Tune LIVE in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode! Join us Wednesday, January 28th 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, the NYT-bestselling Paula McLain, to discuss our January 2026 Pick of the Month, her new mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below, Skylark, in which a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time. Paula McLain is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin, as well as two collections of poetry and a memoir. Her work has been published in over thirty-five countries, and featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Town & Country, Real Simple, and elsewhere. She joins us to discuss her new dual timeline historical novel, Skylark, which was recently named as this month’s GMA Book Club Pick, and which has been praised by People magazine as a “vivid, inspirational story of brave resilience,” and by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes, as “the gift of a brilliant storyteller.” Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 1/28 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 1/30. Order Paula’s new book on Bookshop.org! Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus Q&A’s with our guest authors which include a writing tip, book recommendation, and information about their works-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show! Latest News from the Fab Four!MARY KAY ANDREWS spent the past chilly week cooking soups and baking bread (with mixed results) and so far has not touched her office, which is reaching disaster-level chaos. But she’s working on her next novel and SWEARS she will tackle the office . . . soonish. And she also had her yearly mammogram—this is your reminder too, just in case it’s time. KRISTIN HARMEL is hard at work on her 2027 novel, but she took a bit of time off this weekend to finally clean her office—and to attend her son Noah’s Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby, where the cool-looking car he made qualified for two audience favorite prizes. She’s enjoying snuggling by the fire this chilly week with a book in her hands and can’t wait to see you all on Wednesday night during our January LIVE show on Facebook and YouTube! KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is so excited to announce her new short story with Amazon Publishing: Leave it Up to Love! The story officially releases on March 1 on Kindle and audiobook, and she can’t wait to share it with everyone! For more information, check out the cover reveal and announcement she did on ABC 13! She and her family had a great trip to sunny Palm Beach and arrived home to record low temps in Beaufort… Seems about right! She hopes everyone stayed safe in this winter storm! PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY hopes everyone is safe and warm after this terrible winter storm has hit so much of the country. Cuddle up and read! Patti just sent out a newsletter announcing her paperback tour and she hopes you’ll find her in one of those cities! Meanwhile, she is finishing her next novel (more on that soon), and cleaning out her office (as MKA says, shoveling it out). She keeps finding childhood papers her mom gave back and then gets sidetracked reading things like her second grade report card where the teacher said, “Books are very important to Patti.” Duh! Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for an ongoing series of roundtable discussions and personal essays by the Fab Four about their careers, writing processes, and all things book and publishing related! Upcoming EventsSee Kristin’s upcoming events HERE. Oct 19-26, Patti’s Literary Tour of the Lowcountry—Join Patti for a Literary Tour of the Lowcountry this fall! This fabulous, immersive, small-group trip through Savannah & Charleston will take place October 19-26, 2026. We will tour all the key places in Patti’s novels, especially those in Surviving Savannah, including the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum together with a shipwreck hunter with actual treasure recovered from the Pulaski. Details and registration can be found HERE. Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation! In Case You Missed ItOn our most recent new episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Ron Block & Mary Kay Andrews welcomed USA Today bestselling author Jesse Q. Sutanto to discuss her new claustrophobic psychological suspense novel Read Between the Lies in which the line between victim and villain blurs with every chapter. Because in the end, everyone has their own version of the truth--but only one will make it onto the page. You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast. Coming Up on The Friends & Fiction ShowAll 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: Brad Meltzer, The Viper Already aired: Jayne Ann Krentz, The Shop on Hidden Lane Already aired: Jesse Q. Sutanto, Read Between the Lies Paula McLain, Skylark Janie Chang, The Fourth Princess & Kate Quinn, The Astral Library Omid Scobie & Robin Benway, Royal Spin Terah Shelton Harris, Where the Wildflowers Grow Joshilyn Jackson, Missing Sister Lucy Score, Mistakes Were Made Virginia Evans, The Correspondent & Allen Levi, Theo of Golden F&F 2026 Subscription Box with Oxford ExchangeThe 2026 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange. This subscription includes three separate shipments: Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange! F&F Merch StoreWe 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! F&F Official Book Club & 2025 Reading ChallengeJoin 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 Rebecca Armitage about her debut novel, the December Reese's Book Club Pick, The Heir Apparent. Mark your calendars for February 23rd for their next author guest, Vanessa Riley, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Fire Sword and Sea. The Book Club is also hosting the 2026 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The January prompt is to read a backlist book by a favorite author and for February it’s to read a BIPOC Goodreads Nominee Or Award Winner. Stay in Touch!Subscribe to our PODCAST. Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests. |












