March 22, 2023 | Issue #135 |
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
Kristy Woodson Harvey had a fabulous week celebrating the paperback launch of The Wedding Veil and is working away on her edits for her 2024 novel. But what she’s MOST EXCITED about is putting the finishing touches on THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS tour! She is counting down the days until the July 11 release and can’t wait to announce tour dates in the next couple of weeks. Who’s ready to go to Camp Holly Springs?!
Patti Callahan Henry had such a great time with Kristy in Boston, no Nor’Easter could keep them away from bookstores (check out their instagrams!) She’s also enjoyed the last week in South Carolina writing (trying to write would be more accurate) a new novel while preparing for her Flora Lea tour. So many interesting events have been added, including a conversation with Kate Morton (one of her very favorite novelists!) so hop on over to check it out!.
Kristin Harmel enjoyed a week off between the end of chemotherapy and the beginning of radiation therapy, which also happened to coincide with 7-year-old Noah’s spring break. She’s excited to announce that six weeks before THE PARIS DAUGHTER hits bookstores on June 6, you can return briefly to WW2 France with her original short story for Amazon, THE ROAD HOME, part of the “Good Intentions” short story collection, coming April 27 (available for preorder now or coming in April as part of the Prime reading program). She also wants to let you know about a giveaway of 100 advance copies of THE PARIS DAUGHTER happening over on Goodreads. Enter HERE through Monday! (Finally, she wants to wish her husband, Jason, a happy 9th anniversary today!)
Mary Kay Andrews celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with corned beef and cabbage with Mr. MKA at a local pub, then got back to writing, with a brief (chilly) foray to watch grandson Griffin’s baseball game on Saturday night. In a fit of blind optimism (or total denial) she just booked a ten-day trip to London in May with two of her besties, so now it’s pedal to the metal with that new book!
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Get to Know Our Friend, Colleen Oakley!
What would you be if you weren't a writer?
A therapist! I would like to say it’s because I’m a good listener and I love helping people (both of which are true!), but it’s mainly because I’m wildly interested in other people’s lives, which is a nice way of saying I’m nosy.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
As soon as I could hold a crayon! I’ve always been writing and telling stories—I told a LOT of them in high school, though my mom called them “lies.”
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
This isn’t the first, but in middle school, when most girls were passing notes back and forth, my best friend and I were passing a notebook where we wrote pages and pages of fiction—mostly fantasy stories starring ourselves kissing boys who didn’t even know we were alive. It was glorious. But I would have died if it ever fell into the wrong hands!
Do you have any writing rituals?
Most mornings I wake up at 5 a.m. and get my coffee and then sit on my couch and try to pound out some words before my four kids wake up. And when I’m really stuck, I snack a lot. My husband can tell what kind of writing day it’s been based on the number of wrappers and food detritus covering my desktop.
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA, and Book Miser in Marietta, GA—two great stores that have been wildly supportive of me for the ten years I’ve been doing this.
The last book you raved about:
The Woman With the Cure by Lynn Cullen. Incredible historical fiction about Dr. Dorothy Hortsmann, a woman instrumental in the race to find the cure for polio, who the history books conveniently leave out.
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Get to Know Our Friend, Julie Carrick Dalton!
What would you be if you weren't a writer?
I fantasize about being a Tiny House designer! I’m obsessed with watching videos about gorgeous, creative uses of space in tiny homes. Stairs that are hidden drawers. Tables that fold out of walls. Tables that transform into beds. So many innovative storage ideas. During the pandemic, my husband and I salvaged wood from an old barn that was torn down and built a tiny one-room cabin in our yard which I use as my writing office. It’s surrounded by woods and my pollinator garden. It has a tiny woodstove and a tea kettle, a desk my grandfather built before I was born, and the swing that used to hang on the porch of my grandparent’s farm. I’m still working on the interior details, but I have lots of ideas!
What's the biggest misconception people have about you and your work?
People usually think I started writing with a message I wanted to get across about the environment or climate change. The truth is, when I started writing I just wanted to tell good stories about characters who mattered to me. Themes related to climate change emerged in all of my books (including the two new books I just signed a contract for!) because I think about climate change so much. As a former farmer and beekeeper, I’ve witnessed quiet, subtle changes in my ecosystem because of rising temperatures. That’s what’s on my heart, so it naturally bubbles up into my writing. But that isn’t how my stories start. It’s always about the characters first.
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
I started writing fan fiction scripts for the TV shows Mork and Mindy, Wonder Woman, and Charlie’s Angels when I was around eight years old. I used to make my friends act them out with me in the woods behind my house. I was always surrounded by stories at home. My mother ran a puppet theater when I was young. She wrote all the scripts herself and I loved watching her work out new story ideas. At age 10 I wrote my first original script for her theater. The only thing I remember about it was that there was a wolf with a stomach ache.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I can write anywhere. I love to write in my little cabin, but I can write on airplanes, in my kitchen, libraries, or cafes. I prefer to write in the morning, but, really, I just need to be in the mood to write. The only odd ritual I have is that I like to have the taste of peppermint in my mouth when I write. I go through a ridiculous amount of peppermint TicTacs!
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
I’m quite smitten with the new bookstore in my neighborhood, Beacon Hill Books. It just opened this summer and it’s adorable. It’s four stories tall in an old Boston house and it’s oozing with charm.
The last book you raved about:
Tell us about your work-in-progress.
The Forest Becomes Her is about three women living on or adjacent to a new housing development built on recently deforested land. Each of the women has a wound, a trauma, or a broken relationship they are working through. Their grief makes them particularly sensitive to the loss the land suffered when the forest was destroyed. In different ways, each woman comes to believe the forest is haunting her, drawing the three women together as they try to heal themselves and the land. Is the haunting real, or an imagined manifestation of their collective grief? You’ll have to wait until it comes out to find out.
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Subscribe to the Friends & Fiction 2023 First Edition Subscription Box!
Purchase of this special 2023 Friends & Fiction First Edition Subscription Box includes each 2023 NEW & SIGNED hardcover release from ALL FOUR of the Friends & Fiction host authors plus a fun, small gift included with the first shipment—a kitchen towel that reads, “Dinner can wait. It’s time for Friends & Fiction!”
Subscribers will receive four shipments around each book release:
May 2023—Patti Callahan Henry's The Secret Book of Flora Lea
June 2023—Kristin Harmel's The Paris Daughter
July 2023—Kristy Woodson Harvey's The Summer of Songbirds
Sept 2023—Mary Kay Andrews's Bright Lights, Big Christmas
Subscription price of $125 includes tax and all shipping charges. Sign up now at Booktowne.com!
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming this Friday, March 24th—Ron & Patti talk to one of our favorites, Elizabeth Berg, to celebrate the release of her newest book, Earth's the Right Place for Love, the early story of her beloved character, Arthur Truluv.
Out Now! WB_S5E11—Ron & MKA talk to Jenny Jackson about her debut novel PINEAPPLE STREET, just released to rave reviews and named a GMA Book Club pick. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S5E10—Ron and Patti talk to author Jessa Maxwell about her book The Golden Spoon, which has been described as Only Murders in the Building meets The Maid. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S5E9—Ron & Meg talk to bestselling author Rebecca Makkai (whose The Great Believers was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award) about her brand-new novel, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU. LISTEN NOW!
Listen, download, subscribe, rate, review & share wherever you get your podcasts!
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News from the Zibby Award-Winning Friends &Fiction Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa
We’ve got some great events coming up! Take a look at our book club schedule and be sure to save the dates. All events begin at 7pm Eastern unless otherwise noted.
Coming up:
Grab these books and start reading now!
If you missed it:
Watch our Feb 9th happy hour with Ron Block HERE.
Follow us!
We are on YouTube! View previous book club discussions and happy hours at your leisure. Subscribe to our channel HERE!
Not a member of the Friends & Fiction Book Club? Join us on Facebook. We would love to have you!
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The F&F 2023 Reading Challenge!
We have announced the 2023 F&F Reading Challenge! This year the challenge is being run by the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa. Join in on all the fun on their Facebook group page. Each month there is a different category prompt designed to get all of us reading outside of our comfort zone. Let’s have fun together all year long reading books from lots of different genres. On the book club’s Facebook page, there will be ideas shared for each category and the chance to talk with fellow members about your reading selections. The timeless F&F Reading Journal makes the perfect companion piece to this or any reading challenge, helping you keep track of all the books you read all year long. Grab your reading journal HERE.
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F&F is on YouTube!
Subscribe Today!
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Did you miss the March 15th episode with Sarah Penner & Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai? If so, you can watch it on our YouTube channel HERE. We air our show on YouTube every Wednesday night at 7pm ET. And every episode since our show’s inception can be found there too. So if you ever miss one, or in case Facebook is being difficult, check us out on YouTube. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode and get alerted every time we post new content. We also have book trailers and highlight clips on our channel, too! Watch the March 15th show HERE.
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Friends & Fiction Merchandise
SHOP THE F&F MERCH STORE!
BOGO T-SHIRTS IN THE F&F MERCH STORE!
Our figure-flattering, cozy cotton v-neck T-shirts with our signature Friends & Fiction logo are now on sale Buy One Get One FREE! ORDER T-SHIRTS HERE. Use Code FFBOGO at check-out to claim your FREE T-shirt when you purchase one!
Also available:
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Announcing the SIBA Katie Trocheck Abel Award
NOMINATE A SOUTHERN INDIE BOOKSELLER!
As you may know, last February, our beloved Mary Kay Andrews lost her 39-year-old daughter, Katie Trocheck Abel. Katie had a huge heart for community outreach, lending countless hours of support to organizations such as No Kid Hungry, Atlanta's Free99Fridge, and Atlanta's Helping Mamas, which has named a car seat donation program in her honor. Katie was also a fierce supporter of her mom, and of the many booksellers who support MKA.
In Katie's honor, and to celebrate the often unheralded acts of kindness that take place all the time in our bookselling world, SIBA will award $500 to a SIBA bookseller who has gone above and beyond in their local community.
Do you know an indie bookseller in the southern US whose kindness, generosity, and dedication is a huge asset to their local community? If so, nominate them! The nomination form is open now through May 1, 2023 with the winner announced on July 3, 2023.
Find more details and the nomination form HERE.
The winner will be chosen by Mary Kay Andrews and her Friends & Fiction co-hosts Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, and Patti Callahan Henry.
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Join Us on Fable!
Introducing Friends & Fiction: Behind the Book
Have you joined F&F on Fable yet?! We are taking our immersive reading experience a step further by partnering with this unique social platform to form the “Friends & Fiction: Behind the Book” Premium Book Club! Let’s discover, read, and talk about great books together! Download the FREE Fable app for your phone or tablet. Join MKA, Kristin, Kristy & Patti as they talk about their own books, the books they love, and books they're just discovering together. They’ll feature a new book selection every month, plus special club events, exclusive content, and more! Join our Premium Club for just $5/month! JOIN TODAY!
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CONNECT WITH THE FRIENDS & FICTION HOST AUTHORS! |
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