Salty Like Blood- Launch experiment

OK, a HUGE thank you to those of you who purchased my new novel from amazon.com on the launch day, March 24. Did it work? Only time will tell if it has a lasting result. Over the short term, here's what happened. At five o'clock, "Salty Like Blood" was ranked over 11,000. By a little after six, it had climbed as high as 133!

There are so many amazon categories. In the religious/mystery book category, the only book ahead of mine was "The Shack." No surprise there. The Shack has been an amazing seller for months now. In the Thriller/medical category, "Salty Like Blood" came in at number two behind "Scarpetta," a novel by Patricia Cornwell. Again, I'm in great company. In the literature/medical, I came in at number two right behind Jodi Picoult's new novel, "Handle With Care."

In the end, my hope is that my readers are challenged by the underlying theme of forgiveness, and amazon numbers can never measure that.

For those of you who participated in the "hour-buy" off amazon, your free books should have arrived by now.

Have a great day!
Harry

Free book for your help!

OK, I've never been much into the self-promotion scene. It has always felt a little greasy. That said, when you know something is a work of grace in your life (like the ability to write a good story), promoting it should bring glory to the ultimate source, that is, my loving Father. So, here's the deal: I want to give away a few free books. My new novel, "Salty Like Blood" launches officially tomorrow, 3/24/2009. I want to encourage my readers to purchase the book from www.amazon.com tomorrow between the hours of 5 and 6 pm. Why? Because if enough people buy the book in a short time, it is likely to get a better rank and perhaps gain the attention of fiction browsers. So, buy the book from amazon.com tomorrow during the 5-6 hour and then contact me through email through this website. The first twenty people who email me a copy of their order from amazon will get a free signed novel (one of my earlier novels) by me.

That's a great deal. No postage. Nada. Just a free signed book for helping me launch "Salty Like Blood."

How's that for an offer?

OK, I'm done promoting. I'll crawl back in my writing hole now....

Harry

New Novel Q&A

OK, I thought a new format for this blog might be fun. Below is a list of reader questions for my upcoming novel, Salty Like Blood which will be released on March 24, 2009.

· How did you come up with the concept for this story? I was initially intrigued with the idea of whether a parent could forgive a man for abducting/killing his or her child. I envisioned a scene where the parent and the perpetrator of this horrible crime could meet face to face. What would they say to each other? Would it be possible for a parent to forgive?

· Forgiveness is such a challenging issue. Do you think it’s possible for a parent to forgive the impossible? Not only possible, but necessary. Remember, until we forgive, we are bound in a prison of our own bitterness. Will it be easy? Never!

· Can you share a few things that might make forgiveness easier? It is never easy, but it is easier if we remember a few things. 1- The ground is level at the foot of the cross. In other words, we’ve all sinned. We come as sinners to forgive those who have sinned against us. 2- We need to ask God to let us see the ones who have hurt us through his eyes, the eyes of a loving God who gave his son to die in their place. 3- The person who hurt us is not our enemy. Often they are the victim of our true enemy.

· How is your life in Africa reflected in this book? In many ways, Africa has started seeping into my writing. My life as a surgeon has been a continuous source of drama, bringing me into contact with all kinds of human conflict…great stuff for fiction! A village hospital in Africa can be a difficult place to be, a place of human suffering and blood, a place of pain and sweat…exactly the type of thing we delight in reading about (to experience vicariously), but would love to avoid in our personal experience. The Somali character in this book was inspired by my work with the beautiful Somali people who are refugees living in Kenya where I worked.

* How did you come up with this title? I was looking for a title with layered meaning. I wanted to use a metaphor, and use words that aren’t immediately linked in people’s minds. This title came to me while I was walking up the rocky dirt road leading from my house in Kijabe, Kenya to the hospital. Often writing ideas come to me like that. I’m not sitting at the keyboard trying to think it out; I’m away, doing something else, and my right brain comes up with it. It’s as if I’ve taken the issue off the front burner to let it simmer on the back burner and suddenly, without trying, the answer comes bubbling up! Salty not only refers to the fact that forgiveness sometimes demands sweat, the salt image comes up over and over because of the salt water setting.

* Why did you choose this issue (the issue of child abduction)? Because it is such an emotionally strong issue. It is charged, like dynamite. The explosion is so great in the life of my protagonist, Dr. Conners, that everything unravels. I wanted to use a strong issue to show that forgiveness isn’t just necessary for the one being forgiven; it is absolutely critical to rescue the life of the one who needs to grant forgiveness.

* Do you always write with a moral premise in mind? Not always in mind, but the moral premise is always there, in every story, or the novel will be groundless, always floating about looking for sure footing. The moral premise gives the novel direction. Without it, the reader may be entertained, but little else. The stories that stick with you long after the book is closed, always have a controlling theme. For Salty Like Blood, I’d state it like this: Unforgiveness leads to a loss of control and self-destruction; Forgiveness leads to emotional healing and wholeness.

Facebook friends. So 2009!

OK, I've finally relented to the pressure. Last week, I joined up. I actually made a facebook account. My editor at Howard has been telling me that I needed to do this to communicate with readers, other writers etc.
So I've started. I even listed my relationship status: "Married to Kris". My oldest son sent me an email saying that he was glad that our relationship is now "official". Never mind the twenty-five plus years we've been married. What counts in relationships these days is that you're official on facebook.
I'll have to say, I have a few initial impressions.
It is fun.
It is another time vacuum. I should be writing, reading or doing surgery or something else of value, but I wonder if someone has posted something on my wall on facebook?
And what about those game applications? Check out Twirl, an on-line game where you try to make as many words as you can from the six or so letters given. You've got two minutes. Go. Didn't do as well as you like. Try again. This is good for at least thirty minutes of wasting time.
Or play Lexulous. It's an on-line version of that old favorite, Scrabble. My wife and I have actually sat in the same room, each with a lap top open and played a game. Cool. Neat, and you don't have to put away the board when you're done. So 2009!
Or cruise your friends pages and spend time laughing at their photos.
Or be amazed at the details some people prefer to show. Do I really care if they are washing dishes? Alert the media, I'm going to Walmart.
But it is cool. I can message my friends, talk to my reader's group about books, and catch up with old school buddies. Do I have more gray hair than my classmates? Does this really matter? No, but it is cool.
So my hat is off to my editor. Time will tell whether I get anything out of this except a lot of fun.
So are you on facebook? Befriend me! Join the Harry Kraus Reader's group and talk about books. I'd love to meet you there.

Salty Like Blood

Readers often wonder about the ins and outs of the publishing business. What goes on behind the scenes? How did you get a book contract? Did you write the novel before or after the contract was signed?

The process may be different for each novel. My upcoming release with Simon and Schuster (Howard Books), Salty Like Blood is the first of a two-book deal. For over a year, my agent, Natasha Kern, had been searching for the right fit for a novel that I'd written, The Six Liter Club. That novel was looked at by several Christian publishers who felt the content was too "edgy" for the Church market. That said, no secular publisher wanted it either. The faith element was just too strong! Alas, I'd hit upon a familiar trap with inspirational fiction. How was I to write realistically about the seedier side of life that needs to be touched by God's grace without offending those who were already Christian? My desire was to write from the viewpoint of a non-believer as she encountered difficult times, suspected abuse issues and eventually....the Christian faith. My protagonist was a tough lady, the first African-American female to become a trauma surgeon at a major university hospital in the South. She was smart, sexy, hardened by life experiences, and tough enough to make herself stand out in a man's world.
As sometimes happens in the publishing business, my editor at Zondervan, a great guy who pushed me to the next level in a series of books beginning with Could I have This Dance?, moved on to take on a new challenge at Howard Books (Simon and Schuster). When he was approached with taking my novel, The Six Liter Club, he was enthusiastic. We'd worked well together in the past and he relished the idea of acquiring another Kraus novel. But, as expected, Dave had a few ideas of his own: "I want that novel, but we don't want to do it as the first Howard book of yours. Give me something else first. Then, the market will be ready for The Six Liter Club.
It just so happened that I'd written the opening to a new novel, and my agent was thrilled that I seemed to be capturing a unique voice while launching towards the rough-water issues of a child abduction and the resultant marital pressure that often accompanies as a result. That novel, Salty Like Blood also delighted my potential editor. The deal was sealed. I'd deliver a new novel, Salty Like Blood, and a year later, Howard agreed to publish The Six Liter Club.
I'm getting excited to see the final product. You can see the cover on this site under "news" or go to www.simonsays.com and see a thumbnail. Simon and Schuster has even made a little video trailer for the book. It seems a bit cartoonish and cheesy, but it is fun. Go watch it at: http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=10275992001&search=salty%20like%20blood&type=Video
Salty Like Blood is about forgiveness.
Is it possible to forgive someone who has done the unthinkable?
Salty Like Blood is about how life's successes are precarious: one domino falling results in a string of catastrophe.
As always, there is a thread of medical realism. My protagonist is a family doctor. The story is predominantly told through his eyes and the eyes of his wife.
Finally, I can say, it will be here next month!

Warren invocation: Inclusively exclusive!

For those of you who watched Rick Warren's invocation at Obama's inauguration, I wanted to add my two cents. And publicly thank Pastor Warren for praying in the name of Jesus.

Too often, Christians have shied away from praying in this way, not wanting to offend members of other faiths. While Christians believe it is proper to approach God in prayer in the name of Jesus, that concluding phrase is often left out, another nod to being PC. If we pray in the name of Jesus, we are thought to be exclusive of followers of Judaism or Islam. We don't want to offend, so instead of praying in the name of Jesus, we don't want to mention the name above all names and so we just fast forward to "amen."

But Rick Warren didn't shy away from the PC crowd and avoid the controversial phrase. He prayed specifically in the name "of the one who changed my life" and then followed it by using the Jewish name for Jesus, the Muslim name for Jesus, and finally the Christian name.

This was brilliant. No one can say anything against personal experience. And millions heard the bright testimony. Warren believes and proclaims to all that Jesus changed his life. And then he uses Jesus' name (exclusive, huh PCers?) but reaches out to Jews and Muslims by using the name of Yeshua and Issa (inclusive). So he was inclusively exclusive. Smart as a serpent, gentle as a dove, that purpose-driven pastor.

I applaud Warren for his words. When we pray, we do not seek to offend. But we cannot deny Christ. Thank you, Mr. Warren, for your prayer IN THE NAME OF JESUS.

Remember today to pray for Mr. Obama. And remember the one who opened the way to God through his cross and in whose name we pray.

Race you to the bottom!

I read something today from the book, "Gospel Transformation." "Christianity is a race--to the bottom."

There is a lot of depth (pardon the pun) in that statement. But what a great reminder for me as I start out in a new year. The kingdom that has captured me is a kingdom of paradoxes. My weakness is where I find his strength. In self-reliance, I find frustration and lack of fruit. There is no room for the pick-me-up-by-the bootstraps gospel when the cross is in focus. Remember, the real gospel of grace says, "you don't have any boots!"

Let me share something with you from my book, "Breathing Grace":

"Have you ever heard of a “café coronary?” It is medical slang for a person dying of an airway obstructed by food.

Pride is the spiritual café coronary.

When I was in high school, my family took a trip to see my grandparents. I liked taking trips because it was a chance to eat out in restaurants. On this Sunday afternoon, my family was eating together in a Howard Johnson’s. I wanted dessert, but my father nixed it, saying I didn’t need it. “And money doesn’t grow on trees.”
How many times have I used that same line on my kids now?
A few moments later, I looked up to see an elderly man stagger to his feet, clutching at his throat. I pointed. “That man can’t breathe!”
The next second, my father, a family physician, was on his feet. He reached around the man from behind and performed a Heimlich maneuver, popping the offending pickle from the man’s trachea. The man’s life was saved, and I remember the pride I felt after watching my father in action.
When my father went to pay the bill, the manager refused. My father had more than paid our debt by preventing a death in the restaurant.
What was my response? Looking back, I can see the gospel debt in my words.
“Since it was free, you should have let me get dessert.”
Amazing. I went from thankful for a saved life to thinking about my own stomach in light-speed. I’d like to say that was typical teenager behavior that I’ve outgrown, but the truth is, I can still slip from living in the sufficiency of grace (where I extend grace to others because I am living in acknowledgement of my own need for grace) to gospel debt in seconds.
But thankfully, just as quickly as a Heimlich maneuver can open an obstructed airway, acknowledging our need is the first step in opening up the floodgates holding back God’s grace."

You see, I think walking in humility is a key to walking in grace. And as quickly as a blocked airway precipitates a physical crisis, walking in pride sets us up in a dry position, thirsty for grace.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Walking forward in grace begins with humility and repentance.

I'll race you to the bottom!