Friends & Fiction

On this episode the Fab Four (Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry) gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, the #1 NYT-bestselling, Edgar, Grand Master and Diamond Dagger award-winning Michael Connelly, to discuss our November 2024 Pick of the Month, THE WAITING, in which LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a terrifying serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, with the help of the newest volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter. Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of 39 novels and one work of non-fiction. With more than 85-million copies sold worldwide and books translated into 45 languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. His books, which include the Harry Bosch, the Lincoln Lawyer, and the Renée Ballard series, have been adapted for film and television including the movie Blood Work, starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, and The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. Michael is the executive producer of three current television series based on his books: Bosch and Bosch: Legacy (both streaming on Amazon Prime), and The Lincoln Lawyer (streaming on Netflix). A former reporter, Connelly worked the crime beat at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale (where he earned a Pulitzer nomination) before finishing his journalism career as the Los Angeles Times crime reporter. He joins us from his home in Florida to discuss his new Ballard/Bosch crossover novel, THE WAITING,which Publishers Weekly calls “unputdownable…white-hot suspense guaranteed to please his fans.”

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On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author, David Baldacci to discuss To Die For, the third installment in his 6:20 Man series which finds Travis Devine in the Pacific Northwest to aid in a complicated FBI case where he’s about to come face-to-face with his nemesis, the girl on the train. David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers with books published in 45+ languages in 80+ countries, with 150-million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David and his wife co-founded the Wish You Well Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. He joins us from his home in Virginia to discuss his brand-new twisty whodunit, To Die For, which has been praised for its “fast-moving excitement” and “satisfying finish” in a starred review from Kirkus.

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On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome New York Times bestselling author, J.T. Ellison, to discuss her new novel, A Very Bad Thing, about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has and everyone she knows. J.T. Ellison is the NYT & USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 novels and the Emmy Award-winning co-host of the literary TV show A Word on Words. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker and runs the popular blog, The Creative Edge. With millions of books in print — which have been optioned for TV and published in 28 countries — her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. J.T. joins us from her home in Nashville to discuss her taut new thriller, A Very Bad Thing, which Library Journal calls, “a fun, fast-paced thriller that keeps secrets until the very last page.”

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On this episode, Kristin Harmel & Patti Callahan Henry welcome #1 bestselling author Louise Penny to discuss her new novel The Grey Wolf, the 19th installment in her wildly successful Armand Gamache mystery series. Louise Penny is the #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Globe and Mail bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. She was also the co-author with Hillary Rodham Clinton of the #1 New York Times bestselling thriller State of Terror. A former journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a recipient of the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture, Louise has won numerous awards, including a CWA Dagger and multiple Agatha Awards, and was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. Louise joins us from her home in a small village south of Montreal to discuss her new book, The Grey Wolf, in which Gamache and his team are propelled toward the terrible realization that something much more sinister than any one murder is fast approaching the tiny Québec village of Three Pines.

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On this episode, the Fab Four (Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry) gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Paula Hawkins, to discuss her propulsive and powerful new book, our October 2024 Pick of the Month, THE BLUE HOUR, an addictive thriller which takes place on a remote Scottish island with only one house, one inhabitant, and one way out. Paula Hawkins is the #1 NYT-bestselling author of three suspense novels including INTO THE WATER and A SLOW FIRE BURNING. Her debut novel that shook the nation, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, spent 80+ weeks on the NYT bestseller — list including 20 weeks at #1 — and was named the USA Today Book of the Year. It has gone on to sell more than 23-million copies worldwide, has been published in 50+ languages, and was a box office hit film starring Emily Blunt. A former journalist, Paula was born and raised in Zimbabwe and now splits her time between London and Edinburgh.She joins us to discuss her masterful, page-turning, unsettling new novel that recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Hawkins's place among the very best of our most nuanced and stylish storytellers. Lee Child has called THE BLUE HOUR “the best Paula Hawkins yet — by a tense and haunting mile,” and we cannot wait to talk to her all about it.

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On this episode Ron Block & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome Marybeth Whalen to discuss her new novel EVERY MOMENT SINCE. Marybeth Whalen is the author of This Secret Thing, Only Ever Her, When We Were Worthy, The Things We Wish Were True, and five previous novels, which have sold more than a half-million copies. Together with author pal Ariel Lawhon, Marybeth co-founded The Book Tide, a book community dedicated to helping readers find books they’ll love and authors find a loyal, supportive audience. The mother of six and a native of Charlotte, NC, Marybeth joins us from her home in Sunset Beach, NC to discuss her tenth novel, EVERY MOMENT SINCE (Harper Muse, Oct. 1), a book that, with hauntingly vivid prose, peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those left behind in a small Southern community after a little boy goes missing. We are eager to chat with Marybeth about this novel which has been called, “everything you want in a novel,” by Patti Callahan Henry, “unforgettable,” by J.T. Ellison, and “sophisticated, compelling, and unflinching” by Kimberly Brock.

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On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Mary Kay Andrews welcome #1 mega internationally bestselling author Sophie Kinsella to discuss her new novella — her most autobiographical work to date — WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? Sophie Kinsella has sold more than 45-million copies of her books which have been translated into 40+ languages in 60+ countries. She first became a bestseller in September 2000 with the first novel in her beloved Shopaholic series, Confessions of a Shopaholic. Heroine Becky Bloomwood captured readers’ hearts worldwide and has since featured in eight further bestselling books. Bloomwood also came to the big screen in 2009 with the hit Disney movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher. Sophie’s twelve standalone novels have all been bestsellers around the world, including The Burnout, The Undomestic Goddess, and Love Your Life. She has also published YA, illustrated children’s books, and seven novels under her real name, Madeleine Wickham. Sophie joins us from the UK to discuss WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?, the heartbreaking and life-affirming story of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew, which has been called “the bravest book you’ll read all year” by Jodi Picoult.

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On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Mary Kay Andrews welcome bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz to discuss her new novel THE SEQUEL—the eagerly anticipated follow-up to her "insanely readable" (Stephen King) and "perfectly told" (Malcolm Gladwell) NYT-bestseller, The Plot. Jean Hanff Korelitz is the NYT bestselling author of the novels The Plot and The Latecomer (both of which are being adapted as limited series), You Should Have Known (which aired on HBO as The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, and Donald Sutherland), and Admission (which was adapted as a film starring Tina Fey), among several other works. Jean’s company BOOKTHEWRITER hosts Pop-Up Book Groups in which small groups of readers discuss new books with their authors. She joins us from New York City where she lives with her husband, Irish poet Paul Muldoon, to discuss her deliciously fun and suspenseful new novel, THE SEQUEL. Loaded with Jean’s signature wit and sardonic humor, this spellbinding new book illuminates and satirizes the world of publishing while giving us an anti-hero to root for in Anna, the widow of The Plot’s protagonist.

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On this episode, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Kristin Harmel welcome #1 New York Times bestselling global sensation Liane Moriarty to discuss her new novel HERE ONE MOMENT, a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. Liane Moriarty has written ten novels which have sold more than 20-million copies worldwide. Her novels Big Little Lies, Apples Never Fall, The Husband’s Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty have all hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, and Apples Never Fall were all adapted into popular television series with star-studded casts including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Melissa McCarthy and Annette Bening. Liane joins us from her home in Sydney, Australia to discuss HERE ONE MOMENT (Crown, Sept 10), which Kirkus Reviews called “a fresh, funny, ambitious, and nuanced take on some of our oldest existential questions” in a starred review.

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On this episode, Patti Callahan Henry, Mary Kay Andrews & Kristin Harmel gather to welcome this month’s F&F Featured Author, Jodi Picoult, to discuss her captivating new instant #1 New York Times bestseller, our September 2024 Pick of the Month, BY ANY OTHER NAME, in which two women, centuries apart — one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare's plays — are forced to hide behind another name to make their voices heard. Jodi Picoult is the #1 bestselling author of 29 novels, including Mad Honey, Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, and My Sister’s Keeper, and with her daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. Jodi’s books have been translated into 34 languages and published in 35 countries. Four of her novels, The Pact, Plain Truth, The Tenth Circle, and Salem Falls, have been made into television movies. My Sister’s Keeper was a New Line Cinema film starring Cameron Diaz. Mad Honey, Small Great Things, and Wish You Were Here have been optioned or are currently in development. Jodi has written five issues of DC Comics’ Wonder Woman, and she is also the co-librettist for several stage musical adaptations which have appeared Off Broadway and in London’s West End. We can’t wait to discuss Jodi’s new novel, BY ANY OTHER NAME, which skyrocketed instantly to #1 and was both a GMA Book Club Pick and a People Magazine Book of the Week.

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