Into the Fire

Susan Meissner in The Shape of Mercy (Waterbrook Press), Tom Morrisey in Pirate Hunter (Bethany House), and now Athol Dickson in Lost Mission (Howard Books) each elected to do a historical/contemporary novel where the story vacillates between the past and present. All very good writers and researchers, it’s no surprise that their publishers stepped up to publish their stories.

Since there is “nothing new under the sun”, we know this has been done multiple times before these authors decided to take this approach to their tales. This method opens a potential for expanding their readers, although I’d have to say with these particular authors, they have devoted fans of their work who consistently recommend them to others. In other words their regular readers will most likely read whatever they write.

However, most readers aren’t as rigid as this one in defining their genres. It’s a rare time indeed when I concede to read an historical novel. So mixing the contemporary with the historical might broaden the attraction for me since without the contemporary I’m less likely to pursue the novel. But then when these three authors present a new release, I’ll be there unless they resort to the pure historical.

Trends? Hard to predict or even prove. Three different houses released these similarly styled novels within a year of each other. Another possible trend in recent years is the number of novels written from the first person POV. When an author decides to use this POV, they must have an interesting protagonist with an enticing voice. I never used to like first person, but I don’t think I’d be reading very many novels of late if I hadn’t acquired a taste for it. After reading a number of stories in the first person POV, I wrote one novel using it as the primary voice.

In the last few years thrillers gained great ground in CBA publishing from Robert Liparulo’s novels along with a touch of horror showing up in Mike Dellosso’s, Travis Thrasher’s, and then Steven James’ novels falling somewhere in between thriller and horror.

What, if any, trends do you see?

Father, continue to give your appointed writers the kinds of stories and styles you designed for each of them. Help all of us who write to receive from you first and above all others. In the Name of Jesus, Amen