Wow, thanks for that, Mark - really generous of you and I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. (I will def. get around to your books, just had a very hectic couple of months then collapsed in a heap on holiday.)
As for tenses (cheers, Namorvia, and greetings!) I write what the story seems to demand. It's very much trial and error. I once rewrote an entire book (Soundtrack) because something didn't feel right and as soon as I changed to 1st person, it began to 'zing'. (The zing factor, for me, means it's working. If I don't feel it, I can't expect anyone else to.)
I'd never written in 3rd person present tense (very few books are). But in Exodus I wanted readers to be flung right into the story, for it to feel immediate and real - and almost, in the cyber part, like a computer game. And the more I thought about it, a story set in the future, told in the traditional past tense, began to seem plain illogical. I knew I was making a demand from the reader (at least until they adjust) but as soon as I changed to present tense, I felt I got that 'zing factor' in the writing. Feedback has been overwhelmingly that it can feel slightly strange at first (which I kind of like) then it is more dramatic and 'real' - except in the case of a few adult readers who are adamant that a story should only be told conventionally, in the past tense.
Huh.
