Meet Kathryn Stockett TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—May 13, 2026
Tune in at 7pm ET tonight for this week’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, May 13th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Patti Callahan Henry & Mary Kay Andrews welcome the multimillion-copy-selling author of The Help, Kathryn Stockett, to discuss The Calamity Club, her bold, big-hearted new novel about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what’s rightfully theirs—and the power of friendship to change everything.
Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing. Her first novel, The Help—a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t—was a #1 New York Times bestseller that has sold over 15-million copies worldwide and was the basis for the Academy Award-winning film. Seventeen years after this cultural phenomenon, Stockett returns with a new novel that Oprah Daily calls, “so immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end.” We cannot wait to talk to her about this eagerly anticipated book that Bonnie Garmus calls “a must-read,” Adriana Trigiani calls, “terrific,” and the New York Times calls, “heart-wrenching [and] often hilarious.”
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 5/13 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 5/15.
Meanwhile, order Kathryn’s new book on Bookshop.org! Shop all of our guests’ & hosts’ books in our F&F Shop on Bookshop.org!
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!
Latest News from the Fab Four!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is having an amazing time on tour and is loving seeing so many familiar and new faces! She still has events in Sneads Ferry, NC, Ocean Isle Beach, NC, Pawleys Island, SC, Columbia, SC, and Camden, SC coming up and would love to see you there! Check out her whole tour schedule here! Also, if you haven’t snagged your copy of SUMMER STATE OF MIND yet and are on the fence… Check out this awesome snippet in People! Kristy is so grateful for all the support so far on this launch and can’t thank each of you enough for your reviews and posts and showing up on tour and all the love! She hopes to see you soon in a town near you and hopes you’re loving SUMMER STATE OF MIND!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is getting revved up for the June 2nd publication of ROAD TRIP, her 34th novel. You can see her entire tour schedule here. Tickets are selling fast for the Atlanta launch party, at The Chapel on Sycamore in Decatur, where MKA will be in conversation with Karin Slaughter. Your ticket (buy it here!) gets you a signed first edition of the book, a swag bag, drinks and light bites. She and Mr. MKA are busy testing recipes for a signature cocktail they’re calling The Roadie, made with their favorite bourbon from 13th Colony Distilleries. Can’t make it to Atlanta? Join the F&F crew (minus Kristy, who has a previous commitment) in Savannah, where ROAD TRIP is partially set, on Weds. June 3 for the Friend & Fiction Live launch party, complete with managing director Meg Walker and rockstar librarian Ron Block. You’re coming right? Buy tickets here.
KRISTIN HARMEL is back home after a whirlwind trip to France last week with her family. Paris is always a highlight, of course, but this time, she was very moved to get to visit Normandy, where she, Jason, and 10-year-old Noah toured D-Day sites including Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Brecourt Manor, and the American Cemetery with a private guide (Malcolm Clough, who was absolutely fabulous–Kristin would recommend him to anyone planning to visit Normandy!). In Reims, the center of the Champagne region (where The Winemaker’s Wife is set), she, Jason, and Noah got to visit Notre Dame de Reims (the stunning cathedral where 25 kings of France were coronated) and the G.H. Mumm Champagne house for a tour. And in Paris, they had some fabulous meals out, got to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, picnicked under the Eiffel Tower, and even took a quick half-day trip out to Disneyland Paris (45 minutes from Paris by train). She wishes they could have stayed longer, but as usual, Paris has refilled her creative tank, and she’s back at her desk, diving headfirst into writing her 2028 novel! She hopes all the moms in Friends & Fiction world had a great Mother’s Day!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY had a lovely long weekend in the North Carolina mountains where her new book is set and spent Mother’s Day with family and being spoiled! She is so excited for y’all to watch the interview with Kathryn Stockett tonight, and if you’re anywhere near Fairhope, AL this weekend, Patti will be interviewing Kathryn live at Page and Palette. Meanwhile she is slowly slowly slowly putting her office back together after cleaning it shoveling it out for a new paint job!
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related!
Upcoming Events
Kristy is on tour now for her forthcoming book, Summer State of Mind. Stay tuned to her events page HERE.
MKA will be touring in June for her forthcoming book, Road Trip. Stay tuned to her events page HERE.
Kristin will be touring in July/August for her forthcoming book, Meet Me in Paris. Stay tuned to her events page HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
Join us Wednesday, June 3rd for an in-person Friends & Fiction Live event in Savannah to celebrate the launch of MKA’s Road Trip! Get full details and tickets HERE!
Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!
In Case You Missed It
On our most recent new episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcomed #1 NYT-bestselling author Christina Baker Kline to discuss her new historical novel, The Foursome, a boldly original reimagining of the astonishing true story of two sisters in nineteenth-century North Carolina — Kline’s own distant relatives — who married world-famous conjoined twins from Siam.
You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.
Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction Show
All shows can be watched on Facebook & YouTube each Wednesday evening at 7pm ET, and listened to on our podcast each Friday, all year long.
Already aired: Joshilyn Jackson, Missing Sister
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lucy Score, Mistakes Were Made
WATCH | LISTEN
SPRING 2026 SCHEDULE:
Already aired: Virginia Evans, The Correspondent & Allen Levi, Theo of Golden
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Evelyn Clarke, The Ending Writes Itself
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Tana French, The Keeper
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lynn Cullen, When We Were Brilliant & Priya Parmar, The Original
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Kristy Woodson Harvey, Summer State of Mind
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Christina Baker Kline, The Foursome
WATCH | LISTEN
Kathryn Stockett, The Calamity Club
Watch: 5/13 | Listen: 5/15
Mary Kay Andrews, Road Trip
Watch LIVE: 5/27 | Listen: 5/29
Annabel Monaghan, Dolly All the Time
Watch: 6/3 | Listen: 6/5
Ann Patchett, Whistler
Watch: 6/10 | Listen: 6/12
Lisa See, Daughters of the Sun and Moon
Watch: 6/17 | Listen: 6/19
Lisa Jewell, It Could Have Been Her
Watch: 6/24 | Listen: 6/26
F&F 2026 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2026 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MAY 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s forthcoming book SUMMER STATE OF MIND!
2. JUNE 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of ROAD TRIP by Mary Kay Andrews!
3. AUGUST 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of MEET ME IN PARIS by Kristin Harmel!
Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!
F&F Merch Store
We have a Friends & Fiction merch store with t-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs and a book bag on Bonfire. We also have other items like wine tumblers, reading journals, and our original white v-neck logo tees available through Oxford Exchange.
We’ve added TWO NEW COLORS for our fan favorite name list tee-shirts. We now have them in a heathery hunter green and a kelly green—both of which match perfectly with the three new Fab Four books out in May, June & July! Get yours now and dress to match the books when you come out to Kristy, MKA & Kristin’s tour events!
F&F Official Book Club & 2025 Reading Challenge
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison for monthly book club picks and live online author chats on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa, where they’ve amassed nearly 40,000 of their own members. You can also follow the Book Club on Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel where you can catch past discussions, including their most recent chat with Sarah Fox about her new novel, Definitely Maybe Not a Detective. Mark your calendars for May 18th for their next author guest, Wade Rouse, when they’ll discuss his new novel, That’s What Friends Are For. The Book Club is also hosting the 2026 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The April prompt is to read a book recommended by a favorite librarian and for May it’s to read a book about a female detective.
Stay in Touch!
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Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
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Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.
