As a freelance journalist, writer, editor and presenter, I have enjoyed many years meeting and interviewing fascinating people, and visiting wonderful locations worldwide.

I regularly conduct on-stage interviews with authors and personalities at festivals and events, and for more than 10 years co-hosted a monthly on air book club with Lesley Dolphin at BBC Radio Suffolk.

Details of my events, book reviews and recommendations can be found on my website moreaboutbooks.com and all the latest information is available in my weekly e-newsletter which you can receive by signing up here or read recent issues here.

Or follow me on Twitter @catherinelarner

In the press

Magazine cover pagesAs a journalist I contribute lifestyle features and profiles for regional and national newspapers and magazines. As the former editor of the leading business journal for the fitness industry in Europe, I regularly contributed articles about the market for a US publication.

published articles

On the radio

For more than 10 years I've co-hosted an on-air book club on BBC Radio Suffolk with Lesley Dolphin. Listen to past book club discussions here.

In addition, my print articles and author interviews often feature as podcasts. You can listen to a recent interview with former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams for Premier Radio here.

view archive on moreaboutbooks.com

At events

Hosting book launches and talks for festivals and events throughout Suffolk, I regularly interview authors on stage with audiences from 30 to 300. In the past year I have been in conversation with Esther Freud, Salley Vickers, Simon Garfield, Susie Dent, Melissa Harrison and Elly Griffiths.

view event listings on moreaboutbooks.com

Recent articles

in 'Suffolk', March 2024
Biographer Oliver Soden never intended to be a writer, despite spending childhood holidays on the Suffolk coast with one of Britain's favourite children's authors. He returns to talk about his latest work at the Aldeburgh Literary Festival.
in 'Suffolk', March 2024
Art historian Susan Owens is used to delving into the past, so she's looking forward to learning the full story of the building she rescued and made into an unusual Suffolk home.
in 'Suffolk', February 2024
It's the most important question for Lee Child, creator of the ever-popular Jack Reacher novels, film and TV series. He may get some answers this month as he e-meets his audience in the Suffolk Libraries Online Book Festival
in 'Suffolk', February 2024
As a home help Dora Brown is a tour de force, a made-up person making a real impact that goes way beyond a basic clean and tidy-up
in 'East Anglian Daily Times', January 2024
It's the most important question for Lee Child, creator of the ever-popular Jack Reacher novels, film and TV series. This article first appeared in the February issue of Suffolk magazine.
in 'Shetland Wool Adventures Journal', January 2024
Mati applied for one of the National Trust properties in Fair Isle but she didn't feel she had any transferrable skills for remote island life.

Make believe

This week I paid a fleeting visit to the London Book Fair and had a rather overwhelming reminder of the vast and vibrant world of publishing.

Amidst the acres of stands, the thousands of attendees and exhibitors, and the intense programme of workshops, talks and seminars, I stumbled across an author whose comments have kept me thinking all week.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is the creator of a number of bestselling novels and has a not insubstantial social media following.

I was going to attend her session out of curiosity and located the venue in good time, intending to rock up at the last minute (if I didn't find something better to do!). However, a good hour before she was due to speak, the queue stretched far into the distance, so I joined it, though felt a little out of place among all the glamorous young women clutching their phones.

Taylor has written eight novels including 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' and, most recently, 'Carrie Soto is Back' - which I have read, though initially struggled to remember the plot.

Well, I will now be reading all her books - what a phenomenal speaker. So engaging, humble, personable, relatable and articulate. She was amazing. But my point is...

She explained why she had played with format in her books. (I haven't read 'Daisy Jones and the Six' so I can't list what she does but I think it's things like emails, news clippings, including real people and events, etc.) She said that she wanted readers to lose themselves completely in her books so mixes historical facts and familiar incidents and individuals with her make-believe world and characters, leaving the two indistinguishable.

I've never been sure of this melding of fact in fiction but hearing this young (I've just looked her up and she's 40...), dynamic and thoughtful novelist explaining why she takes this approach, made me want to revisit the idea, at least objectively (as a writer as much as a reader)!

And I didn't have long to explore it, either. The book we were discussing in our Framlingham Book Group this month was 'The Romantic' by William Boyd which begins with the author saying he had discovered some letters and diaries of the adventurer Cashel Greville Ross and had turned this life into a novel.

So we learn how Ross experienced momentous historic events such as the Battle of Waterloo and met notable figures such as Byron and Shelley.

But it's not true. The whole book, the whole story is invented. There were no diaries or letters.

Readers only know it's all made up if they discover interviews with the author describing the writing of the book. So when we've trusted the author and believed his letter to the reader only to find that he's been playing a trick on us - how does that make us feel?

You needed to be at the book group on Wednesday to hear the different responses and emotions it engendered.

On that note - the Woodbridge Book Group is meeting a week tomorrow... And for the first time we're discussing a graphic novel (scroll down for details). How will we respond to that form of storytelling? If you'd like to come along to participate or to listen in, please email to let me know and I'll send you the details.

Thank you for reading.

More about books

Catherine LarnerFor my book reviews, event information and blog, please visit moreaboutbooks.com