Friends & Fiction

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Friends & Fiction with Brenda Novak & Alka Joshi Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

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.

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WB_S3E15 Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club Apr 14, 2023

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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!

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WB_S3E14 Southern Cooking/Global Flavors with Chef Kenny Gilbert Apr 07, 2023

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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!

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WB_S3E13 Easter Special The Miracle of You with Cleere Cherry Reaves Apr 05, 2023

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WRITERS' BLOCK Kristy Woodson Harvey and Ron Block are joined by author and entrepreneur Cleere Cherry Reaves to talk about her new book, The Miracle of You, along with Cleere's approach to embracing her faith to get through difficult times and celebrate sharing her gifts through her creativity.

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WB_S3E12 The Circus Train with Amita Parikh Mar 31, 2023

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WRITERS' BLOCK Ron Block and Kristin Harmel delve into the December 2022 #1 Libary Reads pick, The Circus Train, written by the wonderful Amita Parikh. This stunning debut took the book world by storm, but as we learn during our discussion, it was not a quick and easy road to publication. The path is fascinating and Amita shares her journey that is inspiring and demonstrated how perserverance pays off. Truly a magical book and guest!

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Friends & Fiction with Lisa Scottoline & Robert Dugoni Mar 30, 2023

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Tune in for the Winter 2023 Season Finale epiosde with two blockbuster bestselling authors both joinung us during their publication week to showcase their brand-new novels—Lisa Scottoline & Robert Dugoni!

Lisa Scottoline is the #1 bestselling and Edgar award-winning author of 35 novels with 30-million copies of her books in print, published in more than 35 countries. Her weekly Philadelphia Inquirer “Chick Wit” column—written with her daughter Francesca Serritella—have been collected in a New York Times bestselling series of nine humorous memoirs. She has penned dozens of bestselling stand-alone thrillers including last yer's WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BENNETTS, plus the wildly successful Rosato & DiNunzio series. She joins us to discuss her latest historical novel LOYALTY (just out from Putnam)—an emotional, action-packed epic of love and justice, set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily.

Robert Dugoni is the award-winning, critically acclaimed, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series, which has sold more than 8 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL, Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. With books sold in more than 25 countries and translated into more than 30 languages, several of Robert’s novels have been optioned for movies and television. He joins us to discuss HER DEADLY GAME (just out from Thomas & Mercer), a twisty new suspense novel introducing the start of a new series featuring Seattle prosecutor Keera Duggan.

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WB_S3E11 Earth's the Right Place for Love with Elizabeth Berg Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

WRITERS' BLOCK One of our favorites, Elizabeth Berg, join Ron Block and Patti Callahan Henry to celebrate the release of her newest book, Earth's the Right Place for Love, which tells the early story of one of her most beloved characters, Arthur Truluv. The conversation expands to exploring the depths of writing character, of writing with heart and demonstrates why Elizabeth truly captures the best of humanity in her work.

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Friends & Fiction with Colleen Oakley & Julie Carrick Dalton, plus Stephanie Marie Thornton on the After Show Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

On tonight’s episode, we are so thrilled to have THREE authors joining us LIVE!

First we talk to the USA Today bestselling author of five novels, Colleen Oakley. Colleen’s books (including The Invisible Husband of Frick Island and Before I Go) have been translated into more than 21 languages, optioned for film, long-listed for the Southern Book Prize, and named best books by People, Us Weekly, Library Journal, and Real Simple. A former magazine editor, Colleen’s articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times and Ladies’ Home Journal among many other outlets. She joins us to discuss her brand-new book, THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER & LOUISE (coming from Berkley on March 28th), which Jodi Picoult called a “wildly surprising, entertaining ride,” and Taylor Jenkins Reid hails as “an absolute blast.”

Next up we meet novelist Julie Carrick Dalton. As a journalist, Julie has published more than a thousand articles in The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek and The Hollywood Reporter among other publications. A frequent speaker on the topic of writing fiction in the age of climate crisis, Julie is an avid skier, hiker, and kayaker, and a former beekeeper who farms a tract of land in rural New Hampshire. She joins us to discuss her new novel THE LAST BEEKEEPER, a post-apocalyptic meditation on the fragility of nature, that was released on March 7th by Forge Books.

On the After Show we are joined by Stephanie Marie Thornton to discuss her new work of historical fiction, HER LOST WORDS: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, an homage to the legendary mother-daughter pair of writers, coming from Berkley on March 28th.

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WB_S3E10 Pineapple Street with Jenny Jackson Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

WRITERS' BLOCK Mary Kay Andrews joins Ron Block and our guest, Jenny Jackson to discuss Pineapple Street, Jenny's highly anticipated novel set in Brooklyn Heights exploring the nuances being a member of a wealthy family while navigating life in modern society. Beautifully told from three viewpoints, Jenny shares how her book came to life and how she manages to balance her work as an editor with becoming a debut novelist.

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Friends & Fiction with Sarah Penner & Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

On tonight’s episode, we have two amazing author guests — Sarah Penner and Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai.

Dr Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese writer and journalist and the author of eleven books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction. Her debut novel and first book in English, THE MOUNTAINS SING, was an international bestseller, a finalist for the 2021 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the winner of many other literary awards. She will be joining us all the way from her current home in Kyrgyzstan in central Asia to discuss her new novel, DUST CHILD, a suspenseful and moving saga about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness, set during the Vietnam War and in present-day Vietnam.

Sarah Penner is the bestselling author of the enormously popular debut novel THE LOST APOTHECARY. Inspired by a moving lecture given by Elizabeth Gilbert in 2015, Sarah enrolled in an online creative writing class and hasn’t looked back since. Now, after more than a decade in corporate finance, she is thrilled to call herself a full-time writer. Sarah joins us to discuss her new novel, THE LONDON SEANCE SOCIETY. A spellbinding gothic whodunit introducing two enigmatic women out to solve a most unusual mystery, this book was just released on March 7th and the Book of the Month Club pick for March.

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