Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!

Join us Wednesday, October 22nd at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Ron Block & Patti Callahan Henry welcome New York Times bestselling author Catherine Newman to discuss her wonderful new novel WRECK, full of laughter and heart, about marriage, family, and what happens when life doesn’t go as planned.

Catherine is the NYT-bestselling author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, the kids’ craft book Stitch Camp, the bestselling how-to books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say?, and the novel We All Want Impossible Things. Her 2024 smash success novel, Sandwich, was an instant NYT-bestseller and called “joy in book form” by Ann Patchett. Catherine writes Crone Sandwich on Substack and has been a regular contributor to the New York Times, Real Simple, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Cup of Jo among other publications. She joins us to discuss WRECK, her “utterly joyful standalone novel” (Oprah Daily) that brings back Rocky and her family from Sandwich, this time in at home Western Massachusetts, for an exploration of the hidden rules of family, the heavy weight of uncertainty, and the gnarly fact that the people you love aren’t always who you want them to be.

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 10/22 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/24.

Order Catherine’s 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!

Subscribed

Latest News from the Fab Four!

MARY KAY ANDREWS talked her husband into being her backup dancer for Kitchen Karaoke–when her Instagram account reaches 100k. Could be epic. MKA went on a road trip to the North Carolina mountains to work on revisions for her upcoming novel ROAD TRIP. She’s trying very hard not to binge-watch the new season of THE DIPLOMAT all in one night.

KRISTIN HARMEL is SO excited to reveal the cover of her brand-new novel, MEET ME IN PARIS, coming in August 2026! Nine Americans in Paris. Seven intertwined love stories. One City of Light. Love Actually meets The Notebook in a tale of love, loss, and finding your way home, all set over the course of one life-changing week in modern-day Paris. MEET ME IN PARIS is available for preorder now!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is getting thrilled about her cover reveal on October 28. She is SO excited to share her new book news with all of you! She was so happy to be home this weekend, and spent lots of time hanging out and catching up with friends and is speaking at a women’s conference tomorrow about one of her favorite topics: time management! She has lots of books on her desk to blurb and is loving the one she’s reading now: Royal Spin.

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY was in New York City last week visiting her agent and editor (Lordy, do we have exciting things cooking for all of you!), planning the Authors Guild gala with a committee, as well as attending a birthday party for her dear friend. On top of that delicious sundae, she had the cherry on top of finally seeing RAGTIME on Broadway. She was BLOWN away; if you get a chance to see it, GO! She spent the weekend having her heart broken by Auburn football once again (but she still loves them). This week Patti wrote a special newsletter about Sue Monk Kidd and how Sue’s work and life influenced her own.

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!

Subscribed

Upcoming Events

See Kristin’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.

Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristin Harmel welcomed #1 New York Times bestselling author (and Stephen King’s son!) Joe Hill to discuss his new novel, King Sorrow, a chilling tale of modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically, horrifyingly successful… calling forth an evil entity that demands regular human sacrifice.

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: LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Meagan Church, The Mad Wife
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Mitch Albom, Twice — October Pick of the Month!
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Joe Hill, King Sorrow
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Catherine Newman, Wreck
WATCH Oct 22 | LISTEN Oct 24

David Baldacci, Nash Falls — November Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Nov 5 | LISTEN Nov 7

Brisa Carleton, Last Call at the Savoy
WATCH Nov 12 | LISTEN Nov 14

Lee & Andrew Child, Exit Strategy
WATCH Nov 19 | LISTEN Nov 21

John Irving, Queen Esther — December Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Dec 3 | LISTEN Dec 5

Ace Atkins, Everybody Wants To Rule the World
WATCH Dec 10 | LISTEN Dec 12

Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Birdwatcher
WATCH Dec 17 | LISTEN Dec 19

F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange

The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.

This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet!
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!

*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (released in paperback June 3)!

Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!

Order Now

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.

Tees in New Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new colors (hot pink & turquoise!) to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line!

Order New Summer T-Shirts!

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 Morgan Ryan about her novel, A Resistance of Witches. Mark your calendars for November 17th for their next author guest, Alisha Fernandez Miranda, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Someone’s Gotta Give. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The October prompt is to read a book with “magic” in the title and for November it’s to read a book written by a celebrity.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Subscribed

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!

Join us Wednesday, October 15th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Patti Callahan Henry & Kristin Harmel welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill to discuss his new novel, King Sorrow, a chilling tale of modern-world dangers, dark academia, and the unexpected consequences of revenge as six friends dabble in the occult and are tragically, horrifyingly successful… calling forth an evil entity that demands regular human sacrifice.

Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King, is the #1 bestselling, award-winning author of novels (The Fireman, NOS4A2, Horns, Heart-Shaped Box), fiction collections (Strange Weather, Full Throttle, 20th Century Ghosts), graphic novels (Basketful of Heads, Plunge, Sea Dogs, Dying is Easy, Wraith), and a comic-book series (Locke & Key) which he co-created with artistic maestro Gabriel Rodriguez. Much of his work has been adapted for film and television. He joins us to discuss his epic new horror novel, King Sorrow, which Ruth Ware has called, “a brilliantly Faustian fable with a heart as huge as a dragon’s, and a stinging twist in its tail,” and which has earned a trifecta of starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus & Booklist.

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 10/15 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/17.

Order Joe’s 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!

Subscribed

Latest News from the Fab Four!

MARY KAY ANDREWS was excited to graduate from club-like dressing to a splint as she continues to recover from hand surgery—and works on revisions for her summer 2026 novel ROAD TRIP. Last week she celebrated reaching 90k followers on Instagram, and added a second installment to her Breaking and Entering the Publishing World on her YouTube channel, which you can subscribe to here. It’s free!

KRISTIN HARMEL had the honor of attending a kickoff party for Orlando’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer annual walk benefitting the American Cancer Society, chaired by her very own oncological breast surgeon, Dr. Anu Saigal, who is one of the most extraordinary people Kristin knows. Kristin—a breast cancer survivor—will be walking on Oct. 25 to raise money for breast cancer research and support for breast cancer patients in need, and she hopes you’ll consider a small donation to her team for the fundraising walk!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a great weekend in the Northeast with her family… despite the Nor’easter! She is writing this on Monday while trying to get to Savannah to be in conversation with Nicholas Sparks—and hopefully to share it with you on F&F. She’s reading her Spring 2026 novel right now and can’t wait to tell you all about it after the epic cover reveal on October 28th! Save the date!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY loved interviewing William Kent Krueger in Atlanta last week and then she headed to Auburn to watch MKA’s Dawgs (UGA) beat us up in the second quarter (It hurt). Patti LOVED interviewing Joe Hill for this week’s show. He is Stephen King’s son and ya’ll are going to love hearing from him. Patti is in NYC this week for a friend’s birthday and some time with her agent and editor! Maybe it will be autumn there because it is not in the south…yet yet yet.

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!

Subscribed

Upcoming Events

See Kristin’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.

Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, the full F&F family gathered to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, internationally renowned, #1 NYT-bestselling author Mitch Albom, to discuss our October 2025 Pick of the Month, his new novel, Twice, a stunning love story that dares to explore how our unchecked desires might mean losing what we’ve had all along.

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: LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Meagan Church, The Mad Wife
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Mitch Albom, Twice — October Pick of the Month!
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Joe Hill, King Sorrow
WATCH Oct 15 | LISTEN Oct 17

Catherine Newman, Wreck
WATCH Oct 22 | LISTEN Oct 24

David Baldacci, Nash Falls — November Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Nov 5 | LISTEN Nov 7

Brisa Carleton, Last Call at the Savoy
WATCH Nov 12 | LISTEN Nov 14

Lee & Andrew Child, Exit Strategy
WATCH Nov 19 | LISTEN Nov 21

John Irving, Queen Esther — December Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Dec 3 | LISTEN Dec 5

Ace Atkins, Everybody Wants To Rule the World
WATCH Dec 10 | LISTEN Dec 12

Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Birdwatcher
WATCH Dec 17 | LISTEN Dec 19

F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange

The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.

This subscription includes three separate shipments:

1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet!
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!

*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (released in paperback June 3)!

Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!

Order Now

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.

Tees in New Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new colors (hot pink & turquoise!) to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line!

Order New Summer T-Shirts!

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 Regina Black about her novel, August Lane. Mark your calendars for October 20th for their next author guest, Morgan Ryan, when they’ll discuss her new novel, A Resistance of Witches. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a book that’s been on your TBR list for over a year and for October it’s to read a book with “magic” in the title.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Subscribed

Tune LIVE in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!

Join us Wednesday, October 8th LIVE at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as the full F&F family gathers to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, internationally renowned, #1 NYT-bestselling author Mitch Albom, to discuss our October 2025 Pick of the Month, his new novel, Twice, a stunning love story that dares to explore how our unchecked desires might mean losing what we’ve had all along.

Mitch Albom’s numerous books of fiction and nonfiction have collectively sold 42-million copies in 48 languages worldwide. He has written eight #1 New York Times bestsellers (including the beloved Tuesdays with Morrie), award-winning television films, stage plays, screenplays, a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and a musical. Through his work at the Detroit Free Press, he was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association and Michigan Sports halls of fame and is the recipient of the 2010 Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement. He founded the nonprofit SAY Detroit providing health, housing and education for Detroiters in need, and he operates Have Faith Haiti, a home and school for impoverished children and orphans in Port-au-Prince. He joins us from his home in Michigan to discuss Twice, a warm and heartfelt new novel that asks the question: What if you got to do everything in your life —twice?

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 10/8 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/10.

Order Mitch’s 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!

Subscribed

Latest News from the Fab Four!

MARY KAY ANDREWS is typing a little slower after having surgery to remove a cyst in her left hand last week, but she’s hard at work on revisions on Road Trip. Over the weekend she and her husband hosted a fun pre-homecoming party for granddaughter Molly and her friends.

KRISTIN HARMEL had a great time watching some Gator football over the weekend and also enjoyed a quick trip to Epcot for a breakfast in their French pavilion, which always reminds her of Paris. (All the waiters and waitresses are French!) She’s hard at work on a screenwriting project that she’ll hopefully be able to tell you about soon!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a great weekend celebrating her son’s birthday with his friends. She is looking forward to heading to the Northeast this weekend to catch a little foliage and get in the fall spirit. (Is the fall spirit a thing??) She is working away on her 2026 projects and cannot wait to start telling you all about all the fun things she has coming. She is reading Kissing the Sky by Lisa Patton and absolutely loving it!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY had a sweet week; she was awarded a Distinguished Alumnae Award from her alma mater Auburn University (did you know alma mater means “nurturing mother”? Well, now you do.) Her family showed up and it was a rare evening with everyone in one room, from parents to sisters to kids. She just sent out a newsletter where she talks all about it, as well as including the speech she gave. Read that HERE. She also spent the week working on her latest novel set in the wilds of a NC forest, and writing her class for the Kauai Writers Conference with Ariel Lawhon! Tomorrow she’ll be in Atlanta with William Kent Krueger if anyone can join us!

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!

Subscribed

Upcoming Events

Thurs, Oct. 9th, 6PM — Patti in conversation with William Kent Krueger at Sharon Forks Library in Cumming, GA. Get tickets HERE.

See Kristin’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.

Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Mary Kay Andrews welcomed bestselling author Meagan Church to discuss The Mad Wife, an exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations which will leave you questioning the lives we build—and the lies we live.

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: LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Meagan Church, The Mad Wife
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Mitch Albom, Twice — October Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Oct 8 | LISTEN Oct 10

Joe Hill, King Sorrow
WATCH Oct 15 | LISTEN Oct 17

Catherine Newman, Wreck
WATCH Oct 22 | LISTEN Oct 24

David Baldacci, Nash Falls — November Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Nov 5 | LISTEN Nov 7

Brisa Carleton, Last Call at the Savoy
WATCH Nov 12 | LISTEN Nov 14

Lee & Andrew Child, Exit Strategy
WATCH Nov 19 | LISTEN Nov 21

John Irving, Queen Esther — December Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Dec 3 | LISTEN Dec 5

Ace Atkins, Everybody Wants To Rule the World
WATCH Dec 10 | LISTEN Dec 12

Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Birdwatcher
WATCH Dec 17 | LISTEN Dec 19

F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange

The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.

This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!

*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (released in paperback June 3)!

Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!

Order Now

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.

Tees in New Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new colors (hot pink & turquoise!) to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line!

Order New Summer T-Shirts!

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 Regina Black about her novel, August Lane. Mark your calendars for October 20th for their next author guest, Morgan Ryan, when they’ll discuss her new novel, A Resistance of Witches. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a book that’s been on your TBR list for over a year and for October it’s to read a book with “magic” in the title.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Subscribed

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!

Join us Wednesday, October 1st at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristy Woodson Harvey & Mary Kay Andrews welcome bestselling author Meagan Church to discuss The Mad Wife, an exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations which will leave you questioning the lives we build—and the lies we live.

Meagan built a career as a storyteller and freelance writer for brands, blogs, and organizations. Her fiction (The Girls We Sent Away, The Last Carolina Girl) consists of emotionally-charged, thought-provoking, empathy-inducing stories that focus on overlooked and oppressed women’s voices from the past. A Midwesterner by birth, she joins us from her current home in North Carolina that she shares with her high school sweetheart, three children and a plethora of pets. We’re eager to discuss her new novel, The Mad Wife (Sourcebooks, Sept 30), which has been praised by Sarah Penner as “a gripping portrait of 1950s suburbia with a sinister undercurrent…a haunting, hopeful tale of resilience, reckoning, and the redemptive power of truth,” and by Ashley Winstead as a “one-sitting read [that] offers unforgettable characters, a beautiful window into life in the Fifties, and a stirring tribute to the strength of women.”

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 10/1 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 10/3.

Order Meagan’s 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!

Subscribed

Latest News from the Fab Four!

MARY KAY ANDREWS has been in wind-down mode since turning in her manuscript for her summer 2026 novel, which means answering emails, getting her hair and nails tended to–and decorating for Halloween. You can see the results on her Instagram and Facebook pages. And yes, she’s waiting for that dreaded revision letter from her editor. In the meantime, she’s launched her own YouTube channel, with a series of videos to help authors break into the publishing world. She’ll be posting some of her infamous WTAF videos there too, as well as whatever strikes her fancy in the upcoming weeks and months. Check it out HERE.

KRISTIN HARMEL spent the weekend with her family (and the family of her son’s best friend!) at Clearwater Beach, soaking in the sun, eating some awesome seafood, and watching speedboat races from the shore. This week, she’s back to work on some new projects for 2026 and beyond!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a great weekend celebrating her son’s 14th birthday–which is today! (She had to sign him up for driver’s ed this summer! What?) She is looking forward to an upcoming event with The Savannah Book Festival to launch Nicholas Sparks’s REMAIN. Get your tickets–or watch the replay right here on F&F! In the meantime, she is writing up a storm, reading a giant stack of manuscripts and ARCs on her desk (YAY!), and generally savoring the lovely transition to fall!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY just returned from the Aspen Literary Festival where she marveled at the golden hues of autumn and the aspen trees. She hiked and met some of her very favorite authors; it was glorious (if you want to see pictures see her INSTAGRAM). She is back at the desk and working on her next novel; her hikes in the Aspen forest inspired some new scenes. For our William Kent Krueger fans, she will be interviewing him in Atlanta next week on October 9th.

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!

Subscribed

Upcoming Events

See Kristin’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.

Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcomed acclaimed NYT-bestselling novelist Jane Hamilton to discuss her stunning new coming-of-age novel, The Phoebe Variations, about girls, mothers, and finding one’s way in the world.

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: LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations
WATCH now | LISTEN now

NEW! Fall Season Line-Up!

Meagan Church, The Mad Wife
WATCH Oct 1 | LISTEN Oct 3

Mitch Albom, Twice — October Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Oct 8 | LISTEN Oct 10

Joe Hill, King Sorrow
WATCH Oct 15 | LISTEN Oct 17

Catherine Newman, Wreck
WATCH Oct 22 | LISTEN Oct 24

David Baldacci, Nash Falls — November Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Nov 5 | LISTEN Nov 7

Brisa Carleton, Last Call at the Savoy
WATCH Nov 12 | LISTEN Nov 14

Lee & Andrew Child, Exit Strategy
WATCH Nov 19 | LISTEN Nov 21

John Irving, Queen Esther — December Pick of the Month!
WATCH LIVE! Dec 3 | LISTEN Dec 5

Ace Atkins, Everybody Wants To Rule the World
WATCH Dec 10 | LISTEN Dec 12

Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Birdwatcher
WATCH Dec 17 | LISTEN Dec 19

F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange

The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.

This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet!
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!

*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (released in paperback June 3)!

Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!

Order Now

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.

Tees in New Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new colors (hot pink & turquoise!) to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line!

Order New Summer T-Shirts!

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 Regina Black about her novel, August Lane. Mark your calendars for October 20th for their next author guest, Morgan Ryan, when they’ll discuss her new novel, A Resistance of Witches. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The October prompt is to read a book with “magic” in the title and for November it’s to read a book written by a celebrity.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Subscribed

Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!

Join us Wednesday, September 24th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcome acclaimed NYT-bestselling novelist Jane Hamilton to discuss her stunning new coming-of-age novel, The Phoebe Variations, about girls, mothers, and finding one’s way in the world.

Jane Hamilton’s novels have won literary prizes, have been made into films, and have been international bestsellers. Two of them — The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World — were selections of Oprah’s Book Club. Her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times; The Washington Post; Allure; O, The Oprah Magazine; Elle; and various anthologies. She joins us from her home on an apple farm in Wisconsin to discuss her latest novel, The Phoebe Variations (Sept 23, Zibby Publishing), which is already an Oprah Daily Best Book of Fall, an Indie Next Pick for October, and a LibraryReads Pick for September and which has been described by Meg Wolitzer as “glorious,” and by Allegra Goodman as “poignant and funny with plenty of unexpected twists and turns.”

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 9/24 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/26.

Order Jane’s 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!

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Latest News from the Fab Four!

MARY KAY ANDREWS is insanely jealous of all the fun times her F&F sisters have been having while she’s been toiling away, trying to tie up loose ends in her 2026 release, ROAD TRIP. She has ingested an obscene number of peanut M&Ms during her race to the finish line.

KRISTIN HARMEL spent the weekend cheering 9-year-old Noah on in basketball, attending a Wicked-themed charity gala benefitting Next Step Orlando—and taking her first trip of the year to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, where she walked around the world and ate everything from fried pickle spears to chicken tikka masala to pumpkin seed roasted brussel sprouts. She even tried a pickle milkshake, which was–impossibly, unexpectedly–really tasty. Obviously, all that walking burned off all the food calories… right? She also turned in the final draft of her 2026 book, and she’s eager to see it go into production (which means we should have advanced copies in a few months). She’s very grateful to her Friends & Fiction co-host Kristy for reading the book for a blurb! She’s excited to see one of her favorite bands, Sister Hazel (we had Ken and Drew on Friends & Fiction in July 2020–they played one of their hit songs, All For You!), live this week in Orlando! Be sure to join Kristin tomorrow (Thursday) night at 8pm ET on Brenda Novak’s Book Group; THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU was the September pick for her subscription box, and Kristin will be chatting with Brenda all about it!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY celebrated the very last day of summer with a Substack Live for BEACH HOUSE RULES. If you missed it, you can check it out here! She spent her weekend devouring our own Kristin Harmel’s MEET ME IN PARIS, and, let’s just say, you’d better whip out that TBR list and add it in bolded, highlighted type. It’s absolutely fabulous! She is working away on her 2026 projects, and can’t wait to share lots more about her Spring book in late October!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY is in Aspen CO for the very first Literary Festival there; check out her instagram for photos. She spent the week working on some essays and attending a play in Birmingham that blew her socks off (Carol Cooke Saved My Life). She also taught at the Broadleaf Writers Conference in Atlanta and snuck a quick getaway coffee with our MKA and saw our book club leader Lisa Harrison at the conference! She is waiting impatiently for autumn weather in the south.

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!

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Upcoming Events

See Kristin’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See MKA’s upcoming events HERE.

Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcomed bestselling, award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan to discuss her new cross-country cat-and-mouse chase, All This Could Be Yours.

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: F&F June Pick of the Month—Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Collette Marceau
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Julie Clark, The Ghostwriter
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Jess Walter, So Far Gone
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Fourth of July “Best-of” Kristin Hannah, The Women
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Meg Waite Clayton, Typewriter Beach
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Adriana Trigiani, The View from Lake Como
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: LIVE! July Pick of the Month: Lisa Scottoline, The Unraveling of Julia
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Celebrating Debuts! Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing & Laura Dickerman, Hot Desk
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Already aired: Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH now | LISTEN now

Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations
WATCH Sept 24 | LISTEN Sept 26

Stay tuned for the reveal of our Fall (Oct-Dec) Season guest lineup, coming later this week!

F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange

The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.

This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!

*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (released in paperback June 3)!

Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!

Order Now

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.

Tees in New Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new colors (hot pink & turquoise!) to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line.

Order New Summer T-Shirts!

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 Regina Black about her novel, August Lane. Mark your calendars for October 20th for their next author guest, Morgan Ryan, when they’ll discuss her new novel, A Resistance of Witches. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The September prompt is to read a book that’s been on your TBR list for over a year and for October it’s to read a book with “magic” in the title.

Stay in Touch!

Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.

Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.

Subscribed