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THOUGHTFUL
REALISM-BASED
HUMAN
> SCI FI <
> It’s hopepunk <
NOT military sci fi, alien invasion, space opera, macho individualism, violence worship, multiverse, dystopian/grimdark, utopian, or time travel. NO “AI” writing.
More like CLASSIC sci fi without the old world isms.
(I register copyright for my books before publishing them.
NO pop-up ‘subscribe’ boxes on this site!)
LIBRARIANS and BOOK CLUBS:
MSD is carried in Arapahoe Library System and BiblioBoard.
CotF is carried in Arapahoe Library System and Biblioboard.
Both are in the CO State Library Book Club Resource.
My kind of reader:
enjoys works like “The Expanse”, “Don’t Look Up”, “Upload”, “Speaker for the Dead”, “Arrival”, “Infomocracy”, “The Irrational”, “Foundation”, and/or “Delta-V”
thinks globally and objectively, appreciates diversity and challenging tradition
seeks ways to find non-magical hope in the face of this world’s challenges
has a natural curiosity about the real world, including why we think the way we do
perhaps is neurodivergent, or knows the immigrant experience or marginalized experience, or is curious
doesn’t refer to illiterate errors as “typos”
Nov 2024 (this one’s for ~10-12+)
click pic or here
Oct 2023 (novel for adults, new adults, and precocious young adults)
click pic or here
Oct 2022 (novel for adults, new adults, and precocious young adults)
click pic or here
Work in progress:
“Attendants of the Future”
Even on the moon, someone has to shepherd the museum visitors. It’s not a job for robots. When an impetuous visitor steals the Kyrgyz Moon Landing Museum’s flag and jumps into a nearby crater, will VJ’s fellow attendants come to his aid when he follows? And will the mysterious machines they awaken pose an existential threat, or will they just cause VJ’s beloved, Silhouette, to finally leave him? Read this book to find out, and be grateful you’re not an attendant. (If you are an attendant, FYI there are job openings at the Kyrgyz Moon Landing Museum.)
What I do:
- ↑ literary, modern, classic-like sci fi (without the old world isms)
- ↑ global characters (usually more than one focus character)
- ↑ irreverent/subversive social commentary
- ↑ thought-provoking, emotionally impactful stories
- ↑ somewhat ambitious literary structure
- ↑ realism as a default
- ↑ thoughtful substack articles (instead of toxic SM)
- ↑ an entertaining, garage-animated youtube series for cross-promo with other creatives (instead of toxic SM)
What I DON’T do:
- ↓ write-to-trend
- ↓ "chosen one" stories
- ↓ a status quo world unaffected by humanity’s mistakes
- ↓ white-male-American-centric focus characters
- ↓ gratuitous violence or macho individualism
- ↓ use AI in my writing (I might use AI tools for translation or similar functions)
(If you relate to the “My Kind of Reader” section, and the Do/Don’t list, stay in touch through my periodic newsletter!)
Looks like your average white guy, but isn’t…
X. Ho Yen is the pen name of a Chinese-Cuban-East Prussian child of refugee immigrants. When his Cantonese grandfather immigrated (as a contract laborer) to Cuba, his Chinese name was interpreted as “Ho Yen” and spelled as “Hogen” (the ‘y’ sound is spelled with a ‘g’ in Spanish). This pen name is not cultural appropriation. It’s roots.
The effects of unrecognized autism (late 1900s) and a broken family dominated X.’s life for 42 years. With rare help and sheer luck, including a mutually supportive marriage, he survived. He broke a lifelong Complex PTSD in 2007 and somehow managed to get an education and a career, although very late, as usual.
Before his 3 decades in aerospace engineering, he was a sandwich maker, security guard, deliverer of flowers, preschool teacher, data processing grunt, taxi driver, and independent software author.
X. is a feminist. Women’s rights are human rights. It should come as no surprise that X. sees one race, the human race. Living in a tiny margin himself, X. is an ally of the marginalized.
He wants to continue the trend of humanizing and de-militarizing realism-based sci fi, and does not write stories with white, male, American main characters.
He is a big fan of Carl Sagan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau, great explorers and science communicators of the 20th century.
He went with this pen name because, believe it or not, it’s easier to get right than his real name, and it’s certainly more memorable. Originally, he was planning to use different pen names for different genres. But he’s abandoned that idea, as it’s tough enough to find an audience for one pen name. :)
