This was my contribution to the UK Guardian Book Blog today, as to if I liked writers' talks.

I liked your summing up at the end very much which may also explain why I choose writers' talks very carefully.
This, mostly if I have a particular fancy for their lifestyles and an abiding interest in their work with regards to themes & subjects.
A talk is certainly enlivening. I often feel I've picked up that extra spark with which to complement having read a book, beforehand.
And it always broaches a deeper self-awareness. I often leave the hallways of such talks feeling a better person than when I first came in.
To your final question, I do share a great interest in reading interviews and profiles of authors. I am a writer. Perhaps I look for a different kind of gossip - a sense of ordinariness or fascination in an everyday life of a writing day. Or even if the culmination of my desired dreams are wound into any of their own. How does the rest of life continue? That kind of thing. - susan abraham