greatest Lie of All
Watch Dec. 11 | Listen Dec. 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb, Christmas with the Queen
WATCH LIVE Dec. 18 | Listen Dec. 20

F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party
Watch Dec. 25 | Listen Dec. 27

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Wanda Morris about her novel, What You Leave Behind. Mark your calendars for October 21st for their next author guest, Sarah Pekkanen, when they’ll discuss her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The October prompt is “Team Vampire or Team Werewolf: You Decide!” and for November it’s to read a collection of short stories or essays.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, October 9th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristy Woodson Harvey & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 mega internationally bestselling author Sophie Kinsella to discuss her new novella — her most autobiographical work to date — WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?

Sophie Kinsella has sold more than 45-million copies of her books which have been translated into 40+ languages in more than 60 countries. She first hit the UK bestseller lists in September 2000 with her first novel in her beloved Shopaholic series, Confessions of a Shopaholic. Heroine Becky Bloomwood captured readers’ hearts worldwide and has since featured in eight further bestselling books. Bloomwood also came to the big screen in 2009 with the hit Disney movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher. Sophie’s twelve standalone novels have all been bestsellers around the world, including The Burnout, The Undomestic Goddess, and Love Your Life. She has also published YA, illustrated children’s books, and seven novels under her real name, Madeleine Wickham. Sophie joins us from the UK to discuss WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?, the heartbreaking and life-affirming story of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew, which has been called “the bravest book you’ll read all year” by Jodi Picoult

Watch the video broadcast of this show as it airs Wed 10/9 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/11.

Order Sophie’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent last week writing in South Carolina after cleaning up the debris all over her yard and throwing away the rotten food after three days without power. She is mourning all the damage from Florida to NC and beyond; sending so much love to everyone affected. This week she is in a small town in Texas where Blue Bell Ice cream began (she’ll def be having some!), and speaking about her beloved Once Upon a Wardrobe. She was thrilled to announce that she has committed to another three novels with her publisher, Atria. Now off to write! 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Unger. Ariel Lawhon suggested this book to me and I grabbed it in the airport on my way to Texas, and I have to say the flight whooshed by – a page turner filled with glorious language. Set in a not-too-distant America, this is the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the best weekend celebrating her son’s THIRTEENTH birthday—and taking part in a long-standing Carteret County tradition: the NC Seafood Festival! She put the finishing touches on her 2025 book and can’t believe she’s read it for the very last time! She can’t wait to share more with you about it so very soon. 
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: Every Moment Since by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen. I chatted with Marybeth about this one a few months ago and have been eagerly awaiting this one! Ron and I are looking forward to interviewing Marybeth for the show and podcast very soon!

KRISTIN HARMEL is thrilled to reveal the cover of her 2025 book, THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU, this week. Here it is on Amazon and B&N (it has only posted in those two locations so far – she’ll update her website next week with additional buy links). She also had the honor of doing a press conference for AdventHealth (her local hospital system) with her breast surgeon, Dr. Anu Saigal, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Friday, and then on Saturday, she got to take a mini girls’ trip with her friends Lisa and Amber over to Cocoa Beach to attend a Stephen Kellogg concert. Longtime F&F viewers might remember Stephen as “Aleksander” in 2021’s FOREST OF VANISHING STARS F&F musical! He is such a warm, great guy, and he’s absolutely spectacular live – if you’re anywhere he’s going to be this fall on tour, I encourage you to go! You can find tour dates at StephenKellogg.com. Today, Kristin is finishing up the last of her storm prep for Hurricane Milton (which is on track to impact Florida, where she lives) and is praying for those in the storm’s path, especially on the already-battered west coast of Florida.
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: On my way out to the coast on Saturday for Stephen Kellogg’s show, I listened to the audiobook of Objects In The Mirror, Stephen’s thought-provoking and inspiring essay collection, which he narrates himself (with an intro from Adam Duritz of Counting Crows). I had already read the book, but there’s something really special about hearing Stephen tell you his stories in his own voice–and you’ll find yourself enormously moved by his openness, honesty and self-awareness. He’s a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter–but more importantly, he’s a son and a husband and a dad and a person just trying to be a better version of himself, and he has poured his whole heart onto the page in this book. I highly recommend it. He even recorded an album to go hand-in-hand with the book! 

MARY KAY ANDREWS is so excited about the response to news of her Amazon Original digital short story, Holiday Hideaway! It’s out October 29, but is already a Kindle bestseller! For those who prefer audiobooks, it’ll also be an Audible Original which you can pre-order here. In the meantime, she’s sending up prayers for safety for everyone in her hometown of St. Petersburg, and for everyone in the path of Hurricane Milton. 
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: As a longtime fan of Michael Connelly, MKA is thrilled that he’s joining us for our F&F live show in November. So it’s no surprise that she devoured his upcoming The Waiting, in one loooonnng night, sitting in a relative’s hospital room. This time around, the protagonist is LAPD Detective Renée Ballard, whose Open-Unsolved Unit is tracing a serial rapist/murderer. In the meantime, Maddie Bosch, (daughter of Connelly series sleuth Harry Bosch) a new recruit to the unit, may have stumbled across the identity to LA’s most infamous serial murderer, the Black Dahlia killer.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will emcee a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes book signing, photo opps, and tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Patti Callahan Henry & Mary Kay Andrews welcomed bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz to discuss her new novel THE SEQUEL—the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her "insanely readable" (Stephen King) and "perfectly told" (Malcolm Gladwell) NYT-bestseller, The Plot. Order Jean’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Sequel
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Sophie Kinsella, What Does It Feel Like
Watch Oct. 9 | Listen Oct. 11

Marybeth Whalen, Every Moment Since
Watch Oct. 16 | Listen Oct. 18

F&F Pick of the Month: Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
WATCH LIVE Oct. 23 | Listen Oct. 25

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf
Watch Oct. 30 | Listen Nov. 1

J.T. Ellison, A Very Bad Thing
Watch Nov. 6 | Listen Nov. 8

David Baldacci, To Die For
Watch Nov. 13 | Listen Nov. 15

F&F Pick of the Month: Michael Connelly, The Waiting
WATCH LIVE Nov. 20 | Listen Nov. 22

Craig Johnson, Tooth and Claw
Watch Nov. 27 | Listen Nov. 29

Signe Pike, The Shadowed Land
Watch Dec 4 | Listen Dec. 6

Jillian Cantor, The Greatest Lie of All
Watch Dec. 11 | Listen Dec. 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb, Christmas with the Queen
WATCH LIVE Dec. 18 | Listen Dec. 20

F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party
Watch Dec. 25 | Listen Dec. 27

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Wanda Morris about her novel, What You Leave Behind. Mark your calendars for October 21st for their next author guest, Sarah Pekkanen, when they’ll discuss her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The October prompt is “Team Vampire or Team Werewolf: You Decide!”

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, October 2nd at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Patti Callahan Henry & Mary Kay Andrews welcome bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz to discuss her new novel THE SEQUEL—the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her "insanely readable" (Stephen King) and "perfectly told" (Malcolm Gladwell) NYT-bestseller, The Plot.

Jean Hanff Korelitz is the NYT bestselling author of the novels The Plot and The Latecomer (both of which are being adapted as limited series), You Should Have Known (which aired on HBO as The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, and Donald Sutherland), and Admission (which was adapted as a film starring Tina Fey), among several other works. Jean’s company BOOKTHEWRITER hosts Pop-Up Book Groups in which small groups of readers discuss new books with their authors. She joins us from New York City where she lives with her husband, Irish poet Paul Muldoon, to discuss her deliciously fun and suspenseful new novel, THE SEQUEL. Loaded with Jean’s signature wit and sardonic humor, this spellbinding new book illuminates and satirizes the world of publishing while giving us an anti-hero to root for in Anna, the widow of The Plot’s protagonist.

Watch the video broadcast of this show as it airs Wed 10/2 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/4.

Order Jean’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY had the most exciting few days last week – first the fundraiser for Charleston’s Historical Library Society to raise funds for a BookMobile for underserved kids in the “literary desert” of those counties. She FINALLY met Jenna Bush and her Auburn-alumni star, Octavia Spencer. She reconnected with old writer pals and was buzzing with it all when she arrived in NC to join her beloved Friends & Fiction family to raise money for Earlier.org on Friday and for the BookMarks NC book festival brunch (a non profit bookstore) on Sunday. What a few days! She is still absorbing it all while mourning the devastation of so very much of our beautiful east coast and gulf areas. It’s hard to fathom the devastation. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld. My editor suggested it to me and I listened on audio as I drove over 17 hours in four days, dodging hurricanes, closed roads, and getting to our incredible events. It is a beautifully written and fast paced novel about a young girl gone missing in the woods of Oregon’s National Forest. I loved it even as I was holding my breath in parts! 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the best weekend with her Friends & Fiction fam last weekend, raising money for Earlier.org and closing out the Bookmarks Festival with a super fun brunch. Seeing so many readers was such a treat! She can’t believe it, but…she has a thirteen-year-old now! The week will be filled with birthday celebrations, and she is so excited to celebrate her son with family and friends all month long. 
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: Heart Talk by Cleo Wade. Between birthday celebrations and trying to get caught up on work after a lot of time away, I know I won’t have much reading time this week. Cleo’s pages are quick and lovely and always pack a punch and make you think! 

KRISTIN HARMEL loved spending time with so many friends from the Friends & Fiction family at the back-to-back events in Winston-Salem and High Point, NC last week. She can’t wait to do it all again Nov. 6 and 7 in Florida! (Find ticketing information HERE for those two events, in Orlando and Amelia Island.) Yesterday, she kicked off Breast Cancer Awareness Month with her semi-annual breast MRI (something she has to do every six months after having been diagnosed with breast cancer just under two years ago), and she encourages all of you who are overdue for your mammograms or other recommended screenings to schedule yours today!
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. I listened to this thoroughly absorbing novel on audiobook during my drives in Nebraska and North Carolina over the last week, and I loved every second. It’s beautifully written, beautifully insightful, and deeply inspiring.

MARY KAY ANDREWS wants to thank all those who reached out to check on the status of her home on Tybee Island. Fortunately, Ebbtide and Breeze Inn escaped damage, and she’s happy to report that the power is back on and the island is returning to normal. After an amazing weekend in Winston-Salem at the Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors, where she loved meeting so many F&F faithful, she returned home to Atlanta to celebrate the paperback launch of Bright Lights, Big Christmas on Tuesday at FoxTale Bookshoppe. She left behind lots of signed copies. Go here to order from them. They ship!  
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. An island off the coast of Scotland with only one home and one solitary inhabitant, a long-missing husband, this one is reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier, in all the best ways. Paula, the author of the mega-bestselling thriller The Girl On The Train, will be with us live on Wed 10/23 as her new book is the F&F Pick of the Month for October!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will emcee a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes book signing, photo opps, and tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel welcome #1 New York Times bestselling global sensation Liane Moriarty to discuss her new novel HERE ONE MOMENT, a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. Order Liane’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: TJ Klune, Somewhere Beyond the Sea
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Laura Dave, The Night We Lost Him
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Sequel
Watch Oct. 2 | Listen Oct. 4

Sophie Kinsella, What Does It Feel Like
Watch Oct. 9 | Listen Oct. 11

Marybeth Whalen, Every Moment Since
Watch Oct. 16 | Listen Oct. 18

F&F Pick of the Month: Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
WATCH LIVE Oct. 23 | Listen Oct. 25

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf
Watch Oct. 30 | Listen Nov. 1

J.T. Ellison, A Very Bad Thing
Watch Nov. 6 | Listen Nov. 8

David Baldacci, To Die For
Watch Nov. 13 | Listen Nov. 15

F&F Pick of the Month: Michael Connelly, The Waiting
WATCH LIVE Nov. 20 | Listen Nov. 22

Craig Johnson, Tooth and Claw
Watch Nov. 27 | Listen Nov. 29

Signe Pike, The Shadowed Land
Watch Dec 4 | Listen Dec. 6

Jillian Cantor, The Greatest Lie of All
Watch Dec. 11 | Listen Dec. 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb, Christmas with the Queen
WATCH LIVE Dec. 18 | Listen Dec. 20

F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party
Watch Dec. 25 | Listen Dec. 27

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Wanda Morris about her novel, What You Leave Behind. Mark your calendars for October 21st for their next author guest, Sarah Pekkanen, when they’ll discuss her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The October prompt is “Team Vampire or Team Werewolf: You Decide!”

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, September 25th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel welcome #1 New York Times bestselling global sensation Liane Moriarty to discuss her new novel HERE ONE MOMENT, a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world.

Liane Moriarty has written ten novels which have sold more than 20-million copies worldwide. Her novels Big Little Lies, Apples Never Fall, The Husband’s Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty have all hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Apples Never Fall were all adapted into popular television series with star-studded casts including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Melissa McCarthy and Annette Bening. Liane joins us from her home in Sydney, Australia to discuss HERE ONE MOMENT (Crown, Sept 10), which Kirkus Reviews called “a fresh, funny, ambitious, and nuanced take on some of our oldest existential questions” in a starred review.

Watch the video broadcast of this show as it airs Wed 9/25 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/27.

Order Liane’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent the week helping her mom and dad move into new digs in Independent living. She’s been thinking a LOT about the importance we place on objects and why it's so hard to pare them down, from casserole dishes to photos to a chipped bowl you love. She has been noodling a new novel and is now headed to Charleston for a fundraiser with Jenna Bush and Charleston Library Society and then onto North Carolina for a full weekend with the Friends & Fiction family at the Bookmarks festival. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. I am listening to this on audio and loving the unfolding of the lives of three estranged sisters who return to their family home in New York after the death of their beloved fourth sister. I am loving it as they all come together with their complicated lives.

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the best week interviewing Kelly Bishop, AKA Emily Gilmore. It was such a surreal moment and Kristy had all of her Gilmore Girl fan dreams come true! She also enjoyed cheering on her Tarheels! Kristy is so looking forward to seeing her F&F crew and hopefully many of you in High Point and Winston Salem this coming weekend! 
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry. I am so excited to dive into this beautiful story! I have heard so much about it and Patti has been one of my favorite authors for what feels like forever and I know this will be her best book yet!

KRISTIN HARMEL can’t wait for you to meet Liane Moriarty on tonight’s show. Kristin spent last night in Kearney, Nebraska, speaking to a sold-out crowd at the World Theatre, and today, she’s headed home for a quick turnaround before traveling to North Carolina on Friday morning for this weekend’s two Friends & Fiction events, in Greensboro and Winston-Salem. She can’t wait to see many of you there!
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin. Lauren–who has written a few highly regarded nonfiction books (Art Monsters, Flâneuse)–makes her English-language fiction debut with Scaffolding, a novel set in an apartment in Paris’s Belleville neighborhood across two time periods, separated by 40 years. Lauren was my roommate when I lived briefly in Paris twenty years ago, and I adore this woman in the very depths of my soul. She actually narrates the audiobook version of the novel, so as I drove through Nebraska, listening to Lauren take me back to Paris through the pages of her book, I felt not just the emotion of the story, but the whispers of my own past. It’s an amazing accomplishment–and if you don’t want to take my word for it, read the glowing review of Scaffolding in the New York Times here! (For any of you who have ever enjoyed my books set in France, know this: If Lauren hadn’t posted an ad for a roommate in Paris twenty years ago, I never would have moved there, and I wouldn’t have fallen in love with the city the way I did. So basically, if not for Lauren, The Book of Lost Names, The Sweetness of Forgetting, and my other Paris-set books would not exist!)

MARY KAY ANDREWS enjoyed spending time this past weekend at the 9th Annual Broadleaf Writers Conference, where she spoke on three panels about writing genre fiction, bringing fictional characters to life and mystery writing. Saturday night she and Mr. MKA hosted a fun after Homecoming pizza party for granddaughter Molly and her friends and their dates. Aaaand then they spent Sunday resting up from the after, after party. She’ll be joining the rest of the F&F crew in North Carolina this weekend, and then Tuesday, October 1, she’ll celebrate the paperback launch of her Christmas novella Bright Lights, Big Christmas with a joint signing event at FoxTale Bookshoppe with her pal Kimberly Brock, whose new novel The Fabled Earth is also launching that night. Go here for details.  
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock, a lyrically written historical fiction novel set on Cumberland Island, a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. MKA is especially loving the setting, since she explored similar ground with her own, earlier novel, The High Tide Club, which was set on a fictional island much like Cumberland.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Friday, September 27, 4pm ET — Join us “Toast to the Ta-Tas” at the beautiful High Point Country Club in High Point, NC to benefit Earlier.org. The Fab Four will be sharing fascinating insider talk about publishing and writing and discussing their newest releases, all to raise funding for critical research to identify an earlier biological detection test for breast cancer. Books for purchase care of The Country Bookshop with all of us signing and proceeds benefiting Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test®! Get tickets HERE.

Sunday, September 29, 10am ET — An F&F Live brunch event at the 19th Annual Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors in Winston-Salem, NC. Close out the book festival with us at this super fun event to be held at the Benton Convention Center. Tickets include a seated program and book signing. Get tickets HERE.

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will MC a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Patti, MKA & Kristin gathered to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Jodi Picoult, to discuss her captivating new instant #1 New York Times bestseller, our September 2024 Pick of the Month, BY ANY OTHER NAME, in which two women, centuries apart — one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare's plays — are forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard. Order Jodi’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast. 

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: TJ Klune, Somewhere Beyond the Sea
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Laura Dave, The Night We Lost Him
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
Watch: September 25 | Listen: September 27

Stay tuned for the big reveal of our Fall 2024 guest line-up — coming soon!

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Wanda Morris about her novel, What You Leave Behind. Mark your calendars for October 21st for their next author guest, Sarah Pekkanen, when they’ll discuss her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a true crime book.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in LIVE at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, September 18th LIVE at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as the Fab Four gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Jodi Picoult, to discuss her captivating new instant #1 New York Times bestseller, our September 2024 Pick of the Month, BY ANY OTHER NAME, in which two women, centuries apart — one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare's plays — are forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard. 

Jodi Picoult is the #1 bestselling author of 29 novels, including Mad Honey, Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, and My Sister’s Keeper, and with her daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Jodi’s books have been translated into 34 languages and published in 35 countries. Four of her novels, The Pact, Plain Truth, The Tenth Circle, and Salem Falls, have been made into television movies. My Sister’s Keeper was a New Line Cinema film starring Cameron Diaz. Mad Honey, Small Great Things, and Wish You Were Here have been optioned or are currently in development. Jodi has written five issues of DC Comics’ Wonder Woman, and she is also the co-librettist for several stage musical adaptations which have appeared Off Broadway and in London’s West End. We can’t wait to discuss Jodi’s new novel, BY ANY OTHER NAME, which skyrocketed instantly to #1 and was both a GMA Book Club Pick and a People Magazine Book of the Week.

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this show as it airs Wed 9/18 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/20.

Order Jodi’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY has been on a clean-out-the-attic purge and keeps getting bogged down looking at memorabilia. There’s probably a story in there somewhere…meanwhile she is working on some extra material for the book club kit for THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND. This weekend she did cheer her Auburn Tigers to victory (See? There’s always next week!), and celebrating our milestone at Friends & Fiction – A QUARTER MILLION MEMBERS in our community! I am so happy for all of us. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray. This novel doesn’t release until February but it is a pre-order must. Victoria is part of the co-writing team with Marie Benedict in The Personal Librarian, and here she brings to life the extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance, Jessie Redmon Fauset. I loved it. 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY How, oh how, is it the last week of summer?! Man, it’s going to be a good one! Tomorrow, reporters are coming for my first ever Peachtree Bluff/A Happier Life combo (all-day!) tour. Wednesday, I get to interview Kelly Bishop AKA Emily Gilmore at Meredith College, and I’m FREAKING OUT! Thursday, breakfast with my publicist, a dinner for UNC Library followed by a big Friday UNC Friends of the Library meeting, laying my eyes on the best collab EVER—UNC + Lululemon!!!—, and the UNC Best of Dentistry party at NC Botanical Gardens with my love. Saturday, Mom and Dad join us for the Carolina football game and a day of Chapel Hill fun. Can’t think of a better week!! Won’t be much writing time, but living is the best book fodder, right?! I hope whatever your week calls for, you get a chance to savor these last summer days!
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: Kristy is listening to The Third Gilmore Girl because she loved it so much she had to hear it in Kelly’s voice!

KRISTIN HARMEL has had a busy week of mom-ing, with basketball, Cub Scouts, and piano lessons now in full swing! She’s eagerly awaiting the first cover concepts for her June 2025 book and is excited to have a final cover and title to share with you soon! Meanwhile, she’s muddling her way through copyedits and chipping away at an outline for her next novel.
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: The Day I Left You by Caroline Bishop: I just started reading this book, which is set in East Berlin in the early 1980s as well as London decades later. It’s the fascinating story of a meant-for-each-other couple who have the perfect life together–until one day, the woman walks out and never returns. It’s beautifully written, and East Berlin is such a fascinating backdrop. I love it so far. Out this February!

MARY KAY ANDREWS is in life re-entry mode after a fabulous week-long trip to Ireland. She’s headed to Beaufort, S.C. on Wednesday to tape an interview for South Carolina Public Television’s By The River program, then back home to be a speaker at this weekend’s Broadleaf Writer’s Conference in Decatur, GA.  
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz. This is (duh) the sequel to the author’s hugely entertaining The Plot, which was a bonkers thriller/satire/expose of the contemporary publishing world. Can’t wait to see if the chillingly cunning protagonist will meet her match this time around.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, September 24, 7pm Central — Kristin will be speaking at the World Theatre in Kearney, Nebraska as part of the "One Author Kearney" program, a partnership between the library and the Kearney Public Library Foundation. Tickets are sold out, but you can join the wait list by calling 308-233-3282. More information HERE.

Friday, September 27, 4pm ET — Join us for an F&F Live “Toast to the Ta-Tas” event at the beautiful High Point Country Club in High Point, NC to benefit Earlier.org. The Fab Four will be sharing fascinating insider talk about publishing and writing and discussing their newest releases, all to raise funding for critical research to identify an earlier biological detection test for breast cancer. Books will be available for purchase care of The Country Bookshop with each author signing select books and proceeds benefiting Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test®! Get details & tickets HERE.

Sunday, September 29, 10am ET — An F&F Live brunch event at the 19th Annual Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors in Winston-Salem, NC. Close out the book festival with us at this super fun event to be held at the Benton Convention Center. There are two ticket options. The 10am Meet & Greet + Brunch Event is $80 (plus taxes & fees) will include a mimosa and the chance to mingle, meet the authors, and take photos, plus a wristband to get to the front of the signing line following the brunch. The 11am Brunch Event only is $50 (plus taxes & fees) and includes a seated program and book signing. Note that there will not be an opportunity for posed photos during this portion of the event. Get tickets HERE.

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join all four founders and hosts of Friends & Fiction—along with Meg Walker & Ron Block—together in-person at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — An F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will serve as Master of Ceremonies for this lively and fun event. Ticket includes tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Details & ticketing info HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Mary Kay Andrews and Patti Callahan Henry welcomed #1 New York Times bestselling author Laura Dave to discuss her new thriller, The Night We Lost Him, in which estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years — one that may have been fatal. Order Laura’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: Killer Author Club (Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf & Kaira Rouda)
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Christina Dodd, A Daughter of Fair Verona
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jamie Brenner, A Novel Summer
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Emily Giffin, The Summer Pact
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Rhys Bowen, The Rose Arbor
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Greer Macallister, The Thirteenth Husband
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jessa Maxwell, I Need You to Read This
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Madeline Martin, The Booklover's Library
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: TJ Klune, Somewhere Beyond the Sea
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Laura Dave, The Night We Lost Him
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
Watch LIVE: September 18 | Listen: September 20

Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
Watch: September 25 | Listen: September 27

Stay tuned for the big reveal of our Fall 2024 guest line-up — coming soon!

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Wanda Morris about her novel, What You Leave Behind. Mark your calendars for October 21st for their next author guest, Sarah Pekkanen, when they’ll discuss her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a true crime book.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in LIVE at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, September 11th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Mary Kay Andrews and Patti Callahan Henry welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Laura Dave to discuss her new thriller, The Night We Lost Him, in which estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years — one that may have been fatal.

Laura Dave’s novels have been published in thirty-eight languages and have been chosen by Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club, Indie Next, Book of the Month Club, Best of Amazon, and Best of Apple Books. The Last Thing He Told Me was named 2021’s Goodreads Thriller of the Year. Six of Laura’s novels have been optioned for film and television, including The Last Thing He Told Me, which is a limited series on AppleTV+ starring Jennifer Garner. We are excited to talk to Laura about her eagerly anticipated follow-up, The Night We Lost Him (Marysue Rucci Books, Sept 17), which People says “serves up Dave's signature blend of pulse-pounding suspense and moving family drama,” and TIME calls “a twisty thriller that will keep you guessing.”

Watch the video broadcast of this show as it airs Wed 9/11 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/13.

Order Laura’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! 

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY has been working and reading like mad! It’s that weird and wiggly time between releasing a novel and starting a new one – which story to focus on today? Did you register for the Goodreads Giveaway or read PCH’s newest newsletter? NEWSLETTER WITH GIVEAWAY. Meanwhile over the weekend she cheered her Auburn Tigers onto defeat. But there’s always next week. She knows you’re going to LOVE the interview that she did with MKA for this week’s show with Laura Dave! 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: I just finished Jodi Picoult’s By Any Other Name for our show next week, and this book blew me away. I know I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, but now that I’ve finished I want to say – DO NOT MISS THIS! (or the show). I LOVE learning about lost to time women in history and Emilia Bassano is fascinating! 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the most fun weekend celebrating her mom’s birthday with a “Rebecca St. James” from A HAPPIER LIFE style dinner party! If you want to check it out, visit Kristy on Instagram or Facebook. She is getting so excited about interviewing Kelly Bishop AKA Emily Gilmore next week for the launch of Kelly’s new memoir.
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop. I am a total Gilmore Girls fan girl and I am loving getting to know more about this amazing woman and counting down the days until I get to meet her in person!

KRISTIN HARMEL is loving seeing all of MKA’s Ireland travel photos this week, though it’s making her miss the Emerald Isle fiercely…. She hasn’t been there since 2014 and is long overdue for a return trip! She and her family spent a few nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge-Jambo House last week, and this week, she’s hard at work on copyedits for her 2025 book! Plus, she volunteered twice at the book fair at her son’s elementary school! 
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: The Many Lives & Loves of Hazel Lavery by Lois Cahall. This novel is based on the true story of one of the most fascinating women of the early 20th century, American-born socialite Hazel Lavery. Hers was the face on Irish currency for decades, and she and her husband were close with Irish hero Michael Collins, for whom Hazel reportedly served as an agent of sorts. She apparently even taught Winston Churchill to paint! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of her before; kudos to Cahall for bringing her alive in a novel. 

MARY KAY ANDREWS has been gallivanting around Ireland, starting in Dublin to Inniskerry, where she toured a whisky distillery, to Cobh, where she researched her Irish ancestry with a genealogist, to Cork, with a stop at a pub that served up live traditional Irish folk music—along with excellent whisky, to Killarney, where she toured the Muckross Estate and traditional old country farms, to a tour of the Ring of Kerry. All this (or most of it) for research for her next book. She knows you’ll love tonight’s show with Laura Dave—a fabulous guest!
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: I’m still reading The Wedding People by Alison Espach and finding it funny, romantic, and delicious.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 6pm ET – Join Kristin at the Winter Park (FL) Library as she interviews Madeline Martin about The Booklover’s Library. Hosted by Writer’s Block Bookstore. RSVP here.

Friday, September 27, 4pm ET — Join us for an F&F Live “Toast to the Ta-Tas” event at the beautiful High Point Country Club in High Point, NC to benefit Earlier.org. The Fab Four will be sharing fascinating insider talk about publishing and writing and discussing their newest releases, all to raise funding for critical research to identify an earlier biological detection test for breast cancer. Books will be available for purchase care of The Country Bookshop with each author signing select books and proceeds benefiting Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test®! Get details & tickets HERE.

Sunday, September 29, 10am ET — An F&F Live brunch event at the 19th Annual Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors in Winston-Salem, NC. Close out the book festival with us at this super fun event to be held at the Benton Convention Center. There are two ticket options. The 10am Meet & Greet + Brunch Event is $80 (plus taxes & fees) will include a mimosa and the chance to mingle, meet the authors, and take photos, plus a wristband to get to the front of the signing line following the brunch. The 11am Brunch Event only is $50 (plus taxes & fees) and includes a seated program and book signing. Note that there will not be an opportunity for posed photos during this portion of the event. Get tickets HERE.

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join all four founders and hosts of Friends & Fiction—along with Meg Walker & Ron Block—together in-person at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — An F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket price will include tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. For members of book clubs who are interested in reserving an entire table, the Book Club Pre-Sale will open on August 15th. If interested, email bookclubs@ameliaislandbookfestival.org identifying yourself and providing a main point of contact. Ticket sales will open up to the public on September 1st. Details HERE. Ticketing link to come!

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Ron Block and Patti Callahan Henry welcomed mega-bestselling author TJ Klune to discuss his new novel, Somewhere Beyond The Sea, the hugely anticipated sequel to his smash hit, The House in the Cerulean Sea, which is one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade. Order TJ’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: Killer Author Club (Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf & Kaira Rouda)
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Christina Dodd, A Daughter of Fair Verona
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jamie Brenner, A Novel Summer
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Emily Giffin, The Summer Pact
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Rhys Bowen, The Rose Arbor
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Greer Macallister, The Thirteenth Husband
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jessa Maxwell, I Need You to Read This
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Madeline Martin, The Booklover's Library
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: TJ Klune, Somewhere Beyond the Sea
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Laura Dave, The Night We Lost Him
Watch: September 11 | Listen: September 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
Watch LIVE: September 18 | Listen: September 20

Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
Watch: September 25 | Listen: September 27

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Kristy Woodson Harvey about her novel, A Happier Life. Mark your calendars for September 16th for their next author guest, Wanda Morris, when they’ll discuss her novel, What You Leave Behind. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a true crime book.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Tune in LIVE at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! 

Join us Wednesday, September 4th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Ron Block and Patti Callahan Henry welcome mega-bestselling author TJ Klune to discuss his new novel, Somewhere Beyond The Sea, the hugely anticipated sequel to his smash hit, The House in the Cerulean Sea, which is one of the best-loved and best-selling fantasy novels of the past decade.

TJ Klune is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, The Extraordinaries and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it’s important — now more than ever — to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories. We are so excited to talk to TJ about Somewhere Beyond The Sea, which (in a starred review) Library Journal has called, “a heart-wrenching tale of being perceived as different, finding acceptance, and having a place in the world.”

Watch the video broadcast of this show as it airs Wed 9/4 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/6.

Order TJ’s book on Bookshop.org!
Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!

Latest News from the Fab Four!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent the Labor Day weekend with family and friends in North Carolina! She hiked and wrote and read and enjoyed the cooler mountain air. After a Dahlia Dinner (the most beautiful flowers she has EVER seen), and the last Bingo of the season, she is now back at the desk! Her newsletter is out this week and in it – among other things like what is inspiring her now and a video – is a GOODREADS GIVEAWAY for The Story She Left Behind!!! CLICK HERE TO ENTER. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follett. I am re-reading this 1927 children’s fantasy novel as I begin to write essays and “the story behind the story” for my March release. This author, who disappeared at 26 years old, was the inspiration for THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND. I am diving back into Barbara’s first novel (which she wrote when she was eight years old) to bring her alive for the reader in backstory material.  

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the best, best Labor Day Weekend and is wringing out every last drop of summer—but excited for football season and pumpkin spice too! She’s hosting a Rebecca Saint James-style dinner party this weekend to celebrate her mom’s birthday with a few best family friends, and can’t wait to share pics with everyone! She’s also looking forward to a number of upcoming solo events in Pine Knoll Shores, NC and Cape Carteret, NC and Friends & Fiction events in High Point, Winston-Salem, Orlando, and Amelia Island! She’s hoping to see you there! She’s also super grateful to Readers Digest for giving so much love to A HAPPIER LIFE last week, and BookBub for shining a light on last year’s novel,  THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS.
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: Bummer Camp by Ann Garvin. If you caught THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS last year, you might know that I’m a big summer camp fan! So what could be better than grown up summer camp inside the pages of Ann Garvin’s latest laugh-out-loud funny pageturner? I can’t think of a thing! There are still a couple weeks left in official summer, but this is camp for any time of year. Check it out!

KRISTIN HARMEL had a long Labor Day weekend split between hanging out with her mom and aunt at Disney World, and hanging out with her in-laws in Palm City, Florida. She’s back in the writing saddle this week—and can’t wait for her first pumpkin spice latte of the season.
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: I’m re-reading Madeline Martin’s The Booklover’s Library, which I read ages ago for a blurb. I loved the book and am happy to dive back in–which I’m doing to prepare for a conversation with Madeline at the Winter Park Library next Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 6pm. (Join us if you can!) Madeline was our guest on the show last week, and talking to her about the book reignited my love for it!

MARY KAY ANDREWS spent the Labor Day weekend with family, and hosted an early birthday celebration for her son Andy, featuring Mr. MKA’s barbecued ribs, her family’s favorite macaroni and cheese (the recipe is in her Beach House Cookbook) and of course, homemade birthday cake. Now she’s off on a much-anticipated trip to Ireland, where she’ll be doing research for her next novel. 
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Wedding People by Alison Espach. What better way to close out summer reading than with this delicious tale of a stranger who shows up at a wedding? Funny, romantic, delicious.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 6pm ET – Join Kristin at the Winter Park (FL) Library as she interviews Madeline Martin about The Booklover’s Library. Hosted by Writer’s Block Bookstore. RSVP here.

Friday, September 27, 4pm ET — Join us for an F&F Live “Toast to the Ta-Tas” event at the beautiful High Point Country Club in High Point, NC to benefit Earlier.org. The Fab Four will be sharing fascinating insider talk about publishing and writing and discussing their newest releases, all to raise funding for critical research to identify an earlier biological detection test for breast cancer. Books will be available for purchase care of The Country Bookshop with each author signing select books and proceeds benefiting Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test®! Get details & tickets HERE.

Sunday, September 29, 10am ET — An F&F Live brunch event at the 19th Annual Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors in Winston-Salem, NC. Close out the book festival with us at this super fun event to be held at the Benton Convention Center. There are two ticket options. The 10am Meet & Greet + Brunch Event is $80 (plus taxes & fees) will include a mimosa and the chance to mingle, meet the authors, and take photos, plus a wristband to get to the front of the signing line following the brunch. The 11am Brunch Event only is $50 (plus taxes & fees) and includes a seated program and book signing. Note that there will not be an opportunity for posed photos during this portion of the event. Get tickets HERE.

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join all four founders and hosts of Friends & Fiction—along with Meg Walker & Ron Block—together in-person at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE.

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — An F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket price will include tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. For members of book clubs who are interested in reserving an entire table, the Book Club Pre-Sale will open on August 15th. If interested, email bookclubs@ameliaislandbookfestival.org identifying yourself and providing a main point of contact. Ticket sales will open up to the public on September 1st. Details HERE. Ticketing link to come!

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcomed bestselling author Madeline Martin to discuss The Booklover’s Library, her heartwarming new story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of books to bring them together. We were also treated to a pop-in by Emmy-award winning journalist turned novelist Linda Hurtado Bond to chat about her gripping new thriller All the Missing Girls. Order Madeline’s book & Linda’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show

All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.

Already aired: Killer Author Club (Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf & Kaira Rouda)
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Christina Dodd, A Daughter of Fair Verona
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jamie Brenner, A Novel Summer
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Emily Giffin, The Summer Pact
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Marjan Kamali, The Lion Women of Tehran
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Rhys Bowen, The Rose Arbor
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Greer Macallister, The Thirteenth Husband
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Pick of the Month: Jessa Maxwell, I Need You to Read This
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Madeline Martin, The Booklover's Library
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

TJ Klune, Somewhere Beyond the Sea
Watch: September 4 | Listen: September 6

Laura Dave, The Night We Lost Him
Watch: September 11 | Listen: September 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
Watch LIVE: September 18 | Listen: September 20

Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
Watch: September 25 | Listen: September 27

Bonus Episodes!

The Fab Four (along with Meg & Ron) are taking turns interviewing some additional authors in short video segments we are calling “Behind the Book.” Check out a few recent bonus interviews that we’ve run on the F&F YouTube channel!

WATCH Kristy’s interview with Gilmore Girls star Devon Sorvari, who is also the voice of Keaton in the audiobook version of A HAPPIER LIFE.
WATCH Kristin’s interview with Erika Robuck about her new highly-anticipated WWII historical novel, The Last Twelve Miles.
WATCH Kristin & Kristy’s interview with Lisa Barr about her new highly-anticipated WWII historical novel, The Goddess of Warsaw.
WATCH Kristin’s conversation with Christina Lauren about their brand-new instant NYT-bestselling hit The Paradise Problem.
WATCH MKA’s conversation with the award-winning voice artist Kathleen McInerney who narrates the Summers at the Saint audiobook.
WATCH Patti & MKA’s interview with Sheila Roberts about her newest The Best Life Book Club. 

F&F Merch Store

We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts (both short- and long-sleeved), sweatshirts, coffee mugs, and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.

F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge

Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed more than 30k of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Kristy Woodson Harvey about her novel, A Happier Life. Mark your calendars for September 16th for their next author guest, Wanda Morris, when they’ll discuss her novel, What You Leave Behind. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a true crime book.

Stay in Touch!

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Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

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