September 28, 2022 | Issue #112 |
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
Kristin Harmel has been in hurricane prep mode for the last few days and has amassed a weird collection of AA batteries, waters, bread, beef jerky, and board games. She admits that she goes overboard when it comes to panic-stockpiling. At least she has a lantern and lots and lots of books.
Mary Kay Andrews is walking with a cane less than two weeks after successful knee replacement surgery, and working on revisions for the Top Secret Book Project for Fall 2023. In the meantime, hoping all my Tampa Bay area family and friends dodge the Hurricane Ian bullet.
Kristy Woodson Harvey is so excited to be uttering four of her favorite words in regards to THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS (coming April 25, 2023): Off to copy edits! She is also sorry to say that the Chico’s Book Club Events—both virtual and live—have been rescheduled due to hurricane activity. Many members of the Chico’s team were flying in from their Florida headquarters and have been detained by the weather. Please stay tuned for rescheduling information. And she is sending love and good wishes to everyone in the hurricane’s path! It is little Will’s birthday this weekend, so she’ll be spending the week surrounded by cake, balloons and a new fishing rod or two! (And hoping Ian stays far, far away!)
Patti Callahan Henry is getting ready to head to South Carolina for a few days of events and writing (hoping the hurricane avoids all of us!). She received the advance copies of The Secret Book of Flora Lea and has been working on bonus content for all of you!
What Patti is Reading: Dawnlands by Phillipa Gregory
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Get to Know Our Friend, Jennifer Robson!
What would you be if you weren't a writer?
I daydream about being a fine art restorer — the sort of person who uncovers lost treasures under layers of yellowed varnish and misguided repairs. Unfortunately I can’t draw or paint (AT ALL), and professional restorers are talented artists as well as technicians. I can still dream, though!
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
I dreamed of it when I was young, then school and work and life got in the way until I was 37, at home with two little kids, and searching for something to do in the quiet intervals when the kids were asleep and I was sick of folding laundry. Two years of stolen moments later and I had finished the manuscript of what eventually became my first book, Somewhere in France.
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
There were lots of adventure stories featuring my cat, Pippin, an orange and white tabby who got into all sorts of scrapes while roaming the countryside around our house in rural Ontario. Despite his wild ways he actually lived to be 21!
Do you have any writing rituals?
When I first start work on a new book, I buy a fresh notebook, scribble away in it until I have a basic understanding of my characters, setting, and plot, and then I set it aside and turn to my laptop. Sometimes I fill the whole thing; sometimes only the first third or so. There’s something about picking up a pen and focusing on a blank page that is actually very energizing. I should add that the end result never bears much resemblance to those early musings, but I have to start somewhere!
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
There’s a wonderful indie bookstore in the west end of Toronto called A Novel Spot. It’s where I go when I need a break from straight-up history and have read through my TBR list. Sarah and her colleagues always have fantastic suggestions for me, as well as my WWII history-nerd husband and my YA fantasy-inhaling teenage daughter.
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Featured Bookseller
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 and support our guests! Proceeds from every sale made anywhere across Bookshop go straight into the pockets of indie booksellers nationwide. Since its inception, Bookshop.org has raised more than $22 million for indie bookstores! Find THE GOWN and CORONATION YEAR by Jennifer Robson — as well as recent books by all of our guests and hosts — on our Friends & Fiction Fall 2022 Guests list!
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming this Friday, September 30th—Ron & Kristin talk with bestselling novelist Ruth Ware about her latest book IT GIRL.
Out Now! WB_S4E8—Ron & Kristy talk to Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Andrew Sean Greer about his novel LESS IS LOST. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S4E7—Ron & Meg talk to bestselling novelist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tom Perrotta about his new sequel to ELECTION two decades in the making TRACY FLICK CAN’T WIN. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S4E6—Ron and Kristy speak with prolific author Brenda Novak about her latest book, Summer On The Island, and dive deep into her writing career and how she supports readers and writers. LISTEN NOW!
Listen, download, subscribe, rate, review & share wherever you get your podcasts!
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News from the 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.
Oct 13 at 7:30pm ET: Happy Hour with Ron Block and special guest Wanda Morris!
Grab these books and start reading now!
If you missed our fabulous book club discussion about The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare with Kimberly Brock on Monday September 19th, please view it on our YouTube channel HERE.
If you missed our special Two-Year Book Club Anniversary Celebration with the Fab Four on August 18th, watch it HERE.
The Friends & Fiction Official Book Club is now on YouTube! You can view previous book club discussions and happy hours at your leisure. Please subscribe to our channel HERE!
Not a member of the Friends & Fiction Book Club? Join us. We would love to have you!
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Join the F&F 2022 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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F&F is on YouTube!
Subscribe Today!
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Did you miss the September 21st episode with Shelby Van Pelt? 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 September 21st 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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Friends & Fiction Merchandise
SHOP THE F&F MERCH STORE!
NEW! Ask and you shall receive! We have finally made the souvenir posters from the Summer 2022 F&F Live Tour available online for purchase. Visit our pals at Oxford Exchange to buy yours now. These mini-posters are a full-color original design printed on glossy heavyweight card stock and individually packaged in a protective sleeve. Every single poster has been hand signed by each one of the Fab Four. They are priced at a flat rate of $15 including all taxes, postage, and handling, shipped with care anywhere in the continental US. Get your keepsake poster now while supplies last! ORDER POSTERS HERE!
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 or 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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