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

Join us Wednesday, August 13th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Ron Block & Patti Callahan Henry welcome author Victoria Benton Frank to discuss The Violet Hour, her heartwarming and empowering new novel about thriving after tragedy.

Victoria Benton Frank was born in New York City and raised in Montclair, New Jersey, but considers herself to have dual residency in the Lowcountry. A graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute, Victoria worked in restaurants in New York before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, which she now calls home. According to Ann Patchett, Victoria’s 2023 debut novel My Magnolia Summer cemented her as “the rightful heir to the crown of summertime storytellers.” Victoria joins us to discuss her second novel, The Violet Hour, out August 12th from Gallery Books, which our own Patti Callahan Henry praises as “enchanting, hilarious, and insightful.”

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 8/13 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 8/15.

Order Victoria’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 loved being a part of the Friends & Fiction Official Book Club 5th anniversary party weekend in Atlanta. From the Friday night cocktail party to the Saturday evening author talk with Kimberly Brock, Vanessa Riley and Colleen Oakley at the Margaret Mitchell House it was great putting faces to so many F&F faithful. On Sunday, MKA was in conversation with NYT-bestselling author Karin Slaughter at FoxTale Book Shoppe to help launch Karin’s new release We Are All Guilty Here. The icing on the cake was hosting Meg Walker and her mom Kathy Ahl, and Ron Block at her home. Martinis were mixed and laughs were had, and there was even a field trip to the Atlanta Botanical Garden on Saturday. Now MKA is hiding out in the North Georgia mountains working on her next book. But, in the meantime, until Monday 9/1 (Labor Day!) the e-book of MKA’s first NYT-bestseller Hissy Fit (considered the gateway drug to MKA’s novels) is currently FREE for Kindle Unlimited members and just $1.99 to download for everyone else.

KRISTIN HARMEL can’t believe that her son Noah–who was in his last year of preschool when Friends & Fiction started in April 2020–has started fourth grade! The first day of school was this Monday, and Kristin’s trying to figure out where the time has gone! She already misses lazy summer days with him, but she’s excited to tackle the last of her revisions to her 2026 novel while he’s in school; she’s hoping to turn it into her editor next week!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY spent her Saturday at the Beaufort Farmer’s Market and it was a SMASH! She was supposed to sign from 9:30-11 and… had a line until almost 1 pm! Will and Salt kept running home to get her more books! Talk about a perfect National Book Lovers Day! She is excited to let you know that The Summer of Songbirds is $1.99 in ebook for all of August!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent the week in the NC mountains — just a girl in the mountains trying to find the ending of a story about a girl in the mountains! Her college besties joined her for three days of pure laughter. She hiked, ate fresh peaches, and is now back at the page. Have you signed up for her newsletter? She sent one out this week and you can subscribe right HERE. Oh, and Audible is having a one-day deal TODAY ONLY where the audiobook for The Secret Book of Flora Lea is marked down to just $3.99. This deal ends Wed 8/13 at 11:59pm Eastern. Patti is excited for you to watch tonight’s show with Victoria Benton Frank! Enjoy!

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 & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcomed TWO debut novelists! We love the discovery of new voices on F&F, so last week we were thrilled to bring you two first-time authors—Laura Dickerman whose Hot Desk will hit stores on September 2nd and Morgan Pager whose The Art of Vanishing came out on July 1st.

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

Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH Aug 13 | LISTEN Aug 15

LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH Aug 20 | LISTEN Aug 22

Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH Aug 27 | LISTEN Aug 29

Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH Sept 3 | LISTEN Sept 5

LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH Sept 10 | LISTEN Sept 12

Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH Sept 17 | LISTEN Sept 19

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

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 (coming 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 Summer Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming events. How fun to dress to match the books?!

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 more than 38,000 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 Kristin Harmel about her novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. Mark your calendars for August 18th for their next author guest, Eliza Knight, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen. 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 July prompt is to read a book set in France and for August it’s to read an author’s sophomore book.

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, August 6th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome TWO debut novelists! We love the discovery of new voices on F&F, so this week we are thrilled to bring you two first-time authors—Laura Dickerman whose Hot Desk will hit stores on September 2nd and Morgan Pager whose The Art of Vanishing came out on July 1st.

With an MA in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School, Laura Dickerman has taught high school English at the Hopkins School, the Collegiate School, and Germantown Friends. She joins us from her home in Atlanta to discuss her rollicking, sparkling, and funny novel that spans decades and generations of a family in the publishing industry. A fresh take on the workplace rom-com, Hot Desk is described as Younger meets Writers & Lovers. Morgan Pager is a publishing professional and the content creator behind NYC Book Girl. A graduate of Duke University, Pager joins us from her home on the Upper West Side to discuss her “wildly inventive” (Jodi Picoult) debut The Art of Vanishing. This stunningly original love story between a museum employee and the man in a masterpiece hanging on the walls is a breathtaking debut about time, art, and the enduring power of love. We are excited to introduce you to both of these first-time novelists!

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 8/6 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 8/8.

Order Laura’s book and Morgan’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 continued her birthday celebration by taking her granddaughter and daughter-in-law to New York City for a weekend of theater-going and sightseeing. Somehow, they managed to fit in a tour of the glorious John Singer Sargent exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Circle Line Tour that took them past Ellis Island (where some scenes from MKA’s upcoming book take place) and the Statue of Liberty, a shopping trip to Greenwich Village (where MKA’s Bright Lights Big Christmas was set) and tickets to see two blockbuster Broadway shows, Gypsy and Just In Time. F&F managing director Meg Walker (and her mom Kathy and daughter Grace) joined in the fun at the performance of Gypsy. Of course, MKA squeezed in brunch with her publicity and marketing team from St. Martin’s Press. This weekend promises to be just as fun-packed, with MKA headlining the Friends & Fiction Book Club 5th Anniversary celebration at the Margaret Mitchell House on Saturday night, along with F&F fave authors Colleen Oakley, Kimberly Brock, Vanessa Riley and Lauren Connolly. Buy tickets here. On Sunday, MKA will be in conversation with Karin Slaughter at Woodstock Arts Theatre in Woodstock, GA to mark the publication of Karin’s riveting new novel We Are All Guilty Here. Tickets are available through FoxTale Book Shoppe here.

KRISTIN HARMEL is finally home after a whirlwind two weeks of travel–just in time to get her son Noah prepared to start fourth grade this coming Monday! Where did the summer go? She was thrilled to celebrate the 70th anniversary of her grandparents-in-law on Saturday night at the Sunset Country Club in St. Louis with her husband’s entire extended family, which was awesome. Yesterday, Kristin met with the other members of the search committee for Orlando’s third Poet Laureate at Orlando’s City Hall to nominate three finalists for the position, and next week, she’ll be hard at work on the revision of her 2026 novel!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a really fun week traveling for a Blue Cross Blue Shield event! For some fun impromptu news, Kristy will be signing Beach House Rules and all her other books at the Beaufort Farmers Market this Saturday from 9:30 am until 11:00 am. If you are in the area, she would love to see you! Kristy is soaking up the last little bit of summer with her favorite boys and hopes you are all doing the same! If you are looking for one more book to squeeze in this year The Summer of Songbirds is an Amazon Kindle Monthly Deal! Yay! $1.99 all month long.

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent the week in the (rainy) NC mountains with family and friends and is loving every minute of the less-than-90-degree temps! She is researching and writing and eeking out the very last of summer. She loved interviewing Laura and Morgan for this week’s show and she hopes you love it too!

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.

If you’ll be in the Atlanta area this weekend, join in on the amazing festivities that the Friends & Fiction Book Club has planned to celebrate their 5th anniversary! Brenda & Lisa have lined up a special group rate on hotel rooms at Le Meridien Atlanta Perimeter in Dunwoody (details HERE) and ensured non-stop bookish fun with events from Friday 8/8 – Sunday 8/10:

📚FRI 8/8, 7pm — Happy Hour with guests Ron Block, Meg Walker, and author Emily Carpenter at Lazy Dog in Dunwoody. Details HERE.
📚SAT 8/9, 11am — Sweet Tea Social at Poe & Company Bookstore in Milton with featured authors Piper Huguley, Denene Millner & Kristen Ness. Get TICKETS.
📚SAT 8/9, 6:30pm — 5-Year Anniversary Party at the Atlanta History Center’s Historic Margaret Mitchell House with Mary Kay Andrews, Kimberly Brock, Lauren Connolly, Colleen Oakley & Vanessa Riley. Get TICKETS.
📚SUN 8/10, 10:30am — Brunch & Book Swap sponsored by Zibby Publishing at Le Meridien Atlanta Perimeter in Dunwoody. Details HERE.
📚SUN 8/10, 3pm — Meet-up at Foxtale Book Shoppe followed by Karin Slaughter in convo with MKA at Woodstock Arts Theatre. Get TICKETS.

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 & Mary Kay Andrews welcomed #1 NYT-bestselling author Susan Wiggs to discuss her wrenching but life-affirming new novel, Wayward Girls, based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption set in the turbulent Vietnam era in Buffalo, New York.

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

Celebrating Debuts! Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing & Laura Dickerman, Hot Desk
WATCH Aug 6 | LISTEN Aug 8

Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH Aug 13 | LISTEN Aug 15

LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH Aug 20 | LISTEN Aug 22

Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH Aug 27 | LISTEN Aug 29

Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH Sept 3 | LISTEN Sept 5

LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH Sept 10 | LISTEN Sept 12

Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH Sept 17 | LISTEN Sept 19

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

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 (coming 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 Summer Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming events. How fun to dress to match the books?!

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 more than 38,000 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 Kristin Harmel about her novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. Mark your calendars for August 18th for their next author guest, Eliza Knight, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen. 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 July prompt is to read a book set in France and for August it’s to read an author’s sophomore book.

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, July 30th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Patti Callahan Henry & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 NYT-bestselling author Susan Wiggs to discuss her wrenching but life-affirming new novel, Wayward Girls, based on a true story of survival, friendship, and redemption set in the turbulent Vietnam era in Buffalo, New York.

Susan Wiggs is the author of more than fifty novels, including the beloved Lakeshore Chronicles series and the recent New York Times bestsellers The Lost and Found Bookshop, The Oysterville Sewing Circle, and Family Tree. Her award-winning books have been translated into two dozen languages. She joins us from her home in Washington State’s Puget Sound to discuss Wayward Girls, her haunting and thrilling new tale of six teens condemned to forced labor in the dark and secretive Good Shepherd Catholic reform school controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns. Called “a gut-wrenching story of survival, friendship, and justice,” by Robert Dugoni, and “a page-turner, replete with mystery and suspense,” by Adriana Trigiani, this novel is a bold leap in a new direction for Susan and we are so excited to talk to her all about it.

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 7/30 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 8/1.

Order Susan’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 celebrated her birthday weekend in style–hit up two estate sales, fancy dinner out with Mr. MKA, and a family birthday dinner featuring Mr. MKA’s beef tenderloin, and a birthday cake baked by her granddaughter Molly. Now she’s back to work on next summer’s book.

KRISTIN HARMEL is heading to St. Louis this week for the 70th anniversary celebration of her husband Jason’s grandparents…. Congratulations, Grandma and Grandpa Trouba! After four days in New York (including a fabulous happy hour with her Gallery Books publishing team, a fancy dinner with her husband, the best-ever pancakes at Bubby’s, and two Broadway shows), she flew home and then jetted out the next day for a quick business trip to Los Angeles, so she’s looking forward to being at home (and finishing edits to her 2026 book!) after a whirlwind travel schedule over the last two weeks! Kristin also sends belated happy birthday wishes to our Mary Kay!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY spent a long weekend in Myrtle Beach for her son’s final AAU basketball tournament of the summer—and had a fabulous event with Bookends and the Little River Chamber of Commerce and signed tons of stock at the Barnes & Noble in Myrtle Beach Commons while she was there! This week, she heads to Palmetto Bluff for a few fun-filled days and a great event with Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC. In the meantime, she is savoring every moment of summer with her family and friends!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent a week writing, reading, and catching up with friends and family after being gone so long. She wants to tell EVERYONE about something really exciting this fall – THE VERY FIRST ASPEN LITERARY FESTIVAL – you’ve got to see this lineup (including Patti and Elin Hilderbrand). If you’re wondering – what bookish thing should I do this fall? THIS IS IT! She loved seeing her novel in the Woman’s World list of Ten Gripping Historical Fiction, along with her pal, Kristin Harmel. On Sunday she taught an online class for Kauai Writer’s Conference with Paula McLain about research in historical fiction and is counting the days until the actual conference in Hawaii. CHECK OUT details here and join us for an incredible lineup of teachers and panels. This week she heads to the mountains to write like mad because the book is set in the deep woods of NC and…well, more on that later.

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, #1 bestselling novelist Lisa Scottoline to discuss our July 2025 Pick of the Month, her new twisty gothic thriller with dashes of romance, The Unraveling of Julia, in which a young widow inherits a Tuscan estate from a mysterious benefactor and finds herself thrust into the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy.

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

Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls
WATCH July 30 | LISTEN Aug 1

Celebrating Debuts! Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing & Laura Dickerman, Hot Desk
WATCH Aug 6 | LISTEN Aug 8

Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH Aug 13 | LISTEN Aug 15

LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH Aug 20 | LISTEN Aug 22

Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH Aug 27 | LISTEN Aug 29

Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH Sept 3 | LISTEN Sept 5

LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH Sept 10 | LISTEN Sept 12

Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH Sept 17 | LISTEN Sept 19

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

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 (coming 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 Summer Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming events. How fun to dress to match the books?!

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 more than 38,000 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 Kristin Harmel about her novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. Mark your calendars for August 18th for their next author guest, Eliza Knight, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen. 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 July prompt is to read a book set in France and for August it’s to read an author’s sophomore book.

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, July 23rd 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, #1 bestselling novelist Lisa Scottoline to discuss our July 2025 Pick of the Month, her new gothic thriller with dashes of romance and excellent twists, The Unraveling of Julia, in which a young widow inherits a Tuscan estate from a mysterious benefactor and finds herself thrust into the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy.

Lisa is a #1 bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author of 37 novels. She also wrote a series of humorous memoirs, co-authored with her daughter, novelist Francesca Serritella. Lisa is President of Mystery Writers of America and she reviews fiction for the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. A former trial lawyer, she graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania and cum laude from its law school, where she taught Justice & Fiction. There are 30 million copies of her books in print, and she is published in 35 countries. She joins us from her Pennsylvania farm with her array of disobedient pets to discuss her twisty, transportive, and haunting, new novel, The Unraveling of Julia. Called "pulse-pounding, propulsive, and utterly unputdownable,” by our own Kristy Woodson Harvey, this is suspense with a passport and we can’t wait to talk to Lisa all about it!

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 7/23 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 7/25.

Order Lisa’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 had a great event with Sarah MacLean for her new novel THESE SUMMER STORMS last week, but now it’s back to trying to shore up the saggy middle of her work-in-progress novel. But also—she’s eating a LOT of tomato sandwiches harvested from the backyard garden. She can’t wait to reconnect tonight with her longtime author pal Lisa Scottoline!

KRISTIN HARMEL is off on a trip to New York, Los Angeles, and St. Louis—part work, part vacation—and will be joining the live show tonight from a hotel room in midtown Manhattan after a day of meetings with her publishing team. She can’t wait to chat with one of her all-time faves, Lisa Scottoline!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the best, best time celebrating her 40th birthday all week long last week and can’t thank each of you enough for your kind words and messages. If you want to check out some behind-the-scenes from her birthday party (okay… parties…), she is sharing pics over on Instagram and in her Substack this week. And… drumroll please… Her Spring 2026 book is off to copy edits! Hooray! Best birthday present of them all. She can’t wait to share it with you and really can’t wait to chat with Lisa this evening!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY is so excited to talk to Lisa Scottoline tonight! Meanwhile, she’s been home all week working like mad, writing, and catching up. Instead of a newsletter this week, Patti had a moment of nostalgia after watching Part I of the Billy Joel documentary and wrote an essay. You can read that HERE! She has one more The Story She Left Behind event in Birmingham this week.

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, Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcomed beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani to discuss The View from Lake Como, her new novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late.

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

LIVE! July Pick of the Month: Lisa Scottoline, The Unraveling of Julia
WATCH July 23 | LISTEN July 25

Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls
WATCH July 30 | LISTEN Aug 1

Celebrating Debuts! Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing & Laura Dickerman, Hot Desk
WATCH Aug 6 | LISTEN Aug 8

Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH Aug 13 | LISTEN Aug 15

LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH Aug 20 | LISTEN Aug 22

Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH Aug 27 | LISTEN Aug 29

Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH Sept 3 | LISTEN Sept 5

LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH Sept 10 | LISTEN Sept 12

Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH Sept 17 | LISTEN Sept 19

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

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 (coming 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 Summer Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming events. How fun to dress to match the books?!

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 more than 38,000 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 Kristin Harmel about her novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. Mark your calendars for August 18th for their next author guest, Eliza Knight, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen. 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 July prompt is to read a book set in France and for August it’s to read an author’s sophomore book.

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, July 16th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Mary Kay Andrews & Ron Block welcome beloved New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani to discuss The View from Lake Como, her new novel about one woman’s quest to build her own life before it’s too late.

In addition to writing 21 books published in 38 languages around the world, Adriana is also an award-winning playwright, television writer/producer, and filmmaker. She wrote and directed the major motion picture of her debut novel, Big Stone Gap, adapted her novel, Very Valentine, for TV, and directed the documentary, Queens of the Big Time. For her significant contributions to literature, culture, and community, Adriana has been awarded Italy’s Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, the Library of Virginia’s Patron of Letters degree, and Ellis Island’s Medal of Honor. Trigiani grew up in Appalachia where she co-founded The Origin Project, and she’s also a proud member of the New York State Council on the Arts. She joins us from her home in Greenwich Village to discuss The View from Lake Como, which has been named to most-anticipated lists by People, Elle, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly and which Booklist calls “an immersive, big-hearted ode to family, history, and the importance of independence.”

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 7/16 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 7/18.

Order Adriana’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 loved celebrating two of her grandchildren’s birthdays last week–skillet chocolate cookie cake for Griffin, Publix cheesecake with fresh berries for Molly. She’s reliving her research trip to Ireland last fall while working away on next summer’s book. In the meantime, she’s basking in porch reads that take her to Italy–from this week’s F&F guest Adriana Trigiani’s The View from Lake Como, and next week’s live guest, Lisa Scottoline’s The Unraveling of Julia. MKA will be live and in conversation at Eagle Eye Books in Decatur tonight with author Sarah MacLean for her brand-new These Summer Storms. Buy tickets here.

KRISTIN HARMEL loved The View from Lake Como and is excited that Adriana Trigiani is tonight’s show guest. She’s also looking very much forward to the LIVE show next week, featuring dear friend Lisa Scottoline, whose The Unraveling of Julia she is currently devouring. (We’ll be talking all about it next week!) Kristin has a busy few weeks of travel–some work, some family fun–kicking off this Saturday with a birthday celebration for her dad in Tampa Bay, followed by a part-work/part-vacation trip to New York (with a beach day in Palm Beach wedged in beforehand), then a business trip to LA, then a family reunion trip to St. Louis. Phew! She’s exhausted (but also excited!) just thinking about it! Finally… THE HAPPIEST OF HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO OUR KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is busy prepping for turning 40 this week and is excited to celebrate with her parents and closest friends. Kristy will forever be celebrating her 40th birthday at this time every year! She was so excited to see Beach House Rules in her first ever People Magazine print feature! They had the perfect description and Kristy shared it over on Instagram if you want to check it out! There is still plenty of time for summer reading and if you are looking for a book for the beach or pool, check out Beach House Rules!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY is so excited for KRISTY’S BIRTHDAY WEEK as she enters another decade. Patti had so much fun in NYC for Good Morning America, talking about THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND and her other beach read suggestions, and she is still a little buzzy from the whole thing. Her family (daughter, son-in-law, two grands, and two sons) have been in town for a couple weeks and now her house is empty, trashed, and lonely. But that means she is back to work on her newest!

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 & Patti Callahan Henry welcomed NYT-bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton to discuss her new dual-timeline historical novel, Typewriter Beach, the unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star.

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

Adriana Trigiani, The View from Lake Como
WATCH July 16 | LISTEN July 18

LIVE! July Pick of the Month: Lisa Scottoline, The Unraveling of Julia
WATCH July 23 | LISTEN July 25

Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls
WATCH July 30 | LISTEN Aug 1

Celebrating Debuts! Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing & Laura Dickerman, Hot Desk
WATCH Aug 6 | LISTEN Aug 8

Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH Aug 13 | LISTEN Aug 15

LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH Aug 20 | LISTEN Aug 22

Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH Aug 27 | LISTEN Aug 29

Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH Sept 3 | LISTEN Sept 5

LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH Sept 10 | LISTEN Sept 12

Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH Sept 17 | LISTEN Sept 19

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

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 (coming 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 Summer Colors!

We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming events. How fun to dress to match the books?!

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 more than 38,000 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 Kristy Woodson Harvey about her novel, Beach House Rules. Mark your calendars for July 21st for their next author guest, Kristin Harmel, when they’ll discuss her new novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. 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 July prompt is to read a book set in France and for August it’s to read an author’s sophomore book.

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