CELEBRATED author Sebastian Faulks is to put £100 behind the bar of The Bear Hotel to buy his fans a drink when he visits Devizes as part of Devizes Arts Festival on June 2.

Mr Faulks, best known for his novel Bird Song, is a lover of 6X beer. He said: "I am a huge fan of Wadworth beer and 6X in particular. I will put £100 behind the bar for those who are coming along."

He also revealed that he is hoping to buy a home in Wiltshire and his main criteria is that it is on the edge of a village that has a Wadworth pub. He said: "If anyone knows of a house with three or four bedrooms within a short walk of a nice friendly pub then maybe they can let me know."

He will be on stage in the Corn Exchange at 8pm next Friday to talk about his most recent work Where My Heart Used To Beat but he will also give the audience an insight into his yet unfinished book which has the working title Ghost Of The Paris Metro.

He revealed that he is about three quarters of the way through the book which features a 31-year-old American woman and a 19-year-old Moroccan man. He said: "It is not a love story. It is about two people from very different backgrounds. I hope it will be thought provoking"

But he expects many of the questions to be about his much loved novel Bird Song and says he does not mind that is still the one that fascinates audiences.

He said: "It will be 25 years ago next year that it came out. I put an awful lot into writing that book and I am very pleased to the response to it."

He is also pleased that as the book features as a set text for a number of school exams it is constantly gaining a new, young audience who hopefully enjoy it.

"I was 38 when I wrote it so I was quite young and if I wrote it now it would be different." The book was turned into a two part TV drama that was aired in 2012 with Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Wraysford and Clémence Poésy as Isabelle Azaire. Mr Faulks said: "The acting was very good but I still hope that one day there will be a feature length film that is grittier."

Festival chairman Margaret Bryant said: "This talk will intrigue lovers of literature, reading groups and aspirational authors alike."

To book tickets and to see full list of other people appearing at festival go to www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk