Daniel Kraus
This week, we’re celebrating Daniel Kraus’s debut! Daniel Kraus is the director of six feature films and the author of two novels. He lives with his wife in Chicago.
Here’s a little bit about THE MONSTER VARIATIONS (Delacorte Press).
Someone is killing boys in a small town. The murder weapon is a truck, and the only protection is a curfew enacted to keep kids off the streets. But it’s summer—and that alone is worth the risk of staying out late for James, Willie, and Reggie.
Willie, who lost his arm in the first hit-and-run attack, finds it hard to keep up with his two best friends as they leave childhood behind. All of them are changing, hounded by their parents, hunted by the killer, and haunted by the “monster,” a dead thing that guards the dangerous gateway between youth and manhood. But that’s not all: shadowing the boys everywhere is Mel Herman, the mysterious and brilliant bully whose dark secrets may hold the key to their survival. As the summer burns away, these forces collide, and it will take compassion, brains, and guts for the boys to overcome their demons—and not become monsters themselves.
In this chilling and poignant debut novel, Daniel Kraus deftly explores the choices boys grapple with and the revelations that occur as they become men.
THE MONSTER VARIATIONS by Daniel Kraus
If you had to give your book a movie rating: G through Rated R, which one would you give and why?
PG-13. Aside from a disturbing scene of a boy waking up on the side of the road and realizing his arm has been torn off, there is not a lot of explicit violence in the book, and virtually no swearing or sexual content. What it does have, however, is implied violence as well a pervading sense of darkness that might unnerve some readers. But if you’re into being unnerved, hey, this is your book.
What topics, issues, or themes does your book address? What drove you to write about them?
The book primarily deals with the rites of violence that young boys are put through on their way to manhood. It can manifest itself in a lot of ways, from explicit routines required by social groups gangs or to the general expectation of “toughness” that is necessary to avoid bullying and to maintain esteem among friends. The expectation of violence awaits every boy hitting adolescence, and it’s something I’ve been interested in ever since I was that age myself.
Name three examples of readers who would identify or like your book.
- Any boy who has watched his friendships fracture into things unfamiliar and scary.
- Anyone who sees scuffles on street corners and wonders where all that rage comes from.
- Any adventurous reader—the shifting points-of-view and nonlinear storytelling are more literary in structure than some might expect from a book with a thriller’s plot engine.
List a few statistically improbable phrases or sentences one might find in your book. These are phrases or sentences you might never find anywhere else.
He did not light a cow on fire so he could watch the thing thrash about the field before falling over in a smoldering pile.
How can your book be used in the classroom?
I’ve already had a lot of interest on this front. I think for a teacher looking for a modern substitute or accompaniment for something like A Separate Peace or Lord of the Flies, this delves into some of the same literary spaces. It’s got themes and symbolism and all that junk, but is also pretty exciting, too.
Now tell us about other already-published books that readers of your book might enjoy.
- Different Seasons (“The Body”) by Stephen King
- Surrender by Sonya Hartnett
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
- 33 Snowfish by Adam Rapp
- The Goats by Brock Cole
- Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond
- A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Now whet our appetites with a teaser.
Five more minutes and I’m gone.
This was all James was thinking as he muscled the wheel left and pulled the car across yellow lines, pocked cement, a sleet of gravel and dust.
Are you offering authors visits to schools, libraries, or other organizations?
Sure, if I can pull it off schedule-wise.
Are you willing to speak nationally?
Yeah, given the above caveat.
List a few example titles of presentations, talks, or workshops you might give for an author visit.
I don’t have an official presentation, but I’ve made a living as a freelance writer to major magazines, as a movie reviewer, a book reviewer, a filmmaker, and now a novelist. So I can certainly speak to those interested in making a living as a writer.
This concludes our interview with our latest author, DANIEL KRAUS. We wish him much success with his debut novel THE MONSTER VARIATIONS. To see what Daniel is up to these days, visit his website at http://danielkraus.com.
*GIVEAWAY ALERT* Daniel is giving away two signed copies of THE MONSTER VARIATIONS to two winners. Tell your friends and leave a comment for the author! Enter by August 24nd, 2009 11:59 PM CST.
Your email address will not be displayed publicly and will only be used to contact you if you win! And don’t forget to participate in our other AuthorsNow! giveaways.
Comments
1 Kurtis // Aug 17, 2009 at 7:30 am
Mr. Kraus (as a Booklist reviewer) is also author of an awesome blurb which will be prominently featured on the cover of the paperback edition of Mudville.
Congrats on release day, Daniel! I look forward to reading Monster Variations.
2 Jill // Aug 17, 2009 at 8:05 am
Enter me!!
3 Lauren // Aug 17, 2009 at 8:41 am
Congrats, Daniel! The Monster Variations looks great!
4 Sara // Aug 17, 2009 at 9:46 am
Congratulations, Daniel! I’m looking forward to reading it. I loved the statistically improbable phrase “He did not light a cow on fire…”
5 Judy // Aug 17, 2009 at 10:07 am
Can’t wait to read it.
6 Larissa // Aug 17, 2009 at 10:58 am
Congrats! I’m excited to read this!
7 AMac // Aug 17, 2009 at 11:24 am
Sounds awesome. Hope I win a copy.
8 Shawna Lewis // Aug 17, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Shawna Lewis
weloveourdogs@juno.com
Thanks for the chance to win this amazing book I have wanted to read this book for awhile now so I really hope I win!!!
Love the cover and thanks again for this chance to win!!!
9 Llehn // Aug 18, 2009 at 3:05 am
I’d love to play please! Thanks.
10 Amber G // Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 am
I’d love to win!
11 John Rasmussen // Aug 18, 2009 at 11:24 am
This sounds interesting. Looking at the process by which young people fight their own desires to act in ways that are considered anti-social.
12 Eric P. // Aug 18, 2009 at 12:08 pm
we want.
13 dorothy l // Aug 18, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I told some friends about the book and would love to read it
14 Adrienne Gordon // Aug 18, 2009 at 12:53 pm
looks like a good read
15 Ann F // Aug 18, 2009 at 1:38 pm
This sounds like a great book that I’d like to read. Please enter me in the giveaway
16 JAMES LYNAM // Aug 18, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I love to read and this sounds like a great book.
17 Kristi // Aug 18, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I already have a copy and read the book. I think the book is exciting and very well told, I finished it in a day and a half because I couldn’t put it down. Books written this well are a love hate relationship for me, I love them and can’t put them down, then I hate it because I am done already with nothing to fill the void! I am happy for Dan and his success and I hope he continues down this path with each thing he does!!! I plan on passing this copy on to my cousin in Seattle, something exciting and not involving sparkly vampires!
18 susan varney // Aug 18, 2009 at 3:20 pm
i read all of the time mverno@roadrunner.com
19 Renee C // Aug 18, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Sounds interesting, would love to read it.
20 Jeanette Jackson // Aug 18, 2009 at 8:56 pm
As a parent I would like to read this story and possibly pass it on to my kids to read. It sound like something a lot of boys go through
21 Jeffrey Mayo // Aug 18, 2009 at 9:06 pm
This sounds like a great read! Thank you for the chance to win! Jeff
22 Cody // Aug 18, 2009 at 9:39 pm
This book looks very interesting. Thanks for the opportunity!
23 Karen E // Aug 18, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Sounds intriguing.
24 Benita G. // Aug 18, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Congratulations, Daniel. The book looks awesome. My fingers are crossed.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
25 Carol Lawrence // Aug 19, 2009 at 5:47 am
Thanks for the chance to win this amazing book I have wanted to read this book for some time.
Love the cover and thanks again for this chance to win.
jelly15301@gmail.com
26 david basile // Aug 19, 2009 at 6:16 am
good contest THE MONSTER VARIATIONS very interesting
27 Valerie // Aug 19, 2009 at 8:28 am
Please enter me, I would love to read this book!
28 Lori Walker // Aug 19, 2009 at 9:09 am
Daniel, I am so glad to hear about the ‘hinted at violence’… so many times the actual violence takes away from the story!
29 pag // Aug 19, 2009 at 10:31 am
I would sure like to have this please, thanks.
30 DeeAnn S // Aug 19, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I’m into being unnerved! I’d love to read your book. Thanks.
31 Daniel Kraus // Aug 19, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Thanks for the nice comments, folks. I appreciate the interest and wish I could give a book to all of you!
32 Dianna Murrah // Aug 20, 2009 at 10:57 am
Would love to delve into the read. Always like to read someone I haven’t read yet.
33 evelyn // Aug 20, 2009 at 11:05 am
sounds great
34 sarah oswald // Aug 20, 2009 at 2:14 pm
hoping to win, like to read!
35 Sammi // Aug 20, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for spotlighting this – sounds great!
36 David Holder // Aug 20, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Would love to win and read the book.
37 Paula Patterson // Aug 20, 2009 at 9:45 pm
This sounds like my kind of book. Love the suspense factor!!!
38 Alicia // Aug 20, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Sounds like a good read.
Thanks for the giveaway >^..^<
39 Ashley Rudder // Aug 21, 2009 at 12:23 am
I would like to be enter for this contest. i really look forward to reading this book. Thanks for the giveaway!
Ashley
arudd908@gmail.com
40 Dupree Rudder // Aug 21, 2009 at 12:26 am
this is a cool contest. i would like to read this book, its sounds great!
41 Billy // Aug 21, 2009 at 10:27 am
Great Interview! I would love to read the book.
42 Chris Ryan // Aug 23, 2009 at 6:44 am
Really looking forward to this, love that the author would give it a PG-13 rating, my 13 year old loves this genre and some titles go too far.
43 Meg // Aug 23, 2009 at 7:42 pm
This looks very interesting, I’d love to read it!
44 Melanie // Aug 23, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Wow, after reading the description Im VERY excited to read this. It sounds very interesting.
45 Sherri B. // Aug 23, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Your book sounds fascinating! I am enthralled with authors who explore the dark side of life. Thanks for the chance!
46 Renee G // Aug 24, 2009 at 12:09 am
This looks intriguing. As a mother of boys, I would love to read this.
rsgrandinetti(at)yahoo(dot)com
47 Kelly F // Aug 24, 2009 at 1:31 am
I like books that make me uneasy, that make me think about things in a different way. This book sounds interesting for sure.
48 amy delong // Aug 24, 2009 at 6:58 am
Looks like a great book,where do you get your inspiration to writE?
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com
49 Jessica // Aug 24, 2009 at 7:32 am
I’d love to read your book. I’ve seen Jefftowne and Musician recently, so seeing you branch out to writing books is great. Congrats!
50 \George Ferris // Aug 24, 2009 at 8:08 am
I would like to read this book.
51 Sheila Hickmon // Aug 24, 2009 at 8:55 am
I’d love to read this book, sounds like you did an excellent job!!
52 Marie // Aug 24, 2009 at 9:13 am
This sounds like a great book, I’m looking forward to reading it!
53 Ed Nemmers // Aug 24, 2009 at 11:17 am
Thanks for the other book recommendations!
54 Mishia // Aug 24, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Looks like a really great book! Can’t wait to read it!
55 susan smoaks // Aug 24, 2009 at 6:42 pm
i really would like to read this book!
56 Cami Jones // Aug 24, 2009 at 6:53 pm
I would love to read this along with adding it to my other originally signed collection
57 Candie L // Aug 24, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I like suspenseful mysteries. Thank you
58 Buddy Garrett // Aug 24, 2009 at 8:54 pm
It sounds like a great book. I would love to read it.
59 Blaie Lewis // Aug 24, 2009 at 9:55 pm
blairwlewis@gmail.com
Blair Lewis
I have wanted to read this book for awhile now so please put my name into the giveaway pile.
Thanks for your blog and all you do for us readers!!!
60 Tamara Burks // Aug 24, 2009 at 10:18 pm
This sounds like one heck of a book!
61 Charlene Kuser // Aug 24, 2009 at 10:35 pm
A great interview with Daniel Kraus,he is a very
interesting person and his book comes off that way too.I would love to read this book,as disturbing as it might be we need to be very aware of the
dangers that are of this world.Thanks for the
giveaway and for this blog
62 Janet // Aug 24, 2009 at 10:56 pm
ty 4 the entrty
63 Marion P. // Aug 24, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Sounds like a great book!
64 Daniel Kraus // Aug 25, 2009 at 7:49 am
Using a complicated mathematical algorithm, I have chosen two winners at random. The winners are #3 (Lauren) and #45 (Renee G). I’ll email both of you separately.
Thanks again, everyone, for the interest. Did you know Amazon has the book for just $11? Get one and if we can figure out the logistics, of course I will sign it for you. You guys rule.
dk
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