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QUESTIONS FROM READERS

Joshua Henkin answers readers' questions about the personal experiences that inspired his second novel, MATRIMONY, how he came up with the title and when readers can expect his next book.

Irene from Saratoga Springs, NY: Why did you choose MATRIMONY as the title of your book, as opposed to MARRIAGE?

Joshua Henkin: It was an intuitive decision. I like the sound of Matrimony more than the sound of Marriage. There's something a little more open and mysterious about Matrimony, and I think titles should have a feeling of mystery to them. And maybe there's the fact of holy matrimony, which is an evocative phrase.

Joe from Hixson, TN: Do you appreciate and love your wife every moment of every day?

Joshua Henkin: I certainly try to. I think a marriage is a living thing, and like any living thing it needs to be tended to. It's something you should never take for granted. I certainly don't.

Marjorie from Manilla, IN: When will we hear from you again?

Joshua Henkin: Well, my new novel is due at the publisher this coming spring, but I doubt I'm going to make that deadline. I've been spending so much time on the publicity for this book that it's taken me away from writing the next one. But I'll be getting back to it soon. It's hard to know in advance how long it will take, but I certainly hope it will take less than the 10 years that MATRIMONY took.

Mary from North Wilkesboro, NC: How much of this book was based on either your personal experiences or your writing of a novel?

Joshua Henkin: Every writer takes some of his personal experience and places it in his work. My own marriage dovetails with the marriage in the novel, in that when I started writing MATRIMONY I was single, and now, 10 years later, I'm married and have two children. That said, MATRIMONY is not directly about my own marriage; my wife can attest to that. And in general, I'm a big believer in the imagination. That's the novelist's task: to make things up, and to do a sufficiently good job of it that the reader believes they're true.

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