TURLOCK — Bestselling novelist Katherine Center, often described as the “reigning queen of comfort reads,” will visit Turlock on Oct. 10 for an afternoon talk hosted by The Library Presents! and the Friends of the Turlock Public Library.
The event is set for 2 p.m. at the Carnegie Arts Center. Tickets are $15.
“The Friends of the Turlock Public Library are excited to continue our tradition of bringing bestselling and influential authors to Turlock through the Library Presents! program. This year's author, the effervescent Katherine Center, is sure to bring lots of wit, wisdom, and feel-good energy to our beloved event as she discusses her popular novels (and their movie adaptations),” said Suzi Guina, Friends of the Library board member and co-chair of the Library Presents program.
Center, a Houston‑based writer whose rom‑coms blend humor with emotional resilience, is the author of more than a dozen novels, including “The Bodyguard,” “The Rom‑Commers,” “The Love Haters” and her newest release, “The Shippers.” Her books have landed on numerous Best‑Of lists and inspired two Netflix film adaptations — “The Lost Husband” and “Happiness for Beginners.”
BookPage has praised Center as “the reigning queen of comfort reads,” and the Dallas Morning News has called her stories “satisfying in the most soul‑nourishing way.” Her work often centers on characters knocked off course by life and forced to find their way back — a theme she traces to her earliest days as a storyteller.
In an interview with Travel and Write Today, Center said she first felt the pull toward writing in sixth grade, when she and two friends began crafting Duran Duran fan fiction.
“It was my first taste of the power of stories to change your life,” she said. “I’ve spent pretty much the rest of my life obsessing over stories and trying to figure out how stories work, why they matter, and how they create that magic.”
Center’s writing process is famously immersive. She describes stories as a kind of internal music — a rhythm she needs silence to hear.
“Stories are always a voice talking in my head, and I’m just taking dictation,” she told Travel and Write Today.
She drafts on both laptop and paper, often scribbling scenes on envelopes or marking up printed manuscripts. When she needs uninterrupted time, she retreats to Galveston Island for days of nonstop writing.
Her newest novel, “The Shippers,” released May 2026, follows two childhood friends on a destination wedding cruise in a friends‑to‑lovers romance. Like much of her work, it blends comedy, longing and the emotional messiness of relationships.
The Library Presents! program, overseen by the Friends of the Turlock Public Library, brings nationally known authors to the region. A major donation launched the series, which has previously hosted writers including Jamie Ford, Tara Westover, Lisa Wingate, Chris Bohjalian, Kate Quinn and William Kent Krueger.
Center said her best advice for aspiring writers is simple: write for joy.
“Write the story that you, yourself would like to read,” she told Travel and Write Today. “Learn the art of self‑encouragement. And if it doesn’t bring you joy, go do something that does.”
Tickets for the Oct. 10 event are available at https://tinyurl.com/yw8mmtzv.
