Hello, Friends!
This has been an incredible month, and you, the readers, are the ones who have made it even more so! Being on the road for book tour has been an extraordinary experience. Celebrating the NYT list (twice!), and seeing old and new friends, has been a dream. 28 events, 19 days, six flights, five rental cars, and every night a different place to sleep, but we did it! I say “we” because I didn’t do this alone – I did it with your help, with your encouragement, and with your enthusiasm. I did it with my team at Atria Books, with the Friends and Fiction posse, with Meg Walker, and with my family and pals.
I want to tell you about some of the things that have inspired me on the road, and other things that I’ve been happy to come home to:
A Book: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. I read this in fits and starts. I open it anywhere and it speaks to me. As I move back into the creative process, this book feels like a friend.
A Podcast: Book of the Month – Virtual Book Tour podcast. They are so much fun and ask fantastic questions! They played a game with me that I should have won, but did not!
A Poem: At The River Clarion by Mary Oliver. My epigraph for The Secret Book of Flora Lea is taken from this luminescent poem.
A TV Show: All Creatures Great and Small. It is filmed in the English countryside, and it has been such a peaceful and well-written show to come home to after all the chaos of the road!
A Quote: “I hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and that you will work with these stories from your life--not someone else’s life--water them with your blood and tears and your laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom. That is the work. The only work.” —Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with Wolves
Face/Body: Atone by Moon and Rock. SO comforting and healing to use after long days on the road!
Things I am looking forward to:
Our Friends and Fiction co-host Kristin Harmel’s The Paris Daughter is out next week!
A few more stops on the road before spending most of June with friends and family!
The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Have you checked out the BOOK CLUB KIT?
Download Book Club Kit Includes: Reading Group Guide Conversation with the Author Patti's Travel Journal A Short Story Meet the Characters
Events
Have you looked at the events to see if there is anywhere to join me?
The Secret Book of Flora Lea Audiobook Listen to Audio Clip Videos by Patti What She Is Excited For Listeners To Hear On Recording The Author's Note About Cynthia Erivo's Narration
You know Cynthia Erivo? I know you do. Yes, that Cynthia. The woman who has won a Tony, a Grammy, and an Emmy. The woman who played Harriet Tubman in the movie Harriet. The woman who is playing Elphaba in the movie adaptation of Wicked. Yes yes yes. The woman who was…
The sheer joy of this publication has been a privilege and honor and
there is so much more to come!
"#8 Instant Bestseller List Hardcover Fiction" —The New York Times "#13 Second Week Bestseller List Hardcover Fiction" —The New York Times "#5 Instant Bestseller List Historical Fiction" —The Globe and Mail "May 2023 National Book Club Pick" —Barnes & Noble "#8 US Bestseller List Hardcover Fiction" —Publishers Weekly "The Southern Indie Bestseller List" —SIBA & IndieBound " May 2023 Indie Next Book Pick" —IndieNext "May 2023 Library Reads Top 10 Pick" —ALA "May Read This Next Pick" —SIBA "Most Anticipated Books of May 2023" —Barnes & Noble "A Summer Says May Book" —BAM: Books a Million "May Book Picks" —Library Journal "May 2023 Book Club Picks" —Publishers Weekly "5 Inspiring Works of Historical Fiction Shine a Light on Heroism" —The Washington Post "May Best New Books" —People Magazine "The Ultimate Summer 2023 Reading List: The 16 Best Books to Read Right Now" —Entertainment Tonight "May Pick for Book Clubs & Beyond" —Real Simple Magazine " 2023's Best New Historical Fiction Books" —PopSugar "May Best New Books" —Woman's World Magazine "6 Authors Like Taylor Jenkins Reid To Add To Your Library Collection" —Scary Mommy "May We Recommend You a Book? 35 New Reads for May" —Parnassus Books "May Most Anticipated Reads " —We are Bookish | NetGalley " June 2023 Book Club Pick" —Modern Mrs. Darcy "Four Firey Southern Books for Spring" —Greenville Journal "May add-on | Historical Fiction" —Book of the Month Club "Editor's Pick for Literary Fiction" #1 New Release Historical Fiction WWII" #1 New Release Sisters Fiction" —Amazon "Top 30 International Bestsellers" —Toronto Sun Canada "Equality, justice, and freedom animate the 10 best books of May" —The Christian Science Monitor "May 2023 Book Club Pick" —Simon & Schuster "Hottest New Historical Fiction" —Buzz Magazines "Award-winning Cynthia Erivo to narrate The Secret Book of Flora Lea audiobook" —Simon & Schuster "2023 Minimalist Summer Reading Guide Top 6 Picks" —Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club "11 New Books for a Relaxing Long Weekend!" —Book Nation by Jen "Mom-Approved Fiction for Mothers Day" "10 Books Mom Will Love This Mother's Day" —Simon & Schuster "Most Anticipated Historical Fiction of 2023" —Apple Books —SheReads —Thoughts From a Page Podcast —Tim Talks Books —Off the Shelf "Spring 2023 Most Anticipated Books" —Apple Books "The Last Book I Read in One Sitting" —Book Bub "Most Anticipated Spring & Summer Books" —Zibby's Magazine "Best Historical Fiction of Spring" —BookBub "10 Wistful Books to Fit Your Coastal Aesthetic This Summer" —Simon & Schuster "Our Most Anticipated New Books of 2023" —Off the Shelf "8 Genuinely Moving Novels" —Off the Shelf, Recs by Kristin Harmel
See blogs for all new updates including the Barnes & Noble virtual book club on June 6th.
About Patti Callahan Henry
New York Times Bestselling Author and Podcast Host
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Globe and Mail bestselling author of seventeen novels and podcast host. She is the recipient of The Christy Award—A 2019 Winner "Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year for 2020 and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for 2019.
Patti is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast A full-time author, mother of three, and grandmother of two, she lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama, with her husband, Pat Henry. Her newest novel, The Secret Book of Flora Lea, is set outside Oxford in the hamlet of Binsey and will be released on May 2nd, 2023, with Simon & Schuster Atria. Read More
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