Friends & Fiction – Details, episodes & analysis

On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcome bestselling author Madeline Martin to discuss The Booklover’s Library, her heartwarming new story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of books to bring them together. We’re also treated to a pop-in by Emmy-award winning journalist turned novelist Linda Hurtado Bond to chat about her gripping new thriller All the Missing Girls. Madeline Martin is the NYT, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and internationally bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance with books translated into more than 25 languages. She joins us from sunny Florida to discuss her latest, The Booklover’s Library, which has been dubbed “a must-read for booklovers” by Chanel Cleeton and “a quiet little jewel of a wartime novel” by Kate Quinn. By day, Linda Hurtado Bond is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist. By night, she’s an author of James Bond-like adventures and heart-stopping thrillers. The host of “Tampa Bay Reads,” Linda has hosted all of F&F’s hosts on her television segment. She joins us to discuss her new spine-tingling mystery, All the Missing Girls, featuring her recurring character, Tampa crime reporter Mari Alvarez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, the Fab Four gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Jessa Maxwell, to discuss her new book, our August 2024 Pick of the Month, I NEED YOU TO READ THIS, a sly and addictive new mystery about an advice columnist searching for answers about her predecessor’s murder. Jessa Maxwell is the author and illustrator of five picture books for children whose comics and cartoons have been published in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and whose writing has been published in Slate, Marie Claire, and many other publications. She previously joined us on our podcast in March 2023 to discuss her debut adult novel, the darkly beguiling locked-room mystery The Golden Spoon. We are excited to welcome Jessa back to discuss her clever new cat-and-mouse murder mystery, I NEED YOU TO READ THIS (Atria Books, Aug 13), which Booklist called a “palm-sweat-inducing psychological thriller,” and which Publishers Weekly praised for its “scintillating tension.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, the Fab Four gather to celebrate this month’s F&F Featured Author, the NYT-bestselling author of The Summer of Songbirds and the Peachtree Bluff series, our very own Kristy Woodson Harvey, to discuss her brand-new book, our June 2024 Pick of the Month A HAPPIER LIFE, a tender and touching novel about a young woman who discovers the family she has always longed for when she spends a life-changing summer in North Carolina. Kristy is the NYT-bestselling author of ten novels, including The Wedding Veil, Under the Southern Sky, and the Peachtree Bluff series, which is in development for television with NBC. Her writing has appeared in numerous online and print publications including Southern Living, Traditional Home, USA TODAY, Domino, and O. Henry. Her latest novel, A HAPPIER LIFE, is imbued with “her signature warmth and Southern charm” (E! Online), and has been called “a family mystery wrapped in a love story and a gracious nod to tradition and the people who came before us” by bestselling novelist Annabel Monaghan, and labeled “women’s fiction at its best” in a rave review from Publishers Weekly. The full Fab Four plus Meg & Ron are on-hand to launch this beautiful book in grand F&F fashion on a LIVE show with all the laughs and shenanigans you’ve come to expect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This very special episode marks the triumphant return of “F&F Theater” as the Fab Four, podcast host Ron Block, and F&F’s Managing Director Meg Walker gather to celebrate the launch of Patti Callahan Henry’s THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA in grand style! You won’t want to miss this show, complete with props and bad accents — but also with loads of great insights about Patti’s new novel and, as always, lots of laughs. With incredible blurbs from an amazing array of bestselling authors, fantastic pre-pub reviews including a starred Kirkus (“magical…an enchanting tribute to the power of storytelling”), Patti’s new novel is shaping up to be one of the hottest books of Spring 2023. It has already been named a Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick, an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads Pick, an Amazon Editors' Pick, a Books-a-Million Summer Says Pick, and a Book of the Month Add-On Choice among many other accolades. In short, THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA is one book you do not want to miss out on! So be sure to tune in and hear all about it! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WRITERS' BLOCK Meg Walker and Ron Block host a fascinating conversation with Julie Gerstenblatt, author of the recent release Daughters of Nantucket and Andrea Dunlop, author of Women are the Fiercest Creatures. Both works are set in different times, but are connected through how their 3 main protagonists are affected and relate to events and circumstances that test their relationships and lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On tonight’s show, we are excited to welcome back our good friend Joshilyn Jackson! Joshilyn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several novels, including NEVER HAVE I EVER and MOTHER MAY I. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages, won SIBA’s Novel of the Year award, twice been the #1 Indie Next Pick, and twice won Georgia Author of the Year among many other accolades. A former actor, Joshilyn is an award-winning audiobook narrator. As a volunteer with Reforming Arts and a member of their board of directors, Jackson has taught creative writing in Georgia’s maximum security facility for women. She joins us to discuss her new novel, WITH MY LITTLE EYE (April25, William Morrow), which F&F fave Karin Slaughter has called, “a dark, twisting confection.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WRITERS' BLOCK Patti Callahan Henry and Ron Block are joined by Zoe Fishman, author of the deeply personal novel The Fun Widow's Book Tour. Her novel was inspired by the tragic loss of her own husband and it's impact on her life and the lives of her children. Zoe's book is injected with honesty, authenticity and humor, all of which is reflected in this warm and meaningful conversation about love, friendship, and ultimately hope. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this season premiere episode we welcome two incredible author guests — Brenda Novak and Alka Joshi. New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak has written 75 novels and is an eight-time Rita nominee, among many other awards. She runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity that has raised more than $2.5 million for diabetes research — as well as the warm and enthusiastic Brenda Novak’s Book Group on Facebook which boasts more than 26,000 members. Brenda joins us live on-location from Oklahoma City on her 2-month “Bookstream” book tour on which she’s covering 8,000 miles over 33 stops in an Airstream trailer converted into a combo bookstore and coffee shop. You wont want to miss this fun dispatch from the road and the chance to hear about her latest novel THE SEASIDE LIBRARY. Born in India and raised in the US since she was nine, Alka Joshi has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. Joshi's debut novel, THE HENNA ARTIST, immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, & is in development as a Netflix series. She joins us to discuss the third and final installment in her internationally bestselling Jaipur Trilogy, THE PERFUMIST OF PARIS, which Kate Quinn calls, “Alka Joshi's best book yet!" We loved hearing all about this novel which takes readers to 1970s Paris where Radha's budding career as a perfumer competes with the demands of her family and the secrets of her past. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WRITERS' BLOCK This week, Ron Block and Kristy Woodson Harvey talk with J. Ryan Stradal about his new book, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, which Roxanne Gay called "a Perfect Book" and has received a starred review from Kirkus. This intergeneration saga centering on the rivalry between two families is an ode to the midwest, supper clubs and finding your way in the world. Be sure to bring a relish tray and a Brandy Old-Fashioned for this episode! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WRITERS' BLOCK Ron Block and Mary Kay Andrews are joined by Chef Kenny Gilbert to celebrate his new cookbook, Southren Cooking/Global Flavors which reflects his approach to joining flavors from his world wide experience with his southern focus in food. His story includes his popular run on Top Chef and his path to becoming a preferred personal chef for Oprah Winfrey. A fascinating story and cookbok! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices