P is for .... Present Tense

Thanks for all your interesting answers to my questions in the 'O' post yesterday! It was fun. But today we're back to writing related things. Present tense. It seems to be trendy these days. Of the four books I pick up at the library each time I go, at least one always seems to be written in the present tense.

I used to hate present tense writing. If I flipped through a few pages and found it, I'd put the book back on the shelf. It just made no sense to me. I mean, if these things are happening to you now, how can you be writing about it? Logic flaw....

So I started writing in present tense. And I found I loved it. It has an immediacy and action that past tense just doesn't have. In first person, anyway. Third person present still makes me feel uncomfortable anywhere outside picture books.

But I have to say, I worry a little when I see how many books written in first person present tense are being published. My new book is written this way, and I'm sure the bubble will burst soon, with everyone deciding third person past is preferable, or that present tense is just a gimmick. I just hope that doesn't happen before I manage to foist my book on the world. Books, I guess. Part of A9 is in present tense too....

What are your feelings about writing in the present tense?