February 1, 2023 | Issue #128 |
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
Patti Callahan Henry is thrilled to announce the pre-order gift for The Secret Book of Flora Lea (May 2nd), which she’s been keeping a secret and working on for months! (Information below on all that is included or CLICK HERE!). Although it’s been a quiet dreary January, Patti went to see Hamilton for the second time, and she would see it a hundred more (but her family wants her to stop singing the tunes).
Kristy Woodson Harvey is spending her week at the Beaufort, NC Library with microfiche films of non-digitized copies of the Carteret County Newspapers from the 1970s. It is so fun! (And such a throwback!) She is almost finished with the first draft of her 2024 novel. She is excited to really start sharing more information about THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS with you—including fun pre-order freebies, tour dates, and special “letters from camp” to get you excited to visit Camp Holly Springs with us in July.
Kristin Harmel had her third chemotherapy infusion (for stage one breast cancer) on Thursday and spent a quiet weekend recovering at home.
Mary Kay Andrews celebrated (almost) finishing shoveling out her office by treating herself to new office supplies, including adorable pink and teal file folders to hold notes for her book for summer of 2024. In other breaking news, Tater, her five-month-old English setter, is this close to figuring out the dog door.
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The Secret Book of Flora Lea Pre-Order Package
CLAIM YOUR FREE GIFTS!
Have you pre-ordered THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA yet?! Anyone who orders Patti’s new book before its May 2, 2023 publication date is eligible for an exclusive PRE-ORDER PACKAGE courtesy of Patti and her team at Atria. You can order the book from any retailer—including via the F&F 2023 Subscription Box from Booktowne—in any format, and you’ll be eligible to claim your free gifts. The first exclusive gift in this package is an original short story that Patti wrote after she met a ninety-two-year-old woman outside London who was an Operation Pied Piper child evacuee in 1939—just like the sisters, Hazel and Flora Lea, in Patti’s novel. The second gift is a travel journal of Patti’s weeks-long research trip in England where some of the most amazing and synchronistic things happened. The scenes from the novel will burst to life once you see Patti’s photos of the mystical and very real landscape where the book is set. To claim your gifts, FILL OUT THIS FORM.
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Get to Know Our Friend, Pam Jenoff!
What would you be if you weren't a writer?
Is there anything else? Seriously, I am also a law school professor. I also wanted to be a librarian when I was a kid.
What's the biggest misconception people have about you and your work?
People think I am super productive, but the truth is, I have no stamina. I have to find ways to build in extra chunks of work because I cannot work for long periods of time.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
Always. My 5th grade yearbook said, "The Next Judy Blume."
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
There is a handwritten story about a ballet dancer named Claudia that I still have in a closet a few feet from where I am typing this. My first published story was in a Jewish kids' magazine called World Over and it was a fictitious piece about how God made the sun
Do you have any writing rituals?
I try to keep it flexible, so just coffee. But I like to write 7 days a week if possible, early, short bursts.
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
The last book you raved about:
We Are Not Like Them by Jo Piazza and Christina Pride. (Editor’s Note: Listen to our F&F Writers’ Block podcast interview with this author team HERE.)
Tell us about your work-in-progress.
Too soon!!
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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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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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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Out Now! WB_S5E4—Ron and Patti welcome thriller writer, Kaira Rouda about her newest page-turner, The Widow. This taut and twisty book sheds light on the inner workings of life in the U.S. Congress, while examining families, ambition, and the lengths some will go to to achieve and keep power and wealth. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S5E3—Ron & Meg talk to Susan Stokes-Chapman about her atmospheric debut novel, Pandora, a lush reimagination of the mythological Pandora. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S5E2—Ron & Patti are joined in a luminous conversation with novelist Armando Lucas Correa about his atmospheric new novel, The Night Travelers. 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:
Feb 9: 7:30pm ET Happy Hour with Ron Block
Grab these books and start reading now!
If you missed it:
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 January 25th episode with Marie Benedict & Eleanor Shearer? 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 January 25th show HERE.
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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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