My name is Jeff Horton, and I am a novelist. I say I am a novelist and not an author because an author can be someone that writes about anything including novels, historical biographies, travel guides, etc., while a novelist is an artist, a painter if you will. Imagination is the paint and the keyboard the paintbrush.
I enjoy writing because for me it is pure creativity. From my imagination proceeds people, places, sights, sounds, and events which have never really existed. For me, writing a novel is sort of like watching a movie. I start writing with an idea of what I'm after, but the story truly takes on a life of its own as I write, often taking me in a direction I never could have imagined it going in before. The end result is that I have no idea how the story is going to end myself until I have finished the first draft. Even then, the story can morph as I make my way through a series of inevitable revisions where the rough stone is cut and chipped away at, before being polished into what I consider to be a work of art.
When I write, I strive to create storylines that are meaningful on many levels. I like to explore and understand the emotions, the struggles and the pain that we feel as human beings, as well as the joy. It is also important that there is a message in the story, a warning, a message of hope, etc. I want readers to come away having learned something new, something valuable, something important. These are ambitious goals, of course, and I'm not as successful as I would like to be at meeting these goals.
Another thing that is important to me as a novelist is that the characters, the events, and the setting all feel very real to the reader. This then is a key, in my opinion, to drawing the reader more deeply into the story. People are complex creatures and rarely (if ever) do we really know anyone. It is unfair therefore to suggest to readers that a character is a cardboard figure. While I may not spend as much time on every character as I would like in the interest of brevity, I do try and ensure that at least the key players are well-developed, and that they also change and grow as the story progresses.
My first three books have been mostly futuristic, apocalyptic thrillers, all written for the masses but from a Christian worldview. My faith in God makes up a big part of who I am and what I do, and I'm sure it comes through in my writing. My next book, which reflects that faith, will be different than the first three because it will be a children's novel, possibly a series, entitled Tales of Eden. My goal (always lofty!) with Tales of Eden is to create a well-blended recipe of a little Chronicles of Narnia and a little Pilgrims Progress, with a pinch of science-fiction thrown in as well. In Tales of Eden a family of children stranded on another world will be faced with various obstacles as they try to find their way home. The novel following TOE will be a techno-thriller very tentatively entitled CyberWars.
Find Jeff around the web:
Website: www.hortonlibrary.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Author.Jeff.Horton
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Jeff_Horton
Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4478744.Jeff_W_Horton
Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Jeff-W-Horton/e/B004NK5MJC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
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