August 11, 2021 | Issue #54 |
|
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
|
|
Five Facts from Our Friend, Taylor Jenkins Reid
The one thing you’ve learned you can’t live without during the pandemic:
Pajamas where the top looks like a real shirt for Zoom meetings
Your perfect day:
Spent reading at the beach and someone bringing me a sandwich
Your favorite independent bookstore:
The last book you raved about:
Your next book in ten words or less:
Malibu beach party ends in flames the summer of '83
|
|
Bookseller of the Week
Book Soup
Our featured independent bookseller of the week is Book Soup, located on the world-famous Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Founded by Glenn Goldman as "Bookseller to the Great and Infamous," the store has been serving readers, writers, artists, rock 'n' rollers, and celebrities since 1975. Get 10% off with code BKSFF this week on featured titles including MALIBU RISING by our guest Taylor Jenkins Reid as well as on new and recent titles from the Fab Five. Visit the specially curated F&F page on the Book Soup website to SHOP NOW!
|
|
Latest News From "The Fab Five"
KRISTIN HARMEL is excited that on next week’s Friends & Fiction episode featuring debut authors, the ladies of Friends & Fiction will be welcoming LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS (yep, you heard that right) to discuss his debut novel -- and she expects a busy week of binge-watching La Bamba, Young Guns, Young Guns II, and Stand and Deliver -- all in the name of work, of course. Also, Kristin’s 5-year-old just started kindergarten this week, so expect her to be a teary mess teetering on the edge of emotional breakdown.
PATTI CALLAHAN just spent a week with family in the mountains of North Carolina while sneaking away now and again to find her way into a new novel. They all gathered -- every child, grandchild and great grandchild of the Callahan clan (minus the beloved Hawaii daughter and grand) and went through some old 1960’s family videos. Patti wrote a bit about it HERE. She’s been working hard on a big The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe book club announcement you’ll hear later this week so keep your eyes open! And she’s busy sending out another batch of gifts to those who’ve pre-ordered Once Upon a Wardrobe. Click HERE to learn how to claim your gift if you buy the book by Oct 1st!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is in vacay re-entry mode after spending a week in New England. Highlights included a signing for The Newcomer at Mitchell’s Book Corner, a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, tours of three different museums, a fabulous sunset dinner at Elin Hilderbrand’s Nantucket glam pad, drinks with author Nathaniel Philbrick and lunch with novelist pal Nancy Thayer. Now back to wrestling with the manuscript for next summer’s novel and planning a launch party and tour for The Santa Suit--out in only six weeks!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is so thrilled to reveal the cover of her March 2022 release THE WEDDING VEIL tonight exclusively on Friends & Fiction! Check out kristywoodsonharvey.com/blog TOMORROW for information on exciting giveaways, preorder freebies and general cover reveal celebration. A snippet about 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.
What Kristy is Reading: Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
|
|
An Original Essay by Mary Kay Andrews
Each week, the Friends & Fiction authors take turns
writing an essay for Parade.com, the online home of
Parade magazine.This week, Mary Kay wrote a column about following your dreams and becoming the author of your own destiny—no matter your age or stage in life.
What’s your story? Are you a high-flying over-achiever? A rock-steady plodder resigned to settle for as-good-as-it’s-gonna-get? Someone stumbling toward a mid-life crisis? Whatever your self-assessment reveals, and no matter your age or station in life, I’d argue the next chapter in your life story has yet to be determined, if, that is, you decide to become the author of your own destiny.
Of course, heredity, nature, nurture, economic and social pressures may have dictated your story up to now, and that tired old saw about “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps” is carelessly flung too often at those not born to privilege, wealth or status. What if you don’t actually own a pair of boots? What if your arms are too short, or your legs too long? And also, could someone please explain exactly what a bootstrap even looks like?
And yet. Self-determination, it seems to me, is the great, if often elusive, promise offered by our modern democracy. We’ve all seen some shining examples of that lately.
To continue reading MKA's column
on Parade.com, click HERE.
|
|
Debut Spotlight
From the imagination of acclaimed actor Lou Diamond Phillips (Prodigal Son, La Bamba, Young Guns) comes an epic and unforgettable Science Fiction Fantasy tale. Imagine the intrigue of Game of Thrones mixed with the star-crossed romance of Romeo and Juliet, but in space. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairy tale of the same name, Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira is perfect for fans of Dune, Aurora Rising, and Stardust. Tinderbox has been called “an amazingly prescient tale from one of the finest storytellers I know,” by Longmire author Craig Johnson, and “a wonderful mashup of Stars Wars, Game of Thrones, and one of Hans Christian Andersen's most complex fairy tales” by NYT bestselling author (The Flight Attendant, Hour of the Witch) and former F&F guest Chris Bohjalian. Meet LDP on our show on August 18th!
|
|
Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming soon! Out this Friday, August 13th!—Ron Block talks with Monica West, author of Revival Season & Wanda M. Morris, author of All Her Little Secrets. Both are debuts and stunning examples of Diverse Voices.
Out Now! WB_S1E9—Join Ron Block in conversation with acclaimed memoirists Lisa Donovan (Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger) and Wayetu Moore (The Dragons, The Giant, The Women). LISTEN NOW!
Out Now! WB_S1E8—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. LISTEN NOW!
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!
Listen, download, subscribe, rate, review & share wherever you get your podcasts!
|
|
News from the F&F Official Book Club
We have rescheduled our one-year anniversary celebration for Sunday August 15th at 7pm ET. There will be live giveaways and surprises in store. Please join us on The Official Friends and Fiction Facebook page HERE.
Our book club chat with Kristin Harmel about her beautiful book The Forest of Vanishing Stars will take place Monday August 16th at 7pm ET on the book club page.
Have a look at our monthly book club schedule through January 2022 and be sure to save the dates!
Aug 15: 1st Anniversary Celebration
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 superb recent Happy Hour chat with the wonderful Ron Block, click HERE to watch the replay.
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 Anglea May click HERE to watch it.
|
|
Take a Bite Out of Summer!
With Caroline's Cakes
ENTER TO WIN! Friends & Fiction has partnered with Caroline's Cakes for the "Take a Bite Out of Summer" campaign running through August and culminating in a grand prize awarded in time for Labor Day Weekend. One lucky winner will receive a Caroline's Cakes tote bag stuffed with swag from Caroline's and Friends & Fiction, ten books (the latest from each of the Fab Five hosts of F&F plus another book of each host author's choice), and Caroline's Cake Bites in the winner's flavor of choice. ENTER TO WIN by Wednesday August 25th at midnight ET. One lucky winner will be chosen at random and contacted on Thursday August 26, 2021. When the winner is contacted they will have the opportunity to choose their Caroline's Cake Bite flavor. GOOD LUCK!
|
|
And Now a Word from our Partners |
|
WELCOME STORYPOINT WINES!
It's “The Summer of Storypoint” on Friends & Fiction! Each week through the end of August, 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!
|
|
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!
|
|
CONNECT WITH THE FRIENDS & FICTION HOST AUTHORS! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
