The Hardness of the Heart Beats Loudly Ahead of Publication

In three weeks — on Valentine’s Day — Wade Fransson’s The Hardness of the Heart will make its much-anticipated debut on a virtual bookshelf near you. But both the book and its author are already making headlines on multiple continents.

The Hardness of the Heart (HoH) is the sequel to The People of the Sign, Wade’s captivating account of his chaotic early family life and subsequent immersion in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). In HoH, Wade makes his way forward through the wake of the WCG’s implosion, trying to find his spiritual footing while launching a new career and struggling to save a crumbling marriage. His journey takes him most prominently to India, where spiritually-charged experiences among the homeless and the terminally ill forever transform him.  

Author Wade Fransson

Here’s Wade in his own words, when asked to compare the two volumes: “The People of The Sign focused on the challenge of maintaining integrity while climbing the ranks within a religion. In the sequel, I examine the human tendency to sell one’s soul in exchange for a ride up the corporate ladder — and how both the actors and the acted upon (and their families) become collateral damage, in profit and non-profit organizations alike.”

HoH is generating some buzz ahead of publication on the strength of positive reviews — including, notably, one such review from a prominent figure on the “other side” of where Wade landed after the WCG split. Laura Urista, the Managing Editor of The Plain Truth magazine (formerly published by WCG), wrote, among other things, that Wade: “uncovers hidden gems long buried under deep layers of built-up dogma, and how the hardness of our human hearts separates us from God and from each other… The Hardness of the Heart is a refreshingly frank, honest look at life and the search for pure religion.” She was moved enough by the book to write its foreword.

The Hardness of the Heart is now available for pre-order.

On a related note, the Chennai-based Association of Soft-Skills Trainers (ASTRA) recently announced that they have chosen Wade for their 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award, and invited him to be the keynote speaker at a conference in Chennai in early March. In many ways, this represents the completion of a full circle for Wade, who considers the genesis of his path to such an honor to have originated with his early humanitarian work in India.

The organizers of the ASTRA Award event are concurrently planning the international launch of HoH, to include media coverage (newspaper and TV) alongside Wade’s lectures in the conference. His topics — which vary, but generally focus on integrating spiritual values with business success, and balancing altruistic and profit motives — echo the narrative palpitations in the pages of his freshly minted sequel.

In the coming weeks, we’ll provide more insight and updates into each of these exciting aspects of HoH’s launch and its author’s continuing journey. Until then, grab ahold of your pre-order while it’s hot!