The World is a Wedding by Wendy Jones **Paperback Release** **Author Q&A / Giveway**

The paperback edition of The World is a Wedding by Wendy Jones will be published by Corsair on 3 July 2014.

The World is a Wedding is a quirky read perfect for fans of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. It is 1926 and after a brief and painful marriage to Wilfred Price, Grace has fled to London and become a maid at the sumptuous Ritz Hotel. She finds herself drawn to the Suffragettes, but Grace has a secret, one that she can barely live with and that binds her to her old life in Wales. Back in Narberth, Wilfred Price (purveyor of superior funerals) is married to Flora with whom he is deeply in love. Full of warmth, humour and affection, The World is a Wedding is a novel about love, death, and the courage that testifies to the essential goodness and resilience of the human spirit.   

Very excitingly the first book in the series has been optioned for a television series by the producers of Downton Abbey.

I was lucky enough to read The World is a Wedding back in August of last year and talked about it here on Random Things  ........ here's a few of the comments that I made back then;

 " Once again, this appears to be something of a simple and straight-forward story, but Wendy Jones has a knack of dealing with some pretty serious and at times, quite dark issues without losing the warmth and affection from the story.  Her characterisation is amazing, she creates a cast that are deceptively simple, but are multi-layered and quite complex as the story evolves.

The World is a Wedding is a very worthy follow up to The Thoughts and Happenings .......   Wendy Jones has moved Wilfred on, he's become just a little more worldly wise, but has retained a touch of innocence and simplicity that endeared him to readers so much. "

I'm delighted to welcome Wendy Jones to Random Things today.  Wendy has kindly answered a few questions, and those lovely people at Corsair have offered two paperback copies as prizes in my giveaway. So settle back, get to know a little bit about Wendy, and then enter for your chance to win a paperback copy of The World is a Wedding.  It's really simple to enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below - UK entries only though please.

Do you read reviews of your novels? Do you take them seriously?   Yes, I read all the reviews and take them seriously. If one person is thinking something, they are probably speaking for many more people. I think about what the reviews are saying and work out what the general themes are and think about where the novel was working or was weaker and apply that to the next novel.

How long does it take to write a novel?   About a year and a half. 

Do you have any writing rituals?   No, none. I don't believe in them. I  try to make the process of writing as unencumbered as possible. 

What was your favourite childhood book?  The Growing Summer by Noel Streatfield. 

Name one book that made you laugh?  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Name one book that made you cry?   Love Story

Which fictional character would you like to meet?   He's not fictional, but I would go a long way to meet Dylan Thomas. 

Which book would you give to your best friend as a present?   I have given Gilead by Marilynne Robinson to quite a few friends. 

Are you inspired by any particular author or book?   Every book I read; every book has words, beauty, concepts, plot structure that I find inspiring. 

What is your guilty pleasure read?   I never feel guilty reading. If I'm ill or overwhelmed I read Hello magazine.  

Who are your favourite authors?   Tolstoy, Dylan Thomas, George Frankl, Studs Terkel. 

What book have you re-read?    Quite a few. I always have one book/story that I am rereading constantly. At the moment it is The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings by Marquez. I've read Humphrey the Hamster to my little boy nine times. 

What book have you given up on?   Andre Gide. I was a teenage and it seemed to me like the most miserable, long, dull book imaginable. 

Wendy Jones grew up in 1970’s suburbia, reading Mandy comic and eating Angel Delight for desert. Aged seven, she got a Brownie ‘Hostess’ Badge for which she set out a gold, wheeled trolley with a tea set and poured tea for the examiner.

Holidays were more productively spent at the ‘end of the world in the west of Wales’, playing in the undertaker’s workshop and paint shop that belonged to an uncle. It was a lot more fun than being good in suburbia and has provided ample material for her novels. 

The first person to do an MA in Life Writing at UEA, Wendy has a PhD in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths, where she teaches. She wrote Portrait of an Artist as a Young Girl, a biography of Grayson Perry, and hosts the literary programme ‘Interesting Conversations’ on Resonance104.4fm. The Thoughts and Happenings of WilfredPrice, Purveyor of Superior Funerals, the first in the Wilfred Price series, has been optioned for a television series by Carnival Films, the producers of DOWNTOWN ABBEY

Follow her on Twitter @abilliontimes

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