The way I remember, I think Joyce Maynard was the person to use the present tense first and she got really beat up on by the critics. That was probably thirty or more years ago.

My go-to tense is past with usually a limited third person POV although I like writing from the first person POV, too.

But this time, it will be the present tense. I always challenge myself one way or another and writing a novel in the present tense will be fun, I think.