Get to Know Our Friend, Sarah McCoy!
What would you be if you weren’t a writer?
I’ve always thought it’d be exciting to be a Broadway musical theater director or producer. I got my undergraduate minor in Theatre Arts. An emphasis on playwrighting because I haven’t a lick of acting talent. But I so admire all things thespian. I was an excellent chorus girl. My hidden talent is that I can do a jazz-handed buffalo shuffle like nobody’s business. This Shirley Temple skill shows up after two sips of… anything, really. I’m an embarrassing lightweight.
What's the biggest misconception people have about you and your work?
That I am an extrovert. In fact, I am so far on the introvert side of the spectrum that it terrified my mom (who has a PhD in childhood development) growing up. She really feared that I’d become a social pariah because I could go weeks alone in my bedroom with only my books and journals, hardly speaking a word even to my family. So, she encouraged/pushed me to do as many public activities as possible: dance, band (clarinet), madrigals, gymnastics, musical productions, cheerleading, running for student government offices, etc. I learned to be an extrovert, and I learned to enjoy “giving out” positive energy to people. But I must have complete solitude to recharge afterward. It’s a necessary balance.
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
I wrote my first “book" for my mom when I was five years old. She kept it and gave it to me when I got married. It’s a simple piece of lined notebook paper folded in half like a book. The cover was drawn with my box of crayons: a house with red tulips and green grass. Inside is the scribbled "story” of the house and the people who live in it. The ending is my love to my mom. She swears she knew then that I was going to be a writer. But, doesn’t every kid make something like this? I didn’t consciously think I wanted to be a writer until my mom read me Anne of Green Gables. I loved Anne Shirley. She wrote stories, and I felt the spark through the pages. Very meta.
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
Yes, please! Bookmarks in Winston-Salem has been my hometown bookstore since I moved to North Carolina five years ago. They’ve taken me (a relative newcomer) into their fold like true family, and I’m so appreciative! Also, I must shoutout to Litchfield Books in Pawleys Island because I’ve just come from a lovely luncheon event there and am completely smitten with the mother-daughter indie bookstore owners Olivia Meletes-Morris and mom, Wendy. They’ve done events for each of the Friends & Fiction hosts, and I really think we all need to go for a BIG FAT ISLAND BOOK PARTY. Count me in.
Tell us about your work-in-progress.
I really love this “modern historical fiction” vibe I launched into with Mustique Island. The 70s, 80s, and 90s are just far enough away that they qualify as historical to younger generations (as baffling as that is to some of us); but are contemporary enough that they feel nostalgically fresh in readers' minds. I enjoy reliving time periods that I have personal connection to. So my work-in-progress is going to remain there, I believe. More fierce leading women breaking molds and trying to find their own identity— being brave enough to take their own life journey when it goes against convention. That seems to be my creative fount. Undoubtedly a personal one, too. I’m a crockpot writer so that’s all simmering right now, developing flavor, but I can’t wait to share more!
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Get to Know Our Friend, Chanel Cleeton!
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
I loved reading Nancy Drew books as a kid, and one of my first memories of writing fiction is of me trying to write my own mystery.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I draft all of my novels in Scrivener. It’s such a useful program for managing different timelines and for keeping track of facts and research when writing historical fiction.
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
I’m a huge fan of Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL. It’s a stunning space with a welcoming community of passionate booksellers and readers.
The last book you raved about:
Tell us about your work-in-progress.
I am currently editing my 2023 book release. It’s set in the 1930s and inspired by the true story of the Morro Castle, an American luxury cruise liner that sailed on a week-long round trip voyage between New York City and Havana before a tragic event changed everything.
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Spotlight on Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced seventeen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received multiple starred reviews, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, been inducted into the Library Reads Hall of Fame, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, followed by Roomies, Love and Other Words, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, The Unhoneymooners, In a Holidaze, and The Soulmate Equation. Something Wilder just hit stores on May 17, 2022.
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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 nearly $21 million for indie bookstores! Find MUSTIQUE ISLAND by Sarah McCoy, OUR LAST DAYS IN BARCELONA by Chanel Cleeton, and SOMETHING WILDER by Christina Lauren—as well as recent books by our hosts and guests—on our Friends & Fiction Spring/Summer 2022 Guests list!
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Latest News From "The Fab Four"
Kristin Harmel can’t quite believe her 6-year-old, Noah, graduated from kindergarten last week. Where is the time going? She’s looking forward to plenty of theme park and beach visits with him this summer–and in the meantime, she’s hard at work on copyedits for her June 2023 book and page proofs for the October 2022 tenth anniversary re-release of THE SWEETNESS OF FORGETTING, her first WW2 novel.
Kristy Woodson Harvey is so excited that this is her son’s last week of school and summer can officially begin! She has had a great time helping him practice for his end of the year project on Ernest Hemingway—and is so proud he chose an author! She is also beginning edits (her least favorite part! Ah!) on her 2023 book, The Summer of Songbirds so please send lots of good vibes her way. She can’t wait to share this story with you. Hint: it’s set at summer camp!
What Kristy is Reading: On Gin Lane by Brooke Lea Foster
Patti Callahan Henry enjoyed a nice long Memorial Day weekend with her family. She is in the dead center of copy edits for her May 9th, 2023 book and can’t wait to tell all of you about it as it is moving from an idea to a book in your hand!
What Patti is Reading: Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming this Friday, June 3rd—Ron & Meg talk with Carter Bays about his debut novel, The Mutual Friend and jumping from co-creating the smash-hit TV sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” to writing novels.
Out Now! WB_S3E7—Joy Callaway joins Ron and Kristy to talk about her fascinating new book, The Grand Design. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S3E6—Ron and Kristin speak with prolific writers Jane Porter and Megan Crane about their amazing careers, their friendship, and the importance of community. LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S3E5—In the 50th(!!) episode of our podcast, Ron & Patti talk with Aimie Runyan and Kelli Stuart about taking little known stories from history and crafting powerful works of historical fiction surrounding them. 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.
August 19: Happy Hour with Ron Block
Grab these books and start reading now!
If you missed the May 16th book club meeting with Wiley Cash where we discussed his book When Ghosts Come Home, catch it HERE.
If you missed our May 6th Happy Hour with Ron Block and Patti Callahan Henry, catch it HERE.
Did you hear? The Friends & Fiction Official Book Club is now on YouTube! You can view previous book club discussions and happy hours at your leisure. Check it out 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 May 25th episode with Tia Williams & TJ Newman? 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 May 25th 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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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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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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