July 28, 2021 | Issue #52 |
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Winter Wonderland Subscription Box
Three of the Fab Five (Mary Kay Patti & Kristy) have new books coming this holiday season! Here is your opportunity to be among the very first to read these books just as they are released—and to obtain loads of exclusive extra swag available only to those who subscribe! This package is available for purchase only through our friends at Nantucket Book Partners.
Books will ship when they release this fall.
For the one-time flat-rate charge of $82, subscribers will receive:
- An autographed first edition copy of each book
- A QR code distributed only to subscribers which grants access to a private recorded presentation together with all three authors discussing their books
- An exclusive Friends & Fiction coffee mug
- A package of Friends & Fiction branded hot chocolate
- A book club kit sent with each book containing discussion questions, a letter from the author, a recipe, and other special content
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Five Facts from Our Friend, Christina Baker Kline
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
My daily hikes on Mount Desert Island, Maine with my three sisters. We are fortunate to have homes in the same small coastal village and have been hunker-downers (as my favorite Instagrammer, Leslie Jordan, says) here since March of 2020. Every morning, rain or shine, through woods and up mountains, along the sea and on frozen lakes, my sisters and I trek and talk and laugh and argue and watch the seasons change. All good things come to an end; my husband and I will return to NYC in September — and I’m excited to be back in the city. But I will truly miss this ritual!
Your perfect day:
The sun rises around 4 am here in Southwest Harbor, in the easternmost part of the United States. I usually wake up, gaze at the gorgeous sunrise, and go out on my balcony to snap a picture. Then I read Heather Cox Richardson’s lively and informative Substack newsletter, which she posts after midnight. I fall back asleep until about 7 am, rally to hike with my sisters at 8, jump in the shower at 9 and am at my desk by 9:30, ready to dive into my writing, reading, and email. In the late afternoon I meet friends or family for a boat ride/glass of wine, then make dinner and end up watching a great show on TV — most recently “Big Little Lies,” which was produced by Made Up Stories, the team that has optioned THE EXILES for a streaming series.
Your favorite independent bookstore:
Watchung Booksellers (the indie in the town where I raised my three boys). My name is stenciled on the wall there, along with the names of luminaries like Toni Morrison and other local writers like Alice Elliott Dark. I love that the bookstore supports its local writers so fiercely.
The last book you raved about:
Speaking of Alice Elliott Dark, her long-awaited new novel, FELLOWSHIP POINT, comes out from Simon & Schuster in February 2022. I just read, loved, and blurbed it!
Your next book in ten words or less:
Inspired by family. Set in Civil War-era North Carolina.
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Bookseller of the Week
Watchung Booksellers
Our featured independent bookseller of the week is Watchung Booksellers, a vibrant, independent community bookstore located in the heart of Montclair NJ, where authors meet their public, friends meet each other, and all find good books. Their amazing staff has over 70 combined years of bookselling experience who all strive for a bookstore that reflects their unique community, and a selection that challenges, nurtures and inspires. Get 10% off (no code required) this week on featured titles including THE EXILES by our guest Christina Baker Kline as well as on new and recent titles from the Fab Five. Visit the specially curated F&F page on the Watchung Booksellers website to SHOP NOW!
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Latest News From "The Fab Five"
What Kristin is reading: You Can Run by Karen Cleveland (out 8/31/21)
PATTI CALLAHAN just spent a weekend in Washington, D. C. visiting her son and marveled at the beauty of our Capitol. You can see her photos on Instagram! Meanwhile, she is juggling starting a new novel, and preparing for the tour and book club (news coming soon!) for Once Upon a Wardrobe. She is honored and grateful to see Surviving Savannah on the “best of” list for Pop Sugar! She loved being on the Prosé podcast with Vikki Lokke about Surviving Savannah. And she has absolutely adored receiving so many of your notes and Grandma names after her Parade essay last week!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is packing (sorta) for a week’s vacation on Cape Cod. She’s hoping for cooler than Atlanta temps during a four-day stay on Nantucket, and she’s thrilled to be signing books on Saturday, July 31, at Mitchell’s Book Corner and Weds. Aug. 4 at Brewster Bookstore. In the meantime, she’s scribbling away on her novel for summer 2022 and planning launch events for THE SANTA SUIT, which publishes Sept. 28. (Can you say Naughty Santa?)
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is so thrilled to announce her March 29, 2022 release The Wedding Veil! The New York Times bestselling author of Under the Southern Sky and the Peachtree Bluff series brings “her signature wit, charm, and heart” (Woman’s World) to this sweeping new novel following four women across generations, bound by a beautiful wedding veil and a connection to the famous Vanderbilt family.
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An Original Essay by Kristy Woodson Harvey
Each week, the Friends & Fiction authors take turns
writing an essay for Parade.com, the online home of
Parade magazine.This week, Kristy shares a column
about life lessons learned from a member of her "village"
who became like family.
I’d always heard it takes a village to raise a child, but I didn’t fully understand it until my biggest, most outlandish dream came true: I got my first book deal. Suddenly, the writing starts and things I had crammed into the extra spaces of the day were no longer enough.
With no family nearby who could help, finding someone like family became the top priority. Enter, Donna and Jerry Henderson, or, as we know them, Nonna and Pop. Friends of friends and recently retired, they lived in our neighborhood and had known my husband and his family forever. From the moment they came into our lives, they weren’t just keeping our child; they were teaching me some of the most important lessons about raising a little human.
Jerry passed away suddenly in April from a heart attack, and in one of those devastating losses that take your breath away. When I call the house now, I still expect him to answer, to hear his cheerful, “Well, hello, Kristy Harvey,” on the other end of the line. It was a great loss of a great man, a kind man—one of the kindest I’ve ever known, in fact. It’s a loss that left everyone wondering why the world works the way it does, why this had to be a part of the plan. Millions of Americans have felt that same loss this past year. It takes me back sometimes to remember that he’s gone. But I’m unendingly grateful for what he taught me while he was here.
To continue reading Kristy's column, click HERE.
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming soon! Out this Friday, July 30th!—Join Ron & MKA as they sit down with Jean Hoanff Korelitz, author of the book that the HBO sensation The Undoing was based on, as well as the hot new instant New York Times bestseller and Tonight Show Summer Reads Pick, The Plot, just released this May.
Out Now! WB_S1E7—Celebrate grilling month with Ron & Kristy as they interview Chef and the Farmer restaurateur, cookbook author, and television host Vivian Howard. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E6—Ron talks to author MJ Rose about her books and former career as an ad exec and to Pauline Hubert, the founder of the popular book club app Book Movement. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E5—Ron & Patti talk to authors Lisa Patton (Rush) and Susan Cushman (John and Mary Margaret) about writing novels centered around the college experience and using the college campus as a setting. 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! All sessions are at 7 pm ET. Save the dates!
Aug 6: Happy Hour with Ron Block
Aug 16: The Forest of Vanishing Stars with Kristin Harmel
Sept 20: The Bookshop at Water's End with Patti Callahan Henry
Oct 1: Happy Hour with Ron Block
Oct 18: Second Star to the Right with Mary Alice Monroe
Nov 15: Once Upon a Wardrobe with Patti Callahan Henry
Dec 3: Happy Hour with Ron Block
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 live book club chat on Monday July 19th with Mary Alice Monroe about The Summer of Lost and Found and her middle grade book The Islanders co-written with Angela May click HERE to watch it.
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And Now a Word from our Partners
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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 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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