June 16, 2021 | Issue #46 |
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Five Facts from Our Friend, Sy Montgomery
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
Gratitude.
Your perfect day:
Pretty much every one of them I wake up on this side of the grass! Yesterday, for example: I wake up to wren song next to the man I adore, hike in the glorious forest with the dog I adore, work on a book about turtles I adore, hike some more with our beloved dog, eat a good, nourishing vegetarian dinner, watch fox kits at the den across the street while listening to thrush song, and sleep knowing I get to do it again the next day!
Your favorite independent bookstore:
The Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough, NH—seven miles from our house. My husband, the writer Howard Mansfield, used to work there! It's got an amazing selection and they will happily special order anything we want.
The last book you raved about:
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, the forester whose experiments establish the fact that trees not only communicate but actively help each other through the "wood wide web" — and even, like us, recognize and prioritize helping their relatives.
Your next book in ten words or less:
Travels in Turtle Time. Exploring time through friendships with turtles.
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Five Facts from Our Friend, Angela May
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
My family and my personal faith are always a given. Aside from that, I'd have to say my screened-in porch. It's the place I go to write, to work, to watch nature, to read, to relax. Give me a hammock, and I'd sleep out there, too.
Your perfect day:
A perfect day would begin before dawn, when everyone else is asleep, and in a place with a great view (and porch). I'd enjoy far too much coffee, clock some solid writing time uninterrupted, followed by some outside fun with the kids, squeeze in time to read, garden, and exercise. Then, gather at the table with the family for a good meal. And if the day ends with a drink and some music around a bonfire, that's more than perfect!
Your favorite independent bookstore:
I'm sorry but I cannot pick one. That's almost like asking me to choose a favorite child. I absolutely adore Buxton Books and Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, SC.
The last book you raved about:
The most exciting thing about co-authoring your first book:
It's incredible to see where we started with our early ideas and to see how it morphed and developed into something beautiful that Mary Alice and I are so proud to share with the children in our lives. It's exciting to do this together.
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Five Facts from Our Friend, Ann Garvin
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
I'd have to say Post-it Notes. I know a lot of people would take this opportunity to herald their family members, beloved dog, favorite champagne. Those answers display gratefulness and a certain level of glamour. But, if I'm honest, the pandemic had me wandering into rooms looking for power cords, headphones, and glasses that were on my head or in my pockets. If it weren't for Posit-it notes I'd be sitting in a field somewhere right now trying to recall my kid's name.
Your perfect day:
The sun would be out, I'd be drinking coffee by a window overlooking the ocean. My dog would be on my lap and my kids would be sleeping down the hall. I'd be writing something funny and sad that came easily to me. Maybe there would be music. The man I love would come and kiss me. There would be a to-do list at my side that had tasks like, talk to best friend, go for a walk, eat something delicious. I'd be wearing the most comfortable dress with the perfect sleeves and neckline. I would take a nap in the sun and no sun damage would occur on my skin. Later I would buy shoes and watch people walk by in a busy place. Someone would let me hold their baby. There would be a movie to watch later while I held hands and played footsie. I would not rule out sex.
Your favorite independent bookstore:
The last book you raved about:
Finley Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano. It's so funny and well told. Plotted perfectly and genuinely funny without being annoying. Smart. Quick. To die for. I also LOVED The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Your next book in ten words or less:
Falling In Love Is the Easy Part. Three generations of women on a plane, strangers, New York City, a blackout.
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Bookseller of the Week
BLUE BICYCLE BOOKS
Our featured independent bookseller of the week is Blue Bicycle Books. Connecting readers and writers for more than two decades, Blue Bicycle is Charleston, SC’s premier locally-owned bookstore. Founded in 1995 as Boomer’s Books by Lee and Jim Breeden, they became Blue Bicycle Books in 2007 when local writer and longtime employee Jonathan Sanchez bought the store. Get 10% off this week with the code FRIENDS on THE ISLANDERS by Mary Alice Monroe and Angela May as well as on other new and recent titles from our special guest Sy Montgomery and the rest of the Fab Five. Visit the specially curated F&F page on the Blue Bicycle website to SHOP NOW!
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Latest News From "The Fab Five"
KRISTIN HARMEL is absolutely thrilled that THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS, out in less than three weeks (!), is featured as a summer reading pick in Real Simple magazine. She’s also so honored and grateful to see THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES appear on the New York Times paperback bestseller list for the second week in a row. Her “Conversations with Friends” virtual tour for THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS kicks off this week and runs through the last week of July; she can’t wait to start seeing her Friends & Fiction friends (all of you!) at virtual events!
MARY ALICE MONROE This is a big LAUNCH WEEK for Mary Alice’s THE ISLANDERS! She’s very proud that The Islanders was an Editor’s Pick on Amazon. Book praise is pouring in, including a quote from two-time Newberry Award winner Kwame Alexander: “This is storytelling for young readers at its finest—equal parts summer adventure and environmental suspense. The Islanders is a middle grade love letter to family, friendship, and the natural world.” Mary Alice also wants to share the news that her New York Times bestseller ON OCEAN BOULEVARD is out now in trade paperback!
MARY KAY ANDREWS chatted with Adraina Trigiani last week for her Facebook Live webcast Andriana Ink. Watch it here. MKA had an awesome research call last week with a woman who produces home improvement reality TV shows which helped unlock some doors in her writing process for next summer’s novel! And she received the great news that The Santa Suit will be in Costco stores all across the country this fall. There’s a Goodreads giveaway for The Santa Suit now through June 28. More details on the fall tour plans for her holiday novella coming soon!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is so excited that 50 copies of UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY are up for grabs on Goodreads until July 21! Click here to enter! Also, stay tuned… Information about the kickoff of the Summer of Peachtree Bluff Buddy Reads is coming soon. We’ll be reading Slightly South of Simple in July!
PATTI CALLAHAN took some time off last week on the west coast to write, hike too far up a mountain, and catch up with old pals. She is gearing up for some really exciting announcements for the upcoming Once Upon a Wardrobe, which Lisa Wingate just called, “enchanting and luminous.”
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An Original Essay by Kristin Harmel
Each week, the Friends & Fiction authors take turns
writing an essay for Parade.com, the online home of Parade magazine.This week, Kristin Harmel shares a column about the gentle act of allowing ourselves to be imperfect.
I wish I had a nicer couch.
Instead, the couch that anchors my living room—a big, beige sectional—is fraying a bit at the edges and isn’t quite the same shade of cream it was when we bought it. The surfaces are worn in the spots where I’ve scrubbed away stains, and I’m quite confident that wedged between the attached cushions are ghostly remnants of cereal pieces and potato chips that will never see the light of day again. It’s about as far from perfect, in fact, as a piece of furniture could possibly be. But guess what? That’s okay.
It has taken me a long time to get to a point where I’m able to say that. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned to lean into, especially over the past year, it’s the gentle act of allowing myself to be imperfect.
We’ll replace the couch someday. When I’m facing down book deadlines and have a self-destructive need to procrastinate just a little longer, I occasionally find my way to home design sites and the web pages of furniture stores, where I lust over spotless sectionals and imagine them taking the place of my old, slightly sagging piece of furniture. But I’ve also made myself a promise—that when we replace the couch, it will be because we want to, not because I’m seeing my house, or my life, through someone else’s eyes and finding it wanting.
And you know what matters more than the old couch’s spots and fuzzy edges? It’s the fact that it’s a place where we’ve spent countless family movie nights and where my 5-year-old son curls up in the morning with a cup of apple juice and Cheerios to watch The Lion Guard. It’s where my husband and I have a glass of wine and watch Netflix or hockey games after our son goes to sleep. It has been, at times, a dining room, a movie theater, a place where it’s too easy to accidentally fall asleep, even the bare bones of an elaborate pillow fort. It’s the first place I sat when we bought this house in 2014, the nest where I nursed my newborn son for countless hours in 2016 and the spot my husband rearranged to accommodate me when I shattered my kneecap in 2018. It has been at the center of everything—and that’s why it’s showing signs of wear.
And let’s be honest; I’m showing signs of wear, too.
To continue reading Kristin’s essay on Parade.com, click HERE.
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming soon! Out this Friday, June 18th!
Celebrate Pride Month with F&F! Members of the LGBTQ community join host Ron Block to discuss their latest books and writing journeys. Guests are: Steven Rowley (The Guncle), P.J. Vernon (Bath Haus) and James Beard Award winning Chef, Virginia Willis (The Secrets of the Southern Table).
Out Now! WB_S1E1—On our first podcast episode featuring host Ron Block, Ron and Kristy interview Wade Rouse aka Viola Shipman (The Clover Girls) and Elyssa Friendland (Last Summer at the Golden Hotel) about their summer novels and reminisce about summer memories and traditions. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! S1E14—Mary Alice celebrates June is Audiobooks Month with Penguin Random House audiobook producer Dan Zitt and award-winning audiobook narrator, Cassandra Campbell. LISTEN NOW!
Listen, download, subscribe, rate, review & share wherever you get your podcasts!
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News from the F&F Official Book Club
Have a look at our monthly book club schedule through January 2022! We can't wait to discuss the selections below with our fabulous authors & book club members! All sessions are at 7 pm ET.
June 21: The Newcomer with Mary Kay Andrews
July 19: The Summer of Lost and Found with Mary Alice Monroe
Aug 16: The Forest of Vanishing Stars with Kristin Harmel
Sept 20: The Bookshop at Water's End with Patti Callahan Henry
Oct 18: Second Star to the Right with Mary Alice Monroe
Nov 15: Once Upon a Wardrobe with Patti Callahan Henry
Dec 6: The Santa Suit with Mary Kay Andrews
Dec 20: Christmas in Peachtree Bluff with Kristy Woodson Harvey
Jan 17, 2022: The Sweetness of Forgetting with Kristin Harmel
If you missed our hilarious book club discussion of Under The Southern Sky with Kristy Woodson Harvey, click HERE to see it!
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And Now a Word from our Partners
MAMA GERALDINE'S
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WELCOME STORYPOINT WINES!
Beginning NOW we are kicking off “The Summer of Storypoint” on Friends & Fiction! Each week, the after-show will be called “Sip & Stay with Storypoint” and will be sponsored by Storypoint Wines. This distinctive collection of flavorful wines—Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay—from California’s best growing regions, seeks to champion stories that inspire. After all, many great stories and ideas unfold over a shared bottle of wine. The experience of a wine—like that of a good book—should tell you something, invite you to discover new things, and surprise you. So, stick around after the show each week all summer long where we will indulge in stories, sips, and surprises!
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Friends & Fiction Merchandise
THE F&F MERCH STORE IS HERE!
Our merch is here!
Cozy cotton with a flattering v-neck and our signature Friends & Fiction logo, these comfy
t-shirts are the perfect way to show your
Friends & Fiction wine sippies are available for preorder and will be shipping soon from Oxford Exchange! ORDER WINE TUMBLERS HERE.
We can’t wait to see you model your merch!
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CONNECT WITH THE FRIENDS & FICTION HOST AUTHORS! |
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