January 25, 2022 | Issue #127 |
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
Patti Callahan Henry was so thrilled to share this gorgeous cover reveal for the Canadian release of The Secret Book of Flora Lea! She thinks it is swoon worthy. She’s been writing and spending a quiet January at home finding her way into a new story and planning great fun for the release of The Secret Book of Flora Lea. She is looking forward to the paperback release of Once Upon a Wardrobe in only two weeks (Feb 7th)! And if you want to pop over to Goodreads, there’s a new Giveaway going on RIGHT NOW for The Secret Book of Flora Lea.
Kristy Woodson Harvey has been so busy finishing up edits on a new book, but took a break this weekend to celebrate a dear friend's birthday! She has been working on plans for the Paperback release of The Wedding Veil which will be on sale in a few short weeks!
Kristin Harmel is thrilled that today marks the halfway point in her chemotherapy treatments; she’s feeling okay and is gearing up for the second half, which will then be followed by four weeks of daily radiation therapy.
What Kristin is reading: Still listening to Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus; she’s tempted to buy the physical book, too, so that she can fly through to the end, but the audiobook has been keeping her company on weekly drives to and from her oncologist for bloodwork, and she’s glad to have something to look forward to in the car. It’s nice to savor a book like this!
Mary Kay Andrews got to visit with this week’s guest Marie Benedict when she was in Atlanta last week for a packed house event at The Atlanta History Center, then flew off to NYC for meetings with her publishing team at St. Martin’s Press to discuss all things Bright Lights, Big Christmas. She and our own Meg Walker enjoyed drinks at the iconic Monkey Bar one day and the next evening, sat at the bar at another Manhattan icon, Sardi’s, before catching a fabulous performance of Funny Girl on Broadway. Now it’s back to shoveling out her office and starting work on her book for spring ‘24.
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Get to Know Our Friend, Marie Benedict!
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
Unlike a lot of writers, I never aspired to be an author from childhood. As a voracious reader, I think I was too intimidated to even contemplate penning my own novel. But then one day many years ago, while practicing law and considering a different career, an idea for a story came to me. Only then did I decide — very tentatively at first -- to tread down the writerly path.
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
The first piece of fiction I recall writing (outside of a school assignment) is actually my first published novel, THE CHRYSALIS. It is a multi-layered tale with historical threads and a modern-day one as well, exploring the history of a 17th-century Dutch masterpiece which was stolen by the Nazis during WWII. I discovered the historical and legal issues around Nazi-plundered art long before it became mainstream knowledge, and I’ve remained fascinated by the question of who owns the past.
Do you have any writing rituals?
No one day is exactly like any other in my life, so it's difficult to have very specific rituals before writing. Not to mention that looming deadlines always seem to require that I write anywhere at any time. So I’ve had to streamline my writing rituals down to two — sipping a steaming cup of coffee and playing the specific piece of music I’ve chosen for a particular storyline.
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
I have been touched and honored by the support of so many indie bookstores and libraries, but there are two that hold special place for me. First, Penguin Bookshop in my hometown of Sewickley is such a champion of me and my work that — just last week — the owner drove hours to the Ingram Book Distribution center to get extra boxes of books for the launch of THE MITFORD AFFAIR! Second, the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh served as the stepping stone to education for my Irish immigrant ancestors when they arrived in Pittsburgh over a hundred years ago, and I'm immensely grateful to them, then and now.
Tell us about your work-in-progress.
My latest novel, THE MITFORD AFFAIR, is the story of the brilliant, beautiful, eccentric, aristocratic “it” girls of 1920s and 1930s England — the Mitford sisters — and the manner in which two of the sisters get swept up into the inner circles of fascism, forcing a third sister into the epicenter of WWII and an impossible decision: loyalty to her family or her country.
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Spotlight on Eleanor Shearer
Eleanor Shearer is a mixed-race writer and the granddaughter of Windrush generation immigrants. She splits her time between London and Ramsgate on the English coast so that she never has to go too long without seeing the sea. For her Master's degree in Politics at the University of Oxford, Eleanor studied the legacy of slavery and the case for reparations, and her fieldwork in St. Lucia and Barbados helped inspire her debut novel, River Sing Me Home.
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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!
Coming this Friday, January 27th—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.
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!
Out Now! WB_S5E1—It’s new year, new you time! The first episode of the new year has Ron & Kristy in conversation with calligrapher, founder of All She Wrote Notes, and author Maghon Taylor all about reinvention, goal-setting, and her new book, 100 Days of Praise and Positivity. 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:
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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!
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Did you miss the January 18th episode with Laura Zigman & Elle Cosimano? 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 18th 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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