December 8, 2021 | Issue #71 |
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Five Facts from our Friend, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney!
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
British Television. In the early weeks of lockdown I was too rattled to read and was spending way too much time doom scrolling. But I could always settle into Call the Midwife or Grantchester or Escape to the Country which is as soothing as the Great British Bake Off but with houses instead of pastry week.
Your perfect day:
A breakfast room somewhere in Europe with my husband and sons as we’re planning our day ahead. Much like the morning in Paris some years ago when my teenager said: “So what are we thinking? A museum or two, then a walk, then a nice lunch?” We trained them well!
Your favorite independent bookstore:
This is a hard one because there are many, but I’ll go with Book Soup in Los Angeles. Everyone there is so friendly and the staff recommendations are great.
The last book you raved about:
Your next book in ten words or less:
Neighbors behaving badly in 1970s Rochester, New York.
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Bookstore of the Week
Bookshop.org
Find all the books by every F&F guest, past and present, in the F&F Bookshop.org Shop! Portions of all sales placed in our shop help fund F&F! A bit of every sale made on Bookshop goes straight into the pockets of indie booksellers nationwide. Since its inception, Bookshop.org has raised nearly $18 million for indie bookstores! Find recent books by tonight’s guest Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney on our Friends & Fiction 2021 Guests list!
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is so thrilled that her novel, UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY won Best Contemporary Fiction in the She Reads Best of 2021 Awards. And three cheers for Kristin Harmel, whose THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS won Best Historical Fiction! She is also so excited to see her forthcoming THE WEDDING VEIL on KatieCouric.com’s Definitive Reading Guide to 2022. It’s available for preorder now!
PATTI CALLAHAN is looking forward to her youngest son’s college graduation on Saturday; War Eagle! Christmas is in full swing with the garland hung and the wrapping paper out of the attic. Patti is incredibly happy about the five out of five shields in the amazing Narniafans site. It’s a glorious recap of Once Upon a Wardrobe. And LOOK at this glorious piece in Hello Magazine in Canada! This makes PCH want to cross the Canadian border and express her gratitude. And this wonderful conversation with the Cultivating Project was like sitting down with a cup of tea with a dear friend. Enjoy it!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is full of relief and gratitude that The Homewreckers, her novel for summer 2022 is in and her editor is pleased. Look for it May 3. MKA was thrilled at the news that Emily Giffin has chosen THE SANTA SUIT as the December pick for her EGBookclub. Discussion is Monday, Dec. 20.
What Mary Kay is reading: Bombshell by Sarah MacLean.
KRISTIN HARMEL is so honored that her 2021 novel, THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS, won Best Historical Fiction in the She Reads Best of 2021 Awards (and she’s so happy that Kristy’s UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY won for Best Contemporary!). Thanks, She Reads! She’s also having so much fun putting together next week’s Friends & Fiction episode, which will feature a whopping EIGHT guest authors for a fabulous holiday celebration. Don’t forget, you can enter here for a chance to win a book from all eight, plus the four F&F authors!
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The F&F 12 Authors of Christmas Giveaway
Friends & Fiction has invited eight amazing author guests to be part of our super special Christmas party episode on Wednesday, December 15th! Together with the four F&F hosts, we are giving all of you the shot at winning all 12 of our books this holiday season. The entry deadline is midnight on Thursday, December 16, 2021. One lucky winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday, December 17, 2021. That winner will receive a series of 12 different book packages in the mail—one personally sent from each author. Be sure to tune into our live show Wed 12/15 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook Group page and YouTube channel. Meanwhile, fill out the ENTRY FORM. Good luck!
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming soon! Out this Friday, December 10th—Ron talks to comedian and Real Housewives impersonator Amy Philllips and her co-author, celebrity chef Stuart O'Keeffe, about their parody cookbook Cook It, Spill It, Throw It
Out Now! WB_S1E26—Patti & Ron interview ER doc turned novelist Kimmery Martin about medical fiction. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E25—Ron interviews country music artists Kim Richey & Gretchen Peters about storytelling through songwriting. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E24—Mary Alice Monroe speaks with publishing elite Allison Heller and Faye Bender about writing for children. 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 one last book club discussion coming up before the end of the year! Be sure to save the date! All events always begin at 7pm Eastern unless otherwise noted.
Dec 20: Christmas in Peachtree Bluff book club discussion with Kristy Woodson Harvey
Brenda, Lisa and Jodena hope everyone is having a glorious holiday season!!
If you missed our 2nd Annual Friendsgiving on Thursday 11/18, you can watch the replay HERE.
If you missed our most recent Happy Hour with our amazing Ron Block click HERE.
Our Book Club Chat about The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews from Monday Dec 6th can be watched 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 John Hart & Chris Swann? 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 December 1st 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 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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