Unveiled

I can now announce that I’ve signed a contract with Tyndale House for my second novel, Bound by Guilt. This book is a sequel to my first, Thicker than Blood, in that some of the main characters from Thicker (Christy, Hunter, etc.) become minor characters in Bound. Right now we’re looking at an early 2011 release date. Some of the same settings play a part in this story as well, including rare books (a valuable first edition copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in particular), as well as the Colorado town of Elk Valley.

So there you have it. I’ve also begun a third book that ties into my first two books as well.

Brandilyn Collins’ seatbelt fiction has been a staple in Christian suspense for years. Check out my review of one of her latest, Exposure and an interview I did with Brandilyn a few months ago.

I recently asked Brandilyn what lies on the horizon for her.

The novel I’m working on right now is the book I was made to write—a suspense about Lyme Disease. As many know, I battled this disease in 2002-2003 until God chose to grant me a miraculous healing from it. Had it not been for that gift, I would have battled the illness far longer. Lyme Disease is so controversial in our country the arguments surrounding it are called the “Lyme Wars.” On one side are the doctors who deny the very existence of chronic Lyme and insist a mere 10-day or so bout of antibiotics will cure it. On the other side are very sick patients and the few doctors who treat them long-term, sometimes at the risk of losing their medical licenses. My story is based on current events from the Lyme Wars and centers on the wife of a prominent doctor who refutes chronic Lyme. It will be my typical fast-paced Seatbelt Suspense® and at the same time will shed light on the labyrinthine perils of the Lyme Wars and those who battle the often-crippling disease. Title of my novel: Over the Edge. It will release in May 2011.

Athol Dickson has been a friend of Unveiled almost since the beginning. Check out my reviews of They Shall See God, River Rising, The Cure, Winter Haven, and Lost Mission and both of my interviews with Athol (June 2009 and September 2009). I also had a chance to chat with Athol over at FictionAddict.com a few months ago. I recently asked Athol what is on the horizon for him.

Great question, Tim. Right now I’m putting together a thirteen-part presentation based on The Gospel according to Moses, What My Jewish Friends Taught Me About Jesus. It’s a memoir I published nearly eight years ago about five years I spent studying the Torah under the senior rabbi of the world’s second largest Reform Jewish congregation. The Gospel according to Moses, continues to be a bestseller among a wide spectrum of readers, both Christians and Jews. As the title says, I learned a great deal about Christian faith from the rabbis and Jews with whom I studied with during those five years. As a Christian, I found their take on the Torah fascinating, but also frightening. They challenged my stereotypes and presuppositions about God and the Scriptures, stretching my faith almost to the breaking point more than once. In the end my relationship with Jesus and our Father became much, much richer for having been engaged in study from a Jewish perspective.

The series I’m putting together will duplicate that intense experience as much as possible. Each session is a stand-alone encounter, so groups can pick which topics they’d like me to explore. I’ll dig into questions such as, “What does it mean when doesn’t God answer my prayers?” “How should I respond to the contradictions and paradoxes I find in the Bible?” and “Am I allowed to have doubts?” I’ll look into the most fundamental difference between Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism (it’s not what most Christians think). I’ll lead a search for Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures. I’ll wade into the very difficult topic of anti-Semitism in church history and how we should respond, and I’ll investigate the question that most disturbed me while I was at temple, “Are Jews going to hell?”

I’ll have this series ready to go by the end of April, and would love to talk to anyone who’s interested in having me come to lead their church or group through any part, or all of it.

Terri Blackstock’s last novel is on the New York Times Bestseller list and she isn’t finished yet. Check out my review of Intervention as well an interview I did with Terri a while back.

I recently asked Terri what is on the horizon for her.

I’m working on Book Two in my Intervention Series. I wasn’t planning to make it a series when I wrote Intervention, the first book, but when it hit the New York Times Best-Seller List and I got so many letters begging for me to continue the story, I changed my mind. I’m tentatively calling it Vicious Cycle. I can’t wait to continue the burgeoning romance of Barbara and Kent, and get Lance and Emily out of their newest trouble.

After authoring a number of non-fiction works Steven James took the fiction market by storm with his Patrick Bowers suspense novels. Check out my reviews of The Rook and The Knight as well as my interview with Steven from a few months ago. You can also listen to a conversation with my friend Jake Chism and Steven over at FictionAddict.com.

I recently asked Steven what is on the horizon for him.

Currently I’m finishing my final edits to The Bishop, my fourth installment in the Patrick Bowers novels. It ties together plot threads from all three previous books, answers some of the biggest questions brought up in The Knight and ends with a twist that will leave readers reeling.

It’s been a great journey, taken me nearly a year to write. I can’t wait to tidy up the final edits. Watch for news about a new series I’ll be launching this summer. I can’t share too many specifics, but people are saying the main character makes them think of Patrick Bowers meets James Bond.

Mike has been a friend here at Unveiled for some time. In case you missed them check out my reviews of The Hunted and Scream as well as my interview with Mike here at Unveiled. You can also listen to an interview I did with Mike over at FictionAddict.com a few months ago.

I recently asked Mike what is on the horizon for him. Here is what we can be looking forward to from this fast rising star in Christian thrillers.

Hey Tim, right now I’m working on two projects at the same time. I’m gearing up for the May 4th release of Darlington Woods, my newest supernatural suspense. I think DW is my most harrowing tale yet and has already gotten some pretty good reviews. From now until its release I’ll be sending out press releases, contacting blogs and offering to do a guest post (if any of your readers are interested, please email me), arranging book signings, and setting up speaking engagements. Also, I’m working on my next novel, Darkness Follows, due out May of 2011. I just started writing it a few weeks back and am about a quarter of the way through the first draft. This one will be another supernatural suspense and I’m mixing in a bit of historical horror (think Civil War). Right now, things are flowing and I’m in the groove . . . just hoping and praying it stays that way!

Why is it women read fiction more than men? I posed that question to a some well known names in Christian fiction who were most gracious to offer their insights. Some of their answers weren’t that hard to anticipate while others might surprise you.

Not surprising is the observation that men tend to be more action and detail oriented.

Men are usually more visual creatures.  If we are not participating in something we are watching others do an activity.  How many women will stand for an hour watching someone else work on a car?  A lot of men will.  Men also are hooked on sports, thus TV has a constant draw for them.  Women tend to use their time differently and treasure moments when they have a few quiet moments to themselves.  That leads to more time for activities like reading. (Ace Collins)

My guess is that men are visual and there are so many alternatives that are more visceral in providing entertainment for men these days, from video games to movies to t.v to sports.  (Stuart Stockton)

I think one reason is the old stereotype that men are more visual than women and a page full of words just doesn’t turn us on (not meant the way it sounds). Given some free time, men would rather watch TV, a movie, work in the yard, or at the very least, peruse a magazine. Generally speaking (very generally), men’s attention span is shorter than women; men want action, not words; and please oh please don’t bore me with details. (Mike Dellosso)

If a weapon is used, men like details.  They want to know what kind it is, for what use it is designed, its range, what kind of bullets, etc.  For many women readers, a gun is a gun.  It shoots, it kills.  Enough said.  I notice when reading male writers that they go into detail about distance, equipment, cars, setting, buildings, etc.  Women don’t really care so much about those kinds of details.  There is simply a basic difference in the way men and women are hard-wired and those differences extend to their taste in fiction. (Karen Young)

Another obvious factor is the way books are marketed and who buys books in the first place.

Statistics of who buys books doesn’t account for the fact that women buy many novels that men read. By the same logic, we’d have to say that more women eat food, since more women shop at grocery stores.Athol Dickson)

Women are the dominate force in most churches.  In the churches I go into women outnumber men two and three to one.Thus, a lot more women are looking for Christian fiction than men. Ace Collins)

We continuously hear data that women buy more novels than men. Now, women can buy novels for the men in their lives. And they do. I’m not sure it is difficult to get men to read, generally speaking. I have a lot of male readers, even with my female protagonists. (Brandliyn Collins)

Beyond these obvious factors it isn’t quite as clear as to what separates male and female readers. There is a valid argument that men do lean more toward the rugged action hero and see Christian fiction as too “touch-feely”.

It is not difficult at all to get men to read—they are reading now.  What they aren’t reading are Christian novels, which have often had too much self-exploration and sentimentality for the male reader.  When there are really great novels for men, like those written by Steven James, there is a bit of a General Motors problem—they can fix the quality, but they are guilty by association with their failings in the past.(Steve Oates)

If we aren’t careful that would lead us to think that all men want is the Sgt Rock kind of main character. Several successful writers of Christian suspense disagree.

The characters need to be ones that men can fully identify with.  Thus we have to have leads who have flaws and have difficultly at times drawing the line between right and wrong.  In other words, life is a bit of a struggle for them and at times they are lost.  That is the way real life is and that is something I think men will identify with. (Ace Collins)

Men (and women?) want to be able to identify with the protagonist of any story. I’m sorry (really, I am, especially if I go stepping on toes again), but I can’t identify with an FBI agent who’s six three, has a thick shock of dark chocolate hair, square jaw, perfect teeth, and broad shoulders that taper to a trim waist. But I can identify with an average Joe auto mechanic struggling to find his soul and his courage and getting beat up every day by the world, the flesh, and the devil. And if I can identify with the protagonist and the world he lives in, I’ll read it cover to cover. … Seriously, though, some real, flawed, I’m-doing-the-best-I-can-and-it-never-seems-like-enough guys is refreshing to see in fiction, especially when they conquer their weakness, find their soul, and emerge a changed person. Maybe if there were more of those kind of protagonists, the kind normal guys can identify with, there would be more male readers (Mike Dellosso)

Regarding the “strong” part, a thought. Take my last adult suspense release, Exposure. The protagonist, Kaycee Raye, is ridden with fears—of heights, the dentist, being watched, claustrophobia, bees. So you could say she’s “weak.” But I say no. A flawed protagonist, a protagonist dealing with lots of issues, isn’t “weak.” She’s burdened. It’s how she deals with all the challenges that arise from those flows that makes her strong or weak. If she fights them, if she does her level best to survive and overcome in a very difficult, often life-threatening situation, she is strong. (Bradilyn Collins)

Personally, I think the main problem is we aren’t teaching our boys to read and we aren’t putting good books into the hands of men who might read if they knew of the options available.

Imagine you are born into a culture entrenched in a strict cast system and you are from the lowest possible circumstances. Your only hope to  advance beyond your lowly birth is to join the military and hopefully prove your self worthy. After years of service as little more than a prison guard your day comes to show what you can do in graduating field exercises. The problem is the judges will never overlook your origins, so you must do far better than any other soldier to even hope to be passed.

Near the end of training, you find yourself in a cave where the missing child of an important official has been taken hostage. What happens in that cave ensures your place as a soldier but also leaves you with a dark secret that will follow you from that day forward. Not long after joining your first field unit, its commanding officer volunteers for a mission to provide security for, of all things, engineers. Little could your unit know what this simple and potentially boring mission will mean for you or the entire world.

Now imagine this all happens on a distant planet whose history is shrouded in the Dread, a gnawing fear that discourages its inhabitants from digging too deeply into their past. Only a few have faith in who they believe to be the one true creator while most, like you, believe in nothing but themselves and the Karn Empire. You are a simple solider who will face extraordinary situations, enemies, and decisions you never imagined (except in your dreams). Oh did I mention? You are a Yanguch of the planet Saurin. You are eleven feet tall, eighteen feet long and have skin that is blue-green with maroon speckles.

Stockton has spent much of his life building the mythos of the Starfire world and it shows in the richness of its characters and story of his debut novel. To be honest, I haven’t read fantasy or this kind of Science fiction in many years but Stockton has wet my appetite for more.