March 9, 2022 | Issue #84 |
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Five Facts from our Friend, Erika Robuck
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
Daily outdoor exercise.
Your perfect day:
With my husband: Wake up in Key West, take a long walk along the Historic Seaport Marina, have a big brunch at Blue Heaven, visit the Hemingway House, walk through the Truman Annex, sit on the beach reading a book from Judy Blume’s store, Books & Books, and drinking Piña Coladas, walk to dinner at Louis' Backyard Grill or Saluté, stop by Irish Kevin’s and Sloppy Joe’s for drinks on Duval Street, sleep, repeat.
Your favorite independent bookstore:
The one closest to me, wherever I am.
The last book you raved about:
Your next book in ten words or less:
Multigenerational family saga connected through time by a controversial artifact.
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Five Facts from our Friend, Lisa Barr
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
I’m going to make this one word: COFFEEANDYOGA
Your perfect day:
I wake up before anyone else my house, enjoy that first cup of coffee and meditate … second cup o’ coffee & croissant with my wonderful hubby at our fave little café – THAT LITTLE FRENCH GUY – I then write for several uninterrupted hours and what I’ve put down on the page is damn good … head over to my fave yoga class … then write some more, followed by a great walk in the Prairie with my Bestie … Dinner/Deep Dish Chicago Pizza … followed by a FaceTime with all three of my daughters … then I will wrap up the night with a great Netflix series bourbon-in-hand on our comfy couch … end the night with a little somethin’ somethin’ … He falls asleep and I stay up late reading a great book …. and then … an insomnia-free HAPPY DREAMS sleep … PERFECTION
Your favorite independent bookstore:
The last book you raved about:
I wouldn’t shut up about BATH HAUS by P.J Vernon
Your next book in ten words or less:
A famous actress with a secret WWII past
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Spotlight on Rachel McMillan
We are so glad to welcome Rachel back to the show. She first appeared on a Sunday Bonus Episode way back on August 30, 2020 while she was promoting her non-fiction travel book, Dream, Plan & Go. You can watch that episode on YouTube HERE. This time she joins us to chat about her latest stand-alone historical novel, THE MOZART CODE, a post World War II romance coming from Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins on March 15th. Here’s what New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code Kate Quinn had to say about Rachel’s latest: "Murky espionage and burgeoning passion twine beautifully together in The Mozart Code's superbly evocative prose--an enchanting read!" Tune in to meet her tonight!
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Sponsor Spotlight
Charleston Coffee Roasters
What goes together better than coffee and a great book? How about friends to chat with over a cup of joe about the books you love? We call that a match made in heaven! Now through May, everyone in the F&F community can get 20% off on all bagged coffee on the Charleston Coffee Roasters website with the code coffeewithfriends. We will also have book & coffee bundles, giveaways, and lots of other fun things in store! Meanwhile, let’s show our new partner the power of the F&F community! Be sure to sign up for the Charleston Coffee Roasters email newsletter and follow them on Facebook & Instagram!
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Sponsor Spotlight
Page 1 Books
Get 15% off with code FRIENDS 15 at page1books.com when you sign up for their 3- 6- or 12-month subscription plan. Every month, the literary matchmakers at Page 1 Books will handpick a new book title for you and ship it out. Books may be either paperback or hardcover, but you can opt to receive only hardcovers while signing up. There are also options to receive large print, ebook, and audio book subscriptions! Page 1 also sells gift bundles. Their newest gift bundle contains the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES book series, with a poster featuring famous literary heroines, a bookmark, and a beautiful scarf decorated in Anne Blythe quotes. They have gift bundles for every occasion and theme—love, food, booze, winter, you name it! Page 1 Book subscriptions make wonderful gifts, especially with Mothers Day coming up! Shop now! And be sure to sign up for the Page 1 email newsletter and follow them on Facebook & Instagram!
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
Kristy Woodson Harvey was SO thrilled to see THE WEDDING VEIL listed as one of E! Online’s 16 Books to Add to Your Reading List in March! She is also so thrilled that her friend Julie Cantrell is giving away a copy of THE WEDDING VEIL plus a copy of Julie’s PERENNIALS. For more details visit Kristy’s website. And, don’t forget, Kristy leaves for tour in less than three weeks! Check out her full tour schedule–new dates have been added.
Patti Callahan Henry is heading out to spend this next week with family, and she is more than ready! She loved having this conversation on the podcast Passage to Wonderland. She is so looking forward to Surviving Savannah coming out in paperback in exactly four weeks! And although there are so many great events, she wants you to know about this one as it is raising money to save victims of sexual trafficking – with Kate Quinn and Weina Dai Randal, Patti will be at the Naples Womans Club on April 14th. Meanwhile she is counting the days until Kristy’s release of The Wedding Veil.
Mary Kay Andrews is finalizing book tour plans for THE HOMEWRECKERS, coming May 3. This week she was on Tybee Island styling up the new pool at her latest vacation rental, Coquina Cottage, and then, 24 hours later, she drove up to the mountains of North Carolina to research Christmas tree farms for an upcoming book project.
What MKA is Reading: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, out this summer.
Kristin Harmel had a great time hanging out with Erika Robuck last week in Winter Park and is looking forward to seeing her on the show tonight, along with Lisa and Rachel, both of whom she also adores. She’s also looking forward to this Monday—the first day of her son’s spring break and the day The Book of Lost Names returns to Costco stores nationwide.
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The F&F 2022 Reading Challenge
Join the Fun in Our Reading Challenge!
Join us in 2022 for a fun 12-month reading challenge. We will challenge each other all year long to read books in a different category every month. This will help all of us broaden our horizons and read books in different genres we may not have chosen for ourselves. This is a fun way to join with the rest of the F&F community and share a fun reading experience. And the F&F Reading Journal makes the perfect companion piece to this challenge, helping you keep track of all the books you read all year long. Grab your reading journal HERE.
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming soon! Out this Friday, March 11th—Ron chats with mega-bestselling author Brad Meltzer as he celebrates 25 years as a published author and the release of his latest thriller, The Lightning Rod.
Out Now! WB_S2E9—Ron & Kristy chat with Craig Conover of BravoTV’s Southern Charm. The co-founder of Sewing Down South tells all about his new book, Pillow Talk. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S2E8—Ron talks to YA author Jennifer E. Smith (The Unsinkable Greta James) and Dianna Rostad who wrote the USA Today bestseller You Belong Here Now, about the orphan trains in 1920s Montana ranch land. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S2E7—Ron & Patti interview Robin Whitten, the editor and founder of Audiofile magazine, as well as Fiona Hardingham who narrated the audiobook of Patti’s Once Upon a Wardrobe. 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
We have a lot of fun 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.
May 6: Happy Hour with Ron Block and special guest Patti Callahan Henry
Grab these books and start reading now!
We had the best time discussing The Wedding Date with Jasmine Guillory. If you missed it, catch the replay HERE.
Not a member of the Friends & Fiction Book Club? Join us! We would love to have you!
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F&F is Now on LoCo+!
Come join Friends & Fiction on LoCo+, a brand-new streaming platform that launched just a few days ago. The platform specializes in locally produced content and will eventually include channels from all over the country, but this is your chance to get in on the ground floor with us; we're part of the platform's rollout, and we'd love for you to be there, too. Eventually, it will be a paid subscription (like Netflix or Hulu), but if you sign up now, you can get the first month free--and you can see past and current episodes of Friends & Fiction as well as lots of other great, independently produced content, including the "Good News Lady" show from our friend (and former F&F guest) Daryn Kagan. Sign up for your free trial here and check it out: https://golocoplus.com/.
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F&F is on YouTube!
Subscribe Today!
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Did you miss last week’s episode with Colleen Hoover? You can watch the whole thing on our YouTube channel HERE. We air our show live 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 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 2nd show HERE.
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Friends & Fiction Merchandise
SHOP THE F&F MERCH STORE!
NEW! Stay on track with the exclusive Friends & Fiction Reading Journal, featuring 52 book entries (one for every week of the year), a lending library, reading list, and books you put down. With a cloth cover, gold foil embossing, a satin ribbon page marker, elastic band, heavyweight paper, and a back pocket to store notes, this is the perfect gift for the book lover in your life—or for yourself! ORDER READING JOURNALS 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 pride! ORDER T-SHIRTS HERE.
Friends & Fiction wine sippies are available and shipping now from Oxford Exchange!
But that’s not all! We also have F&F 20oz travel tumblers for on-the-go coffee of drinks!
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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