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!

Subscribed

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!

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 & 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

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

Join us Wednesday, September 17th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Mary Kay Andrews & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome bestselling, award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan to discuss her new cross-country cat-and-mouse chase, All This Could Be Yours.

Hank is the USA Today bestselling author of 16 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She’s also the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, and has won an unprecedented 37 EMMY awards for her groundbreaking journalism and true crime stories which have changed laws, changed lives, and resulted in millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for consumers. A past president of National Sisters in Crime, she is now on the board of International Thriller Writers. She joins us to discuss her new “nail-biting thriller” (People), All This Could Be Yours, which Library Journal says “should be on everyone’s reading list!”

Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 9/17 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/19.

Order Hank’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 staying close to home to finish the first draft of her summer 2026 novel Road Trip. If you missed the big People magazine cover reveal you can still get a peek of it (and pre-order!) here.

KRISTIN HARMEL made a quick trip up to High Point, NC for a speaking engagement this morning. She’s due to turn in the latest round of revisions for her 2026 novel this Friday, so she’ll be editing all day and evening today on airplanes and in airports! She loved getting to talk to author Madeline Martin last Friday at the Barnes & Noble on Sand Lake Road in Orlando; they had a great chat about Madeline’s new novel The Secret Book Society, followed by dinner (and fireworks–and a champagne toast to Madeline hitting the USA Today bestseller list!) at Topolino’s Terrace at Disney’s Riviera Resort.

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had a wonderful weekend in Chapel Hill cheering on the Tar Heels and spending lots of time at her favorite Wilson Library for a day full of Friends of the Library meetings. Next week, on September 22, the LAST DAY of summer, she is going to be going live on Substack at 6 pm for a BEACH HOUSE RULES wrap up–complete with lots of spoilers! If you aren’t subscribed to her substack, subscribe here so you don’t miss out on the fun! UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY is $1.99 on ebook for a limited time. If you missed Kristy’s first instant New York Times bestseller, now is a great time to check it out!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY is writing like mad and preparing for Aspen Literary Festival next week with some of our favorite F&F people like Tim Talks Books and Elin Hilderbrand. What should she pack? Boots for sure. She’s excited about the show this week and all we have in the coming season! If you missed her newsletter last week, HERE IT IS on substack.

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

Sat. Sept. 20th 9:00 AM – Sun. Sept. 21st 5:00 PM — Patti at the 10th Annual Broadleaf Writers Conference at the Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St, Decatur, GA.

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, Kristin & MKA gathered to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, #1 NYT-bestselling novelist Elin Hilderbrand along with her daughter Shelby Cunningham, to discuss our September 2025 Pick of the Month, their irresistible new co-written novel, The Academy, the deliciously scandalous story of one drama-filled year at a New England boarding school.

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

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

Stay tuned for the reveal of our Fall Season (Oct–Dec) guest lineup, coming soon!

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

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

Join us Wednesday, September 10th 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, #1 NYT-bestselling novelist Elin Hilderbrand along with her daughter Shelby Cunningham, to discuss our September 2025 Pick of the Month, their irresistible new co-written novel, The Academy, the deliciously scandalous story of one drama-filled year at a New England boarding school.

Elin is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the Iowa Writers Workshop. The Academy is her 31st novel, and the first co-written with her daughter. Elin is the co-host of the podcast Books, Beach and Beyond with @TimTalksBooks creator, Tim Ehrenberg. Last year’s TV adaptation of her novel The Perfect Couple, premiered in Netflix's #1 slot with more than 20-million views in its first four days becoming the most-watched original streaming series in the US for several weeks running. Shelby Cunningham was born and raised on Nantucket Island. A 2024 graduate of Rhode Island’s St. George's School, she is presently a student at the University of Miami. This dynamic mother-daughter duo joins us to discuss their fresh, buzzy take on boarding school life which represents a thrilling new direction from one of America's most satisfying and popular storytellers.

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 9/10 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 9/12.

Order Elin & Shelby’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 racing toward the end of her work in progress, fueled by peanut M&Ms, fridge cigs (cold Diet Coke) and deadline-induced adrenalin. Be sure to tune in for tonight’s live show to get a look at the cover for next summer’s book!

KRISTIN HARMEL took a spontaneous (planned and booked only six days in advance!) trip to Paris at the end of last week, to fill in some research blanks in her upcoming novel, MEET ME IN PARIS, which will be out in August 2026! She flew out Thursday afternoon, landed in Paris on Friday morning, and spent just over 24 hours in the city before her nine-and-a-half-hour flight back to Orlando! She’s still recovering from the jet lag, but it was an incredible trip, complete with nearly 12 miles of walking Paris’s streets on Friday (armed with a very specific list of places to visit for research!), a picnic at the Eiffel Tower, a one-hour photo shoot for new author photos, a dinner-with-a-view just across the river from the Eiffel Tower, plenty of croissants, cheese and wine, and even a bit of shopping at the airport on the way home! She’ll be posting photos of her travels closer to the book’s release next year; she made a point to take pictures of many of the key locations in the novel!

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY spent all weekend reflecting on what was one of the best summers she has had! She has been reading Elin’s new book, THE ACADEMY and she is LOVING it! Although she says that every year! She had such an amazing summer celebrating BEACH HOUSE RULES but she is now turning her sights on finishing her 2026 novel. Kristy will be in Savannah Georgia on October 14th and the Savannah Book Festival interviewing Nicholas Sparks on his upcoming release!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY is relieved at the hint of autumn in the air. This weekend she was back at her alma mater for the first home game of the season at Auburn University, and this is always the harbinger of fall. She sent out a newsletter last week with some of her favorite reads, watches and listens. You can check that out HERE. She was also thrilled to have her book, Surviving Savannah included in the TOP TEN historical fiction novels set at sea in Woman’s World Magazine.

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, Kristin Harmel & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcomed NYT-bestselling author Sarah McCoy to discuss her spellbinding new novel, Whatever Happened To Lori Lovely?, which is based on the true story of a beautiful young movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Age who gives up her bright career to become a nun.

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

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

Stay tuned for the reveal of our Fall Season (Oct–Dec) guest lineup, coming soon!

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 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 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 Eliza Knight about her novel, Confessions of a Grammar Queen. Mark your calendars for September 15th for their next author guest, Regina Black, when they’ll discuss her new novel, August Lane. 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 August prompt is to read an author’s sophomore book and for September it’s to read a book that’s been on your TBR list for over a year.

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