Meet Rebecca Serle TONIGHT!
Weekly News from Friends & Fiction—March 6, 2024
Tune in to watch TONIGHT’s episode!
Join us Wednesday, March 6th at 7pm Eastern on the F&F Facebook page and YouTube channel as Kristy welcomes this week’s guest, the New York Times bestselling author, producer and screenwriter, Rebecca Serle, to discuss her forthcoming novel, EXPIRATION DATES, a love story that will define a generation and the one her fans have been waiting for.
Rebecca Serle is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels including One Italian Summer, In Five Years, and The Dinner List, and she co-developed the hit TV adaptation of her YA series Famous in Love. A graduate of USC and The New School who lives in Los Angeles, Rebecca loves Nancy Meyers films, bathrobes, and giving unsolicited relationship advice. With EXPIRATION DATES (March 19, Atria), Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love, and the result is a gripping, passionate story about how to be single, how to recognize true love, and how we define ourselves. Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, this book has been called “a romantic gem” by Laura Dave, “sometimes heart-wrenching, often heartwarming” in a starred review by Publishers Weekly, and “compulsively readable” by Booklist.
Watch the video broadcast of this interview Wed 3/6 at 7pm ET on the F&F Facebook group page & YouTube channel. Catch the audio version on our podcast Fri 3/8.
Pre-order Rebecca’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 weekly author guests which always include a writing tip, book recommendation, and info on their work-in-progress, plus other great material not covered on the show!
Latest News from the Fab Four!
MARY KAY ANDREWS had a great week of fun in the Florida sun. She and Mr. MKA spent the first part of the week on Anna Maria Island, where they went fishing, took in a spring training baseball game (Go, Braves!) enjoyed some glorious Gulf sunsets and caught up with old friends before traveling down to Fort Myers for the Southwest Florida Book Festival. You can watch the video of her presentation here. She loved chatting with author pals like Lisa Unger—who she interviewed this week for a F&F Behind the Book segment. Now she’s back in Atlanta gearing up for her family’s Shamrock Shenanigans Fun(d)raiser to benefit the Katie Trocheck Abel Scholarship Fund. The fun starts this Saturday, March 9th in Atlanta. Go here if you’d like to join in the fun. Or here to bid on having a character in MKA’s next book named for your choice, or to bid on having MKA do a zoom meeting with your book club PLUS get twelve copies of her upcoming Summers at the Saint.
What MKA is reading and why she’s loving it: The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay. A dual timeline historical fiction tale about life in Eastern Europe behind the Berlin Wall and the Iron Wall, it’s a nail-biting story full of intrigue, spy stuff and family love and loyalty.
KRISTY WOODSON HARVEY had so much fun at bookmania in Stuart, Florida and the best trip to Palm Beach with some dear friends. She is working on edits this week and is so excited to announce pre-order freebies for A HAPPIER LIFE. Go to her website later this week for all the details!
What Kristy is reading and why she’s loving it: After Annie by Anna Quindlen. It is such an insightful and moving look at moving on after loss. Kristy is looking forward to talking to Anna with Mary Kay in an upcoming Friends and Fiction episode!
PATTI CALLAHAN HENRY spent the weekend in Stuart, FL at Bookmania!, a bookish weekend with Kristy, some Friends and Fiction members (looking at you @emreadsem) and fan favorites like Annabel Monaghan (who is as delightful as her novels!). Patti is now back in her editing cave but so looking forward to Mary Kay’s fundraiser this coming weekend—SHAMROCK SHENANIGANS!
What Patti is reading and why she’s loving it: Wonderworks by Angus Fletcher. This is a non-fiction book about literary invention and the science of stories, and I am here for all of it! The author takes apart some of the greatest works of fiction and explains why it changes us. I love it and can dip in and out depending on the chapter.
KRISTIN HARMEL participated in Orlando’s Komen More Than Pink Walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and early detection, and she also cheered from the sidelines earlier the same morning as her husband did a 10K in Orlando. On Monday evening, she had a wonderful time at the Sunshine Book Company in Clermont, Florida, where owner Beth Merrick hosted a sold-out outdoor event complete with a champagne bar! Tonight, she’s looking forward to speaking briefly with a book club headed up by the wife of her former childhood pediatrician (from many many years ago!).
What Kristin is reading and why she’s loving it: The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier: I finished this historical epic late last week, and I can’t wait for it to hit bookstores in June so that you can all get the chance to read it, too. It took some unique twists and turns I wasn’t expecting, following the same character through more than 500 years of Venetian history. (I haven’t picked up anything new since then, since my own book was due Monday, and I was working around the clock to knock out my first draft!)
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!
Upcoming Events
Saturday, March 9, 6:30pm ET: The 2nd Annual Shamrock Shenanigans fundraiser hosted by MKA at the St. Thomas More School in Decatur, GA to benefit the Katie Trocheck Abel Scholarship fund. Click HERE for in-person event details & tickets, HERE to donate directly, and HERE for information on MKA’s online auction where you can bid on prizes with all proceeds going to the scholarship in her daughter Katie’s name and memory.
Wednesday, March 13, 11:30am ET: In the New York area? Kristin is honored to be the emcee and moderator at the Komen Impact Luncheon at Cipriani 42nd Street. Tickets are still available.
See Patti’s full tour for the upcoming release of the paperback edition of The Secret Book of Flora Lea HERE.
In Case You Missed It
Last week on The Friends & Fiction Show, Patti & Kristin interviewed the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of the breakout bestseller There There, Tommy Orange, to discuss WANDERING STARS, his masterful and highly-anticipated follow-up to his already classic first novel. Tune in to hear about this “outstanding . . . dazzling work of literary fiction” (the Boston Globe), which has been named to most-anticipated lists by TIME, Real Simple, Oprah Daily, and NPR. Order Tommy’s book (out now!) 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.
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: 2024 Sneak Preview with the Fab Four
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Grady Hendrix, How to Sell a Haunted House
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: F&F January Pick of the Month: Kristin Hannah, The Women
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Abbott Kahler, Where You End
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Jennifer Moorman, The Magic All Around
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Amy Jo Burns, Mercury
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Kate Quinn & Janie Chang, The Phoenix Crown
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: F&F February Pick of the Month: Tia Williams, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Already aired: Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars
WATCH now! | LISTEN now!
Rebecca Serle, Expiration Dates
Watch: Mar 6 | Listen: Mar 8
F&F March Pick of the Month: Chris Bohjalian, The Princess of Las Vegas
Watch LIVE: Mar 13 | Listen: Mar 15
Anna Quindlen, After Annie
Watch: Mar 20 | Listen: Mar 22
Allison Pataki, Finding Margaret Fuller
Watch: Mar 27 | Listen: Mar 29
Stay tuned for our Spring 2024 season guest line-up which will be announced soon!
Bonus Episodes!
The Fab Four are taking turns interviewing some additional authors in short 10-minute video segments we are calling “Behind the Book.” Check out a few recent bonus interviews that our host authors have run on the F&F YouTube channel!
WATCH MKA & Meg’s interview with NYT and internationally bestselling master of suspense Lisa Unger all about her new novel just released this week, The New Couple in 5B.
WATCH MKA & Meg’s interview with the #1 NYT bestselling queen of contemporary romance, Susan Elizabeth Phillips about her new novel, Simply the Best, the latest book in her fan-favorite Chicago Stars series which was just released on February 13th.
WATCH Patti’s interview with Karen Spears Zacharias about No Perfect Mothers.
WATCH MKA’s interview with author Ashley Elston and her editor Pam Dorman about First Lie Wins.
WATCH Patti & Ron’s interview with Roxana Robinson about Leaving.
F&F Merch Store & 2024 Subscription Box
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. You can also order the F&F 2024 SUBSCRIPTION BOX through our friends at Oxford Exchange. All details HERE!
F&F Official Book Club & 2024 Reading Challenge
Join Brenda Gardner & Lisa Harrison on Monday, March 18th at 7pm ET on the Facebook page for the F&F Official Book Club with Brenda & Lisa as they welcome author Tia Williams to discuss their March pick, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. 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 Virginia Kantra about her book, The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Galey. 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 March prompt is to read a book with some variation of “book club” or “bookstore” in the title.
Stay in Touch!
Subscribe to our PODCAST.
Join our FACEBOOK group.
Follow us on INSTAGRAM.
Subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel.
Find details about everything F&F on our WEBSITE.
Shop our guests’ & hosts’ books in our shop on BOOKSHOP.
Join the F&F Official BOOK CLUB with Brenda & Lisa.
Upgrade to our PAID Subscription for bonus content from our hosts and guests.