Meet Lisa See TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—June 17, 2026
Tune in at 7pm ET tonight for this week’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, June 17th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristin Harmel & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome beloved New York Times bestselling author Lisa See to discuss her new novel, Daughters of the Sun and Moon, the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post-Civil War Los Angeles.
Lisa See is the NYT-bestselling author of a dozen novels including Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, The Island of Sea Women, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. She is also the author of the memoir, On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of her Chinese American family’s settlement in Los Angeles. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association of Southern California and the Historymaker’s Award from the Chinese American Museum and was named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women. We look forward to discussing her new book, Daughters of the Sun and Moon, which Library Journal called “a stunning piece of historical fiction based in truth” in a starred review.
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs on Wed 6/17 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 6/19.
Meanwhile, order Lisa’s new book—along with all of our guests’ and hosts’ books—at a discount 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!
Latest News from the Fab Four!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is still pinching herself because her 34th novel ROAD TRIP debuts at #5 on this week’s New York Times bestseller list, thanks to all of you who bought the book, reviewed it, or talked it up on our F&F page. The first two weeks of book tour went by in a whirl, and she was so grateful for all the friendly faces who graced the front row of her events at stops from South Carolina to the Jersey Shore to the Midwest to New England. Our Meg Walker was her steadfast roadie for the first two weeks, but on Friday MKA’s daughter-in-law Meghan took over. The two of them enjoyed a rare day off Sunday with a trip to Newport, RI, where they hit an estate sale (duh!) took the historic Cliff Walk tour, and ended the day with an early dinner of lobster rolls and rosé. Catch MKA today, Wednesday, on Nantucket, where she’ll be signing with Elin Hilderbrand, or Thursday on Martha’s Vineyard. Lots more events to come, and you can see the full calendar here, including a stop on Saturday, June 20th at Chateau Elan in Braselton, GA.
KRISTIN HARMEL took herself on a little writing retreat this week…. With her son on a vacation with his grandparents, and her husband busy running a summer camp for high school kids interested in construction, she has a few days all to herself and is determined to write lots and lots of words (she’s working on her 2028 book). She’s just under six weeks out from the publication of MEET ME IN PARIS… It’ll be here before we know it!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is having a great summer so far and working hard on her next book! She is so excited about Mary Kay Andrews coming to Beaufort on June 24 and can’t wait to see a lot of readers there! SUMMER STATE OF MIND was also included in The Atlanta Journal Constitution in a list sharing summer beach reads that boast buttloads of humor and romance alongside Mary Kay Andrews’ brand new, instant New York Times bestseller, ROAD TRIP!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY was in New York last week meeting with her entire publishing team from editor to publisher to publicist to agent and more. She was reminded – again – that it might be her name on the cover of the novel but there are so many devoted people behind the scenes. It literally takes an entire enthusiastic, smart band of people to launch a book well. And launch they are! KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THE COVER AND TITLE REVEAL tomorrow, June 18th at 9 AM EST on People Magazine, PCH’s Instagram and all of F&F’s channels. We can’t wait to share it with you! FINALLY she can start talking about the novel and there’s so much to tell you. Also this past week she LOVED celebrating MKA’s monster week premiering at number 5 on the NYT list.
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Upcoming Events
MKA is on tour now for Road Trip. See her full book tour HERE.
Kristin will be touring in July/August for her forthcoming book, Meet Me in Paris. See her full book tour HERE.
See Patti’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’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 our most recent new episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristin Harmel welcomed #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett to discuss her new Katie Couric and Good Housekeeping Book Club Pick, Whistler, a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.
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: Joshilyn Jackson, Missing Sister
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lucy Score, Mistakes Were Made
WATCH | LISTEN
SPRING 2026 SCHEDULE:
Already aired: Virginia Evans, The Correspondent & Allen Levi, Theo of Golden
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Evelyn Clarke, The Ending Writes Itself
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Tana French, The Keeper
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Lynn Cullen, When We Were Brilliant & Priya Parmar, The Original
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Kristy Woodson Harvey, Summer State of Mind
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Christina Baker Kline, The Foursome
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Kathryn Stockett, The Calamity Club
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Mary Kay Andrews, Road Trip
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Annabel Monaghan, Dolly All the Time
WATCH | LISTEN
Already aired: Ann Patchett, Whistler
WATCH | LISTEN
Lisa See, Daughters of the Sun and Moon
Watch: 6/17 | Listen: 6/19
Lisa Jewell, It Could Have Been Her
Watch: 6/24 | Listen: 6/26
F&F 2026 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2026 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MAY 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s forthcoming book SUMMER STATE OF MIND!
2. JUNE 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of ROAD TRIP by Mary Kay Andrews!
3. AUGUST 2026: A hardcover, signed, first edition of MEET ME IN PARIS by Kristin Harmel!
Get your subscription NOW from Oxford Exchange!
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.
We’ve added TWO NEW COLORS for our fan favorite name list tee-shirts. We now have them in a heathery hunter green and a kelly green—both of which match perfectly with the three new Fab Four books out in May, June & July! Get yours now and dress to match the books when you come out to Kristy, MKA & Kristin’s tour events!
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 Kristy Woodson Harvey about her new novel, Summer State of Mind. Mark your calendars for July 20th for their next author guest, Mary Kay Andrews, when they’ll discuss her new novel, Road Trip. 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 April prompt is to read a book recommended by a favorite librarian and for May it’s to read a book about a female detective.
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