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Friends & Fiction

Friends & Fiction: Episode 104 – Maria Amparo Escandon

Maria Amparo Escandon

Friends & Fiction welcomes New York Times bestselling bilingual novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film producer, María Amparo Escandón. María is the author of #1 L.A. Times bestseller ESPERANZA’S BOX OF SAINTS and GONZÁLEZ & DAUGHTER TRUCKING CO. She joins us to discuss her third novel, L.A. WEATHER, which was selected as a Reese’s Book Club pick and a Best Book of the Month by Barnes & Noble, People, PopSugar, Bustle, CNN, E! News, and GMA. Named a writer to watch by both Newsweek and the L.A. Times, María was born in Mexico City and has lived in Los Angeles for four decades.

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 103 – Christmas Special

Christmas Special

For our super special F&F Christmas episode, we invited EIGHT amazing author guests to join us. Join the fun for a special group reading of a custom adaptation of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas penned by our own Kristin Harmel. Each of our eight guests also talks about their latest book and answers a few questions from the Fab Four. You won’t want to miss all the festive holiday fun! Meet F&F’s 12 Authors of Christmas: VIOLA SHIPMAN, The Secret of Snow JULIA KELLY, The Last Dance of the Debutante SADEQA JOHNSON, Yellow Wife ANITA HUGHES, A Magical New York Christmas JULIE CANTRELL, It’s a Wonderful Christmas RACHEL HAWKINS, Reckless Girls COURTNEY WALSH, A Cross Country Christmas SUSAN MEISSNER, The Nature of Fragile Things MARY KAY ANDREWS, The Santa Suit PATTI CALLAHAN, Once Upon a Wardrobe KRISTIN HARMEL, The Forest of Vanishing Stars KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY, Christmas in Peachtree Bluff

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 102 – Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

We are so pleased to welcome Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney whose 2016 debut novel THE NEST has been translated into more than 28 languages and is in development with Amazon Studios as a limited series. The Nest spent more than six months on the New York Times bestseller list, was a B&N Discover pick, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, and a best book of the year pick by People, the Washington Post, NPR, and Amazon among others. Cynthia joins us to discuss her latest novel, GOOD COMPANY, which was an instant New York Times bestseller and A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick when it was released in April 2021.

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 101 – Christopher Swann & John Hart

Christopher Swann & John Hart

Join us as we welcome two fabulous author guests! Meet John Hart, the author of six New York Times bestsellers (his latest: THE UNWILLING, Feb ’21, St. Martin’s Press) and the only author in history to win the Edgar Award for consecutive novels. Meet acclaimed Southern mystery master, Christopher Swann who joins us to talk about his third novel, A FIRE IN THE NIGHT (Sept ’21, Crooked Lane Books). With these two masters of the craft, we talk all about plot and character and setting, and what makes a thriller vs a mystery, and how to build suspense.

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 100 – 100th Episode Extravaganza

Elin Hilderbrand & Tim Ehrenberg

A good time is had by all on the 100th episode extravaganza! Joining us is #1 mega-bestselling author and dear friend of the show, Elin Hilderbrand, along with the marketing whiz behind Nantucket’s two indie bookshops, Nantucket Book Partners, and the Nantucket Book Festival, Tim Ehrenberg (known to his legions of social media followers as Tim Talks Books). There are guessing games with prizes and a series of lightning round questions covering everything from holiday traditions to favorite books. Join the Thanksgiving Eve fun as we look back with gratitude on the first 100 shows and look forward to all that lies ahead for this incredible community!

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 99 – Vivian Howard

Vivian Howard

Join us as we welcome award-winning cookbook author, TV personality, chef and restaurateur, Vivian Howard. Her first cookbook, DEEP RUN ROOTS, was a New York Times bestseller and was named “Cookbook of the Year” by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Vivian created and stars in the public television shows Somewhere South and A Chef’s Life, for which she has won Peabody, Emmy and James Beard awards. Vivian runs the restaurants Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, NC; Benny’s Big Time in Wilmington, NC; and Handy & Hot and Lenoir, both in Charleston, SC. In October 2020, Vivian released her second cookbook, THIS WILL MAKE IT TASTE GOOD. She joins us one week out from Thanksgiving to talk about her blockbuster shows, southern food, her storytelling cookbooks and some cooking tips for the upcoming holidays.

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 98 – Armando Lucas Correa & Katherine Reay

Armando Lucas Correa & Katherine Reay

On this episode we welcome two author guests. First we talk to Cuban-American author Armando Lucas Correa, a journalist who has worked at People en Español for 24 years, the past 14 as editorial director. He joins us to discuss his new memoir, IN SEARCH OF EMMA: How We Created Our Family, the moving story of his lifelong dream of becoming a father and the long emotional road to making that dream come true. Then we sit down with Katherine Reay, the national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels and one work of non-fiction book, Awful Beautiful Life, co-authored with Rebecca Powell. Katherine joins us to discuss her forthcoming historical novel, THE LONDON HOUSE, in which an uncovered family secret sets one woman on the journey of a lifetime through the history of Britain’s WWII spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris.

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 97 – Zibby Owens

Zibby Owens

F&F welcomes Zibby Owens, host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books and the author/editor of the anthology Moms Don’t Have Time To: A Quarantine Anthology. Named “NYC’s Top Book-fluencer” by Vulture and on Oprah’s list of top literary podcasts two years in a row, Zibby is a frequent contributor to such media outlets as Good Morning America and The Washington Post and just launched her own publishing house, Zibby Books. She joins us to talk about her new book Moms Don’t Have Time to Have Kids, released November 2, 2021 from Skyhorse.

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 96 – Richard Paul Evans

Richard Paul Evans

This episode of F&F is all about the magic of Christmas! On the first half of the show Kristy Woodson Harvey hosts as we welcome #1 New York Times bestselling master of the holiday craft, Richard Paul Evans whose new book THE CHRISTMAS PROMISE will hit stores in November 2021. We’ll hear about his #1 bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box and how that debut novel reshaped Richard’s life, leading to a string of 35 books, every single one of which has hit the NYT list. Then Mary Kay Andrews will take over Santa’s sleigh (holla!) as the Fab Four celebrate the launch of Kristy’s CHRISTMAS IN PEACHTREE BLUFF, which hit stores everywhere on October 26, 2021. We promise you’ll leave this show full of Christmas spirit, inspired to deck those halls and trim those trees—and to get a jump on your holiday shopping. Books make great gifts!

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Friends & Fiction: Episode 95 – Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman

F&F welcomes bestselling author Alice Hoffman. The crew discuss the brand new fourth installment in Alice’s acclaimed and beloved Practical Magic series, THE BOOK OF MAGIC (an instant NYT bestseller). They also talk about magic and fairy tales and witches, about the different skills invloved in writing fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, and magical realism, and they talk about Alice’s work for breast cancer resarch and treatment. Then they shitft gears to celebrate Patti Callahan‘s new book ONCE UPON A WARDROBE. Hear about Patti’s research and inspration, her passion for all things CS Lewis and Narnia, and about the power of imagination and stories to bring us hope and a deeper understanding of our world.

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