Meet Louise Penny TONIGHT!

Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—October 30, 2024

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

Join us Wednesday, October 30th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as 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.

Watch the LIVE video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 10/30 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 11/1.

Order Louise’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!

PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY Today is her son’s thirtieth birthday and she is celebrating him! Last week was a blur and she ended with a book festival in Jackson Hole Wyoming, the inaugural event where she heard from fascinating authors and spent some time in the gorgeous landscape of that place. Did you hear about her pre-order giveaway? Click HERE for all the news about that! And countdown to seeing her FF family next week in Orlando and Amelia! Click HERE for more on that. 
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny. What an incredible continuation of the Armand Gamache series. Kristin and I loved interviewing her for this week’s episode. Louise is all heart and it shows in her powerful stories. 

KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY is SO excited about one of her top three favorite nights in Beaufort: Halloween, of course! She has an event coming up this Saturday at Par 108 in Cape Carteret, NC. If you’re in the area, check it out! And she’s announcing what book she’ll be reading next as a part of her Chapters Tour on her blog next week. Most of all… she can’t wait to see her F&F crew and incredible readers next week!
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne! I read her holiday novel last year and this is the second in the series. I cannot wait to be back in Shelter Springs again this holiday season!

KRISTIN HARMEL read over her first pass pages for The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau this week, which means that she got to review the story, laid out in book form for the first time, which always feels like a meaningful part of the process. She can't wait for advanced review copies to become available (by the end of this year) and to share it with all of you when it's published in June 2025! She also walked proudly in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Orlando over the weekend. The walk was chaired by Kristin’s breast surgeon, Dr. Anu Saigal, one of the most amazing people Kristin knows!
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: To Die For by David Baldacci: I'm looking forward to having David on next week’s show. It will be his first time on F&F, and I can't wait for you all to meet him–and to hear about the exciting latest installment of his 6:20 Man series, as well as his incredible advocacy for literacy.

MARY KAY ANDREWS is trying to keep her distance from that witch’s kettle full of Halloween candy (600 pieces at last count) for the hordes of trick-or-treaters who annually descend on her Atlanta neighborhood. Those Reese’s peanut butter cups keep calling her name. But in the meantime she’s celebrating the Tuesday publication of her first Amazon Original Christmas short story, Holiday Hideaway. Available in digital form only here, you can download it to read on any tablet, laptop or even your phone, or listen to the audio version as an Audible Original. 
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: MKA is absorbed in an advanced reader copy of The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark. This thriller is out June 3. It’s the story of Olivia Dumont, a seasoned ghostwriter whose new client turns out to be her bestselling horror writer father Vincent, who’s hired her to write his memoir–including his first-person account of the long-unsolved murder of his brother and sister, who were found slashed to death five decades earlier.

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

Wednesday, November 6, 6pm ET — Join us at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, FL for a unique fundraising event benefiting the Florida Cancer Specialists (FCS) Foundation which will include a reception over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, an intimate presentation, book sales, and an autograph session. Get tickets HERE. * The last day to buy tickets is Oct. 31, so get yours now!

Thursday, November 7, 12:30pm ET — Tim Ehrenberg of Tim Talks Books will emcee a lively and fun F&F Live luncheon event hosted by the Amelia Island Book Festival at The Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, FL. Ticket includes book signing, photo opps, and tea fare: light lunch, snacks, and refreshments. Get tickets HERE.

Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 11am – Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 2pm —  Patti & Kristin together with Kwame Alexander at the 20th Annual Wild Dunes Author Event & Weekend hosted by Mary Alice Monroe. Info & tickets HERE.

Want to know what these F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!

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In Case You Missed It

On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, the Fab Four gathered live 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. Order Paula’s book from the F&F Shop on Bookshop.org, where you’ll also find books by all our hosts and guests, all at a discount—and where all your purchases support our show and our beloved indie bookstores nationwide! 

You can WATCH that episode on Facebook or YouTube, or LISTEN to it on our podcast.

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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 Pick of the Month: Jodi Picoult, By Any Other Name
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Liane Moriarty, Here One Moment
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Sequel
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Sophie Kinsella, What Does It Feel Like
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: Marybeth Whalen, Every Moment Since
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Already aired: F&F Oct. Pick of the Month: Paula Hawkins, The Blue Hour
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!

Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf
Watch Oct. 30 | Listen Nov. 1

J.T. Ellison, A Very Bad Thing
Watch Nov. 6 | Listen Nov. 8

David Baldacci, To Die For
Watch Nov. 13 | Listen Nov. 15

F&F Pick of the Month: Michael Connelly, The Waiting
WATCH LIVE Nov. 20 | Listen Nov. 22

Craig Johnson, Tooth and Claw
Watch Nov. 27 | Listen Nov. 29

Signe Pike, The Shadowed Land
Watch Dec 4 | Listen Dec. 6

Jillian Cantor, The Greatest Lie of All
Watch Dec. 11 | Listen Dec. 13

F&F Pick of the Month: Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb, Christmas with the Queen
WATCH LIVE Dec. 18 | Listen Dec. 20

F&F Secret Santa Holiday Party
Watch Dec. 25 | Listen Dec. 27

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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.

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F&F Official Book Club & 2024 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 30k 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 Sarah Pekkanen about her novel, HOUSE OF GLASS. Mark your calendars for November 18th for their next author guest, Kimberly Brock, when they’ll discuss her novel, THE FABLED EARTH. With the help of Annissa Armstrong, the Book Club is also hosting the 2024 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The November prompt is to read a collection of short stories or essays.

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Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
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Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.