This week, I’m sharing a special author Q&A to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Friends & Fiction — a wildly popular weekly web show, podcast, and online community launched at the dawn of the pandemic by four New York Times-bestselling authors—Mary Kay Andrews, Patti Callahan Henry, Kristin Harmel & Kristy Woodson Harvey.
Like many readers, I found the show to be such heartening bookish company during the pandemic and five years later it feels like listening to old friends — who also happen to write and recommend so many of your favorite titles! If you haven’t tuned in yet, I hope you treat yourself to some time with Friends and Fiction soon.
I, for one, cannot believe it has been five years. Friends & Fiction was a real bright spot during the pandemic and continues to be today. What has been the most memorable moment for you so far?
Kristin Harmel: There are so many moments to choose from...it’s hard to pick just one! Two that come to mind are seeing MKA in her pajamas on episode one—and finally getting to hug MKA, Patti, Kristy, and Meg in November 2020, the first time we all met up in person after starting F&F! Since then, our “Friends & Fiction LIVE” events—which have taken place from St. Louis to Columbus to Atlanta to Alabama—have all been such a joy, because we get to be together in person, and we get to spend time with so many members of our Friends & Fiction community.
Mary Kay Andrews: I think the most memorable/surreal memory was Feb. 2022, the year we were the closing act at The Savannah Book Festival. Sitting on a stage, looking out at a live sold-out audience for the first time since the pandemic had started, was amazing, and the interaction with our fans, who told us how much the show had meant to them during lockdown, came as a happy revelation.
Friends & Fiction has such a dedicated following. How did you go about fostering this community of readers?
Kristy Woodson Harvey: We’ve always said that book people are the best people! I really feel like it was a “build it and they will come” type of situation. We created a place for readers who were separated and stuck at home during the pandemic to congregate… And, boy, did they ever! It’s such a joy to see the real-life friendships that started online. We continue to marvel at it!
Patti Callahan Henry: We started Friends & Fiction at the beginning of the pandemic, simply as a way for four author friends to connect with readers and support independent bookstores during an uncertain and isolated time. We didn’t plan for it to become a community, but it just happened because of the magic that occurs when storytelling meets community. From the beginning, we focused on showing up for each other: readers, authors, bookstores, libraries. Week after week, we invited readers into real conversations about books and the writing life. Over time, that vulnerability and joy turned into a true literary family, one that continues to grow, not just because of us, but because our readers have made it their own.
What nugget of wisdom from your co-hosts or the hundreds of authors you’ve interviewed has changed you as a writer?
Kristin: I think my biggest writing realization along the way is that there’s no one way to write. I spent the first decade and a half of my career thinking I was missing the boat somehow—surely there was a clear-cut “best way to write a book” that I just hadn’t found out about yet. But after talking to literally hundreds of writers on the show over the last five years, one thing that has become clear is that every single person has a different method to his or her madness—and that the best way to write a book is simply the way that works for you. Realizing that gave me a lot of freedom and allowed me to become a bit more confident in my own process rather than trying to compare my technique to that of others.
Mary Kay: I interviewed Jean Hanff Korelitz, the author of THE PLOT. It’s a dark, twisty thriller, and when I confessed to her that I hadn’t liked or felt sympathy for any of her characters, she told me, “It’s not my job to create likeable characters. It’s my job to tell a story with believable, flawed characters.” I’d always worried about trying to make my readers fall in love with characters, especially my protagonists, but that was a lightbulb moment for me, giving me permission to create more complex characters, flaws and all.
Supporting independent bookstores and libraries has always been at the heart of Friends & Fiction’s mission. At this moment, when we are seeing federal cuts to library funding, book bans, and economic uncertainty for independent bookstores, how do you think readers can make a difference?
Kristy: I think continuing to stand up for underrepresented voices and voting with our dollars (i.e. supporting our indie bookstores and authors we love and encouraging our libraries to order books we’re interested in!) is the very best way. We will continue to do that personally and on the show and encourage our readers to do the same.
Patti: Readers hold extraordinary power, not just in what we choose to read, but in what we choose to support. Independent bookstores and libraries aren’t just places to find books; they’re community anchors, safe havens, and keepers of culture. At Friends & Fiction, we’ve always believed that stories can change the world, but only if they’re allowed to be heard. Readers can make a difference by shopping local, attending author events, donating banned books to Little Free Libraries, supporting library levies, and using their voices to speak up for the freedom to read. Every book you buy, every story you share, every library card you use matters. Now more than ever, it’s up to us to protect the spaces that have always protected imagination.
For each of you — What book are you most excited to feature on Friends & Fiction soon?
Kristin: My favorite episodes are the ones where we launch each other’s books, because we have started a tradition of performing what we call “Friends & Fiction Theater”: little scripted plays where we each play characters to introduce you to the plot of each book. They’re always a lot of fun—and I have the feeling that we’re in for an especially good time with Mary Kay’s 2026 book! I also love having returning fan favorites like Lisa Scottoline, Elin Hilderbrand, and Karin Slaughter on the show... we can always count on a lot of warmth and laughs from them!
Kristy: We have a fun “debut authors” episode coming up and will feature even more in our Substack. I’m super excited about A Killer Wedding by Joan O’Leary and Hot Desk by Laura Dickerman, two debuts we will be featuring.
Mary Kay: It’s always a joy to have my old pal Lisa Scottoline on the show, so I’m looking forward to hosting her for her new thriller, set in Tuscany, called The Unraveling of Julia.
Patti: We just finished an interview with Jess Walter and his new book, So Far Gone, and it was such a fabulous interview about writing and characters and I can’t wait for our community to hear it. His book Beautiful Ruins has been in my top ten of best reads for a long while now, and I loved this interview.
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Hello for some reason I didn't get anything tom substack. I am sbscibed for the year. My email brucegilbert123@gmail.com. Thankyou.
So fun!! Xo