Tony Denn's Blog

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Following extensive feedback, I have had Never the Sinner’s cover redesigned to it looks better in small boxes on the web. While I liked the old one a lot in print, it really just wasn’t showing up very well online, which may have affected sales. Good lesson to learn. Hope people like the new one.

 

The post New Cover for Never the Sinner appeared first on Tony Denn.

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Thanks for taking the time to come here. I have decided to give away an actual physical copy of my novel Never the Sinner.

AUTOGRAPHED COPY

A new murder mystery set in small town Nevada and Reno, the Biggest Little City in the World. Ideal for...

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There is little in the world that sparks more debate than racism. That’s not what this blog is about. It’s about racist characters in fiction.

A few days ago, I wrote about when reality doesn’t suit your novel, and I touched on how points of v...

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So yeah, I doubt I’m about to get rich, unfortunately. Although, obviously, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.

The dream for all independent authors is discovery. It’s that simple.

Get discovered by enough readers, convert those readers into c...

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Sometimes, the real world is just a tad inconvenient.

You want to tell a story, set in ‘our’ world, in reality, but there are a number of facts getting in the way. The decision a writer has to make is whether is matters or not.

One of the first...

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We’ve all done it. The latest book by our favourite author comes plastered to an email from Amazon or Kobo or wherever. We all feel it: the tingle in our fingers, a tug at the corners of our mouths as we hit the link, and –

It’s not out for an...

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Yes, I was nominated for the ice bucket challenge by my godmother. Thanks.

UK, text ICED55 your donation to 70070 #icebucketchallenge

The post My Ice Bucket Challenge appeared first on Tony Denn.

I wrote my first novel, Never the Sinner, as a straight detective story, a police procedural where the protagonist, Roland Recht, happens to be a devout Christian who believes in the absolute word of the Bible. People have since asked me if it’s a “Christian” novel.

My knee-jerk answer was “no”, because I never considered it such while I was writing it.

However, after looking around the web, I have discovered there are a lot of sub-genres, which branch into romance, mystery, sci-fi, and even horror. So, much like when Netflix lumps all non-English language films into one category (a major bug-bear of mine), Christian fiction can cross over into many genres, the only stipulation is that it reflects Christianity in its plot, or heavily in its themes. Also, no swearing, sex or gratuitous violence.

Therefore, my novel is not suitable to list in that category.

But there’s another twist: Christian viewpoint fiction.

This is where the Christian protagonist relies on his faith to drive him through the plot. It is what makes him (or her), him (or her… let’s just go with “him” for now, okay?). There are no holy moments, no direct interaction with Jesus or overt miracles occurring. It’s just a Christian person, living in the real world, surrounded with a genre plot.

Never the Sinner most certainly fits that category. Here is my pitch:



A dead cult leader

Friends and allies keeping secrets

A devout detective seeking the truth

For almost two years, the Congregation of Saul lived in near isolation awaiting God’s judgment upon the Earth. But when His wrath failed to materialize, the group fractured and started to disband. Now, with only a handful of devotees remaining on the compound, their leader has been tortured to death, and the only witness is the group’s newest and youngest follower.

As Detective Roland Recht investigates the alleged cult, it seems obvious that a former member must be responsible. However, after Recht suffers an off-duty personal attack, he and his partner follow the trail from their small Nevada town to the heart of Reno, where the truth behind the murder grows murkier at every turn.

Soon, Recht’s superiors and even the FBI push to close the case quickly and with the minimum political fallout, but Recht’s devout Christian beliefs drive his conscience in a different direction, forcing him to choose between true justice and the need to see justice done.

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The question is, “Should I use the #ChristFic hashtag for Never the Sinner?”

Well, that’s tricky. My dilemma is that Never the Sinner has swearing in it – quite a lot. I mean, it’s not Tarrantino or the Coen Brothers, but it features hard-bitten atheist cops, gangsters, general lowlives, racists, and an frightened young cult member who witnesses a murder. It has no sex “on-screen” so to speak, and the violence is not teeth-grindingly gratuitous (also it’s fairly sparse).

BUT – it does maintain the Christian protagonist’s perspective for 90%+ of the novel, switching only briefly to other POVs to move character forward.

So with that in mind, I think I can justifiably use the #ChristFic hashtag, albeit directing those who click on it to THIS page, so they know what they are getting into.

I really hope that readers from all faiths enjoy Never the Sinner – atheist, agnostic, Christian or whatever faith you subscribe to. It was written with people who enjoy genre crime fiction in mind, fans of the murder-mystery and police procedural. But if it crosses over into new territory, that’s great.

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Never the Sinner will be released fully on Sept 6th from most retailers of electronic books priced at $2.99 including pre-orders from:

Amazon (U.S.) http://is.gd/8XDlRD
Amazon (U.K.) http://is.gd/9mAd1M
B&N (Nook) http://is.gd/EctWbY
Kobo http://is.gd/MFYI0o
Apple iBooks http://is.gd/Rix0CR
Smashwords (for samples only until Sept 6) http://is.gd/SUTVXc

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I wrote my first novel, Never the Sinner, as a straight detective story, a police procedural where the protagonist, Roland Recht, happens to be a devout Christian. People have since asked me if it’s a “Christian” novel.

My knee-jerk answer was...

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This is something I have noticed in the final read-through of my novel.The spectre of the unanswered questions.

When writing it originally it went pretty quickly. I really did. And I had a series of red herrings and dead-end leads that my dete...