Meet Meg Waite Clayton TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—July 9, 2025
Tune in at 7pm ET for TONIGHT’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, July 9th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristin Harmel & Patti Callahan Henry welcome NYT-bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton to discuss her new dual-timeline historical novel, Typewriter Beach, the unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star.
Meg is the NYT-bestselling author of eight previous novels, including the Good Morning America Buzz Pick and New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London, and The Wednesday Sisters. Her books have been published in twenty-four languages, and have been finalists for the PEN Bellwether Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Langum Prize. She also writes for major newspapers and magazines, mentors in the OpEd Project, and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar. She joins us to discuss Typewriter Beach which has gotten starred reviews from Publishers Weekly (“intrigue to spare”) and Library Journal (“top-tier…thought-provoking and timely”). Set in Hollywood’s golden age in the shadow of the McCarthy era, it’s the story of two women separated by generations—and a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.
Watch the video broadcast of this interview as it airs Wed 7/9 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 7/11.
Order Meg’s book on Bookshop.org!
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Latest News from the Fab Four!
MARY KAY ANDREWS is fully recovered from Covid, and enjoyed a fun small-town Fourth of July. Watched the neighborhood parade from a dear friend’s front yard—who hosts an annual parade-watching breakfast. Then home to throw together a potluck dinner for a few friends. Want the recipe for the blueberry pie bars she served? Subscribe to her free Substack newsletter. MKA spent the rest of the long weekend writing on the screened porch and doing some armchair travel—to Italy with Adriana Trigiani’s The View From Lake Como, to Italy again, but this time, Tuscany, with Lisa Scottoline’s The Unraveling of Julia, and then to a remote billionaire’s island off the coast of Rhode Island with Sarah MacLean’s These Summer Storms.
KRISTIN HARMEL is finally back from book tour and is settling in to tackle edits for her 2026 book after a wonderful holiday weekend spent with her mom, husband, and son at Disney World’s Contemporary Resort (her favorite place to watch the Fourth of July fireworks each year!). She’s looking forward to a week of catching up with emails and work—and to hanging out with her family, who she missed very much when she was on the road!
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had the most amazing holiday weekend in her hometown with her favorite people! She worked from her “office” AKA the boat on her Spring 2026 novel that she cannot wait to share more about soon! Kristy will be in Morehead City, NC at Dee Gee’s Gifts & Books on July 10th at 4:00 PM and she will be signing books and each person who purchases Beach House Rules will be given a paperback copy of The Summer of Songbirds to go with it (while supplies last)!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent a glorious Fourth of July week in the NC mountains with her entire family (this happens but once a year now!). She read a couple books for our upcoming season (Have you seen that incredible line up??). And she is looking forward to diving back into her own writing. Did you catch Patti on GMA this morning? It was so much fun!
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Upcoming Events
See Kristin’s upcoming events HERE.
See Kristy’s upcoming events HERE.
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Want to know what our F&F Live events are all about? Watch this video compilation!
In Case You Missed It
On last week’s episode of The Friends & Fiction Show, we re-aired one of our favorite episodes for our vault. In honor of Independence Day, we featured our show from January 17, 2024 with special guest, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah where the full fab Four — Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey & Patti Callahan Henry — joined Kristin in a discussion about her smash success novel, The Women. What better time to reflect on the service of our nation’s brave Army nurses than during Fourth of July week?
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: F&F June Pick of the Month—Kristin Harmel, The Stolen Life of Collette Marceau
WATCH now | LISTEN now
Already aired: Julie Clark, The Ghostwriter
WATCH now | LISTEN now
Already aired: Jess Walter, So Far Gone
WATCH now | LISTEN now
Already aired: Fourth of July “Best-of” Kristin Hannah, The Women
WATCH now | LISTEN now
Meg Waite Clayton, Typewriter Beach
WATCH July 9 | LISTEN July 11
Adriana Trigiani, The View from Lake Como
WATCH July 16 | LISTEN July 18
LIVE! July Pick of the Month: Lisa Scottoline, The Unraveling of Julia
WATCH July 23 | LISTEN July 25
Susan Wiggs, Wayward Girls
WATCH July 30 | LISTEN Aug 1
Celebrating Debuts! Morgan Pager, The Art of Vanishing & Laura Dickerman, Hot Desk
WATCH Aug 6 | LISTEN Aug 8
Victoria Benton Frank, The Violet Hour
WATCH Aug 13 | LISTEN Aug 15
LIVE! August Pick of the Month: Francesca Serritella, Full Bloom
WATCH Aug 20 | LISTEN Aug 22
Christina Baker Kline & Anne Burt, Please Don't Lie
WATCH Aug 27 | LISTEN Aug 29
Sarah McCoy, Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?
WATCH Sept 3 | LISTEN Sept 5
LIVE! September Pick of the Month: Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham, The Academy
WATCH Sept 10 | LISTEN Sept 12
Hank Phillippi Ryan, All This Could Be Yours
WATCH Sept 17 | LISTEN Sept 19
Jane Hamilton, The Phoebe Variations
WATCH Sept 24 | LISTEN Sept 26
F&F 2025 Subscription Box with Oxford Exchange
The 2025 FRIENDS AND FICTION Subscription Box is available for purchase now, exclusively from our friends at Oxford Exchange.
This subscription includes three separate shipments:
1. MARCH 18th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of Patti Callahan Henry’s forthcoming book THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND with an exclusive Friends & Fiction friendship bracelet and car magnet
2. MAY 27th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of BEACH HOUSE RULES by Kristy Woodson Harvey!
3. JUNE 17th: A hardcover, signed, first edition of THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristin Harmel!
*Optional add-on: A paperback, signed, first edition of SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews (coming in paperback June 3)!
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.
Tees in New Summer Colors!
We’ve added two fun, new summer colors to our Bonfire merch store in our signature Name List apparel line. These are perfect for attending Kristy & Kristin’s upcoming events. How fun to dress to match the books?!
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 more than 38,000 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 novel, Beach House Rules. Mark your calendars for July 21st for their next author guest, Kristin Harmel, when they’ll discuss her new novel, The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. The Book Club is also hosting the 2025 F&F Reading Challenge. Join them for a different category prompt each month to read outside your comfort zone. The July prompt is to read a book set in France and for August it’s to read an author’s sophomore book.
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