Introducing Kirk Outerbridge!

In this Thanksgiving season, I am thankful that I have found a fellow Christian author right here in Bermuda! After years of feeling like I'm the only one on the island, I met Kirk, and now have someone to meet up with who doesn't give me weird looks when I start talking writing. He gets it.
It's my pleasure to introduce you to Kirk and his new book, Eternity Falls.

Hello fellow International Christian fiction fans.

What an honor to be a guest blogger here on International Christian Fiction Writers, especially since I’m technically not an author of International fiction. (at least not yet!)

My sole claim to fame in the publishing arena is my futuristic suspense/thriller Eternity Falls published this October by Marcher Lord Press. But the story does take place in L.A. in the year 2081, so that counts as foreign territory, right?

No?

Okay, how about since I’m not American, that writing a story that takes place in Los Angeles actually counts as writing internationally for me? Better? ☺

I hail from the same blessed and beautiful island as my new pal and fellow Christian Author, Cathy West. Can you believe that on an island only 21 square miles in size, that we only just met each other, even though we’ve both been writing Christian fiction for 10 plus years?

It took the power of the internet to bring us together! Cathy found me through the American Christian Fiction Writers site. Imagine my amazement when I leaned that the ACFW Beyond the Borders director was none other than a fellow Bermudian. Has to be God working here somewhere.

As a Sci-fi writer, I suppose it’s a bit of an understatement to say that I simply can’t write anything that’s mundane. A story has to have some kind of exotic element for me to find it interesting and this most definitely is true of the setting. Which is probably why my second book takes place in the Philippines—albeit 75 odd years from now.

One of the things I love about an international setting is the ability to experience a different culture in the most intimate way possible without even going there. What better way to experience a place than to walk in the shoes of a character who has lived there their entire life?

When it comes to writing international fiction, as I’m experiencing with my second novel, it brings the chance to research a new place. I enjoy getting the details that will lend the authenticity to make even a local will say, “Hey, it’s just like that here!” To me that’s the real fun part.

One of my favorite ways to both learn about a culture and bring it home in my writing is with cuisine. Some of the best research for the my second novel came from watching “Bizarre Foods” with Andrew Zimmern and “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdaine. If you haven’t already, give these shows a try to fill your mind with the sights, sounds, smells and flavors of an exotic getaway.

I’m hoping International fiction will take off as a mini genre of its own. While technically setting isn’t a genre element, it can certainly give a story a fresh and appealing zip.

Kirk Outerbridge
Author of Eternity Falls
www.kirkouterbridge.com