End Time Fiction: Writers Left Behind

by Ron Estrada

I have a confession to make: I love End Time fiction, and I truly believe we are living in the Earth’s last days. Okay, that’s out. Many of you will send me links to my nearest Left Behind support group. Just to put my cards on the table, my theology and Tim LaHaye’s don’t exactly line up. I don’t believe we’ll be raptured before things get nasty, but I respect all those different points of view. When we’re all in Heaven, we can compare notes and see who got the closest. I have the feeling that we’ll all be surprised.

There’s a point to all this…oh, yes. Ironically, after the phenomenal success of the Left Behind series, there seems to have been a backlash against further attempts at End Times fiction. Oh, there are a few. My favorite is Joel Rosenburg. But when I tested the waters myself at a conference, probing editors and agents, I got the sense of “been there, done that” from them. Really? After one series and a few off shoots?

Now I realize main setting is already written and perhaps editors don’t see any way to milk that much further, but we can say the same for any history changing event. How many novels sprang out of WWII? I find myself in awe that there aren’t hundreds of novels set in the Last Days-romances, mysteries, thrillers of course, anything.

Am I really the only one who loves this stuff? Joel can’t carry the load himself. Especially since there’re about a thousand different scenarios for the End Times, depending on which camp you fall into. And I love reading about every one of them.

So here’s my quest: I’m going to re-vamp my End Times fiction (I actually started a novel), and see where it takes me. After all, if it excites me to read it, it ought to excite me to write it. Anyone with me?