Get to Know Our Friend, TJ Newman!
What would you be if you weren't a writer?
I feel like this is obvious, but I'd be a flight attendant. I truly loved the job. The people. The traveling. And I wouldn't be where I am now without it.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
I can remember the first time I read Where the Red Fern Grows. I don't know how old I was. Young. But I laid on the floor of my childhood bedroom and just wept. And that was the first time I realized the magic and the power of books and that a written story could make me feel that deeply. And I started writing my own stuff shortly thereafter.
Tell us about the first piece of fiction you ever wrote.
Oh gosh, not a clue what my first was - but I have a little handwritten two page piece titled "Heaven in the West" in a folder on my desk. I wrote it in third grade? Maybe? It's in cursive, but very shaky "just learned" cursive. It's about the house in Montana where my Grandpa and all his family were born and raised and how my deceased (spelled "decesed") relatives communicate through and live on in the house and the land. It's quite ambitious. But it definitely didn't win any prizes.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I always have a lit candle and a cup of coffee on my desk. And at a certain point in the day, the cup of coffee switches to a glass of wine. And then at a certain point in the night, it switches back to coffee, but decaf.
Is there a particular independent bookstore or library you'd like to shout-out?
Changing Hands in Arizona! Proud former bookseller right here, I left my job at the store to become a flight attendant, which is where I wrote FALLING and so full circle - I'm back in bookstores.
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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 $20 million for indie bookstores! Find SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by Tia Williams and FALLING by TJ Newman—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"
Mary Kay Andrews has no plans for the upcoming week after being on the road for all but three days over the past three weeks– other than writing and reading and enjoying the afterglow from our fabulous event in Manasquan last weekend with our friends at Booktowne. Maybe she’ll saunter over to the neighborhood watering hole when it opens this Saturday. Or maybe she’ll just lounge on the back porch and enjoy an icy adult beverage.
What MKA is Reading: Gilt, by Jamie Brenner, in preparation for a fun event with the author at Downtown Books in Manteo, N.C. on the Outer Banks in late June.
Kristin Harmel had THE BEST time visiting with so many Friends & Fiction members on the Jersey Shore last week. She also had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Manhattan–where she loved having dinner with fellow authors Kristy Woodson Harvey, Fiona Davis, Zibby Owens, and Jamie Brenner, as well as hanging out with her cousin, Courtney, and her Gallery Books family. A highlight of the week? Getting to see the incredible billboard for THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS in Times Square, high above 44th Street. She still can’t believe it.
What Kristin is Reading: Some research materials for her possible 2024 novel!
Kristy Woodson Harvey is finally home from being out on tour and is looking forward to spending her days writing and enjoying her family for a much needed reprieve from travel. This week FEELS LIKE FALLING comes out in Mass Market Paperback on Tuesday! She is excited for Memorial Day as it kicks off Summer, her favorite season, she plans to spend the weekend at the beach!
Patti Callahan Henry is still buzzing from all the thrilling energy we experienced in New Jersey as a group. And she has been wanting to say this for so long (two and a half years to be exact) and here it is: THE GRAND OPENING for the EXHIBIT for the treasure and artifacts of the S. S. Pulaski (the shipwreck in Surviving Savannah) will open on Friday, June 17th. ALSO if you’ve been wanting to listen to the audio of Becoming Mrs. Lewis and haven’t done so yet, there is a One-Day Audible Deal! On 5/26, Audible Premium Plus members can purchase Becoming Mrs. Lewis for just $5.
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Listen to the F&F Podcast!
Coming this Friday, May 27th—Joy Callaway joins Ron and Kristy to talk about her fascinating new book, The Grand Design
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!
Out Now! WB_S3E4—Ron Block and Patti Callahan explore mythology in fiction with Jennifer Saint and in non-fiction with Natalie Haynes. 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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Sponsor Spotlight
Charleston Coffee Roasters
Do you need a great hostess, graduation, or teacher gift? We think the F&F Book & Coffee Bundles available through our friends at Charleston Coffee Roasters make the perfect gift for the book and coffee lovers in your life! You choose a book by one of the Fab Four, then select the coffee roast and grind of your choice. Pay one price for the bundle and receive your autographed book & coffee pairing in the mail! Check them out HERE. Remember to enter our ongoing coffee-of-the-month giveaway. We’ve got ONE more 3-month subscription (a $90 value) up for grabs with a final winner to be announced ON TONIGHT’S SHOW! ENTER NOW! And don’t forget that everyone in the F&F community gets 20% off all bagged coffees on the Charleston Coffee Roasters website with code coffeewithfriends. You can even use it on their brand-new blend! Inspired by the conservation efforts of the South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston Coffee Roasters has just released a special new Aquarium Blend. A portion of all sales of this well-balanced, medium roast coffee will help sustain the Nutritional Care Program which supplies more than 200 pounds of food daily for the 5,000 animals that reside at the aquarium. SHOP NOW! While you’re on their website, please sign up for their email newsletter, and be sure to follow CCR on Facebook & Instagram.
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F&F is on YouTube!
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Did you miss the May 18th episode with Laura Dave and Nancy Thayer? 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 18th show HERE.
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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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