X. Ho Yen's Author Newsletter (02 Nov 2025)

Greetings Dear Subscribers,

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If you like this, or just want to help, please forward/post the link! (see see the ‘How to Help’ section at the bottom) https://XHoYenAuthor.com/newsletter

=== Status ===

Well, it’s 02 Nov in a couple of times zones, so I’m sending this now. :)

AotF
I’m about done with my recent big research push for AotF, and have started the process of using it. It has already driven a couple of good fleshing-out go-backs.

MSD
On the heels of last month’s Literary Fiction award win for MSD, the novel was voluntarily read and reviewed by Andrew G. Gibson, and he declared it shortlisted for the 2026 Gibson on Books Sci-Fi Award.

While the review’s sheen is obviously from the use of AI presentational assistance, which Gibson has conceded, the substance nevertheless is his. Wow, did he grok MSD, or what? It’s good to be grokked! And the review is a wonder in literacy, fun to read in and of itself.

https://andrewggibson.com/2025/10/29/minimum-safe-distance-x-ho-yen-review/

I say voluntarily, but it wasn’t out of the blue. Via some rabbit hole search I had discovered his page, saw the recent release of his book “The Plausible Bullshit Theory of Human Consciousness”, read the description, and immediately concluded that we must be on the same frequency. Then I saw that in addition to his paid review service, he also invites submissions on a who-knows-if-I’ll-read-it-let-alone-like-it basis. So I sent him the PDF. It must have been a slow week, because five days later he had finished it and written this review. Yeah, we’re on the same frequency.

It’s great to be grokked. It was only three weeks ago I wrote my “Art Appreciation Primer (esp. for readers of my novels)” substack article in which I attempted to show how using basic knowledge of art movements not only helps us appreciate art and understand why we like or dislike a piece of art, but it’s also useful in evaluating fiction. MSD is not a standard

Romanticism-Minimalism genre novel at all. It could be described as Expressionist-Impressionist-Realist instead. As Gibson says in his review (excerpts),

”This is not a beach read, nor a comfort read.”

”For readers who crave science fiction that challenges rather than consoles, that treats intelligence as a moral hazard and beauty as an emergent property of loss…”

”Ho Yen trusts the reader’s intelligence.”

“Despite the complexity of its ideas, Minimum Safe Distance is remarkably readable. The pacing is deliberate but never ponderous; the language elegant without pretension. Readers who prefer spectacle over speculation may find its quiet intensity demanding, but those who engage with its ideas will find themselves rewarded.“

That last excerpted sentence is precisely what my “Art Appreciation Primer” article was all about. :) MSD is literary science fiction. So is, CotF, really, since it’s also very much not Romanticist and has Impressionist “visible brushstroke” analogous elements.

These last two lauds have reminded me how easy it is to lose confidence. Before them, I was getting down about MSD. But these have ratcheted my confidence upward. Now, maybe I can press on with a tad less need for external validation. Maybe. A tad. Maybe. :)

By the way, the metal medal from Firebird arrived. It’s not quite as gaudy as the pic makes it look. But without an inscription on the front, it would definitely seal the “Look at me! I’m a winner!” sad vibe that I suspect I’m projecting when I share good news. lol Whatever!

Authors in Grocery Stores

There’s a new program I might try, “Authors in Grocery Stores”. It’s a straightforward idea. A participating grocery store registers your book in its sales system, makes a little space inside for an author table (scheduled, of course, and the author brings the table, signage, and books), the author is present to interact with the public, books are taken to the register and the sale and the sales tax are handled by the store (no need for the author to have an in-person sales tax permit and to file quarterly returns, if they don’t already), and the store/program takes a 38% cut.

Within the context of my novels being literary fiction, I’m not entirely sure this is a great fit for me. “Puzzling Innerverse”, on the other hand, would likely be the front runner, followed by “Custodians of the Future”, it being a romp. This would not pay a job’s wage, but it could help with exposure. So yeah, I’m weighing the discomfort of being in public against the potential value. Hours in a loud, busy grocery store every day for a week is not an autistic’s dream, especially since sensory availability is required. No ear plugs, no looking away. I dunno…

Anyway, fellow authors take note of the program.

=== This Week in History ===

02 Nov

1969: Vocal recordings are completed for The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”, with the astounding, emotional power vocals of Merry Clayton. If you’re not familiar with it, look it up, have a good listen.
2000: The first resident crew—including one American and two Russians—arrived at the International Space Station.
1988: A computer science student named Robert Morris released the first computer worm onto the Internet; meant as an experiment, it brought some 6,000 computers (one-tenth of the Internet) to a halt.
1963: Ngo Dinh Diem, who used dictatorial powers to rule South Vietnam as its president, was killed in a coup led by his generals.
1947: American aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes piloted the Spruce Goose, an eight-engine wooden flying boat intended to carry 750 passengers, on its only flight, which covered a distance of one mile.
1932: Members of the Royal Australian Artillery fired the opening shots in the Emu War, frightening a group of about 50 emus and scattering them in all directions. After two months, less than 5% of the targeted 20k emus were reported killed. The failure was the subject of national and international ridicule.

01 Nov

1952: First thermonuclear bomb tested by the United States, on an atoll in the Marshall Islands
1994: NASA launched its Wind spacecraft on a mission that would include a “halo orbit” between the Sun and Earth to explore the space environment there.
1993: The Maastricht Treaty entered into force, thereby establishing the European Union.

31 Oct

1517: Luther's Ninety-five Theses posted
1968: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered an end to American bombing in North Vietnam.
1922: Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy; he was the first of Europe's fascist dictators in the 20th century. (Italy once again became a fascist regime as of Oct 2022. It’s not pretty.)

30 Oct

1961: The Soviets detonated Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Ocean; the largest nuclear weapon ever set off, it produced the most powerful human-made explosion ever recorded. It had a 100-megaton capacity, though the resulting fallout from such a blast was considered too dangerous for a test situation. Thus, it was modified to yield 50 megatons, which was estimated to be about 3,800 times the strength of the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
1938: Orson Welles's radio dramatization of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds was broadcast, causing great alarm as some listeners feared a genuine invasion from Mars. (See my ~42 minute youtube presentation on the history of Mars exploration to understand why in 1938 many people believed it could be a genuine Martian invasion.)

29 Oct

1929: Collapse of U.S. stock market prices, start of The Great Depression
1618: British adventurer and writer Sir Walter Raleigh was executed for treason. (This guy’s life is all about “It’s good to be the Monarch’s favorite” followed by “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal”.)

28 Oct

1886: Statue of Liberty dedicated
1962: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev capitulated to U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s demands to halt delivery of nuclear-armed missiles to Cuba, bringing to an end the Cuban missile crisis.
1636: Harvard University, the oldest institute of higher learning in the United States, was founded by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

27 Oct

1978: Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for negotiations that resulted first in the Camp David Accords (brokered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter), then in a peace treaty between their countries.

1961: The first Saturn rocket was successfully launched, and years later the Saturn V was the launch vehicle used in the Apollo Moon-landing flights.
1795: Pinckney's Treaty, an agreement between the United States and Spain (which held Mexico), was signed, giving the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River. This fixed the southern boundary of the United States at 31° N latitude and established commercial arrangements favorable to the United States.

26 Oct

1979: South Korean President Park Chung Hee was assassinated by his lifelong friend Kim Jae Kyu, head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, who was sentenced to death for his actions. This is an illuminating piece of history that has a kind of “V for Vendetta” (the movie) feel to it.
1970: Following an absence of more than three years, American boxer Muhammad Ali returned to the ring, defeating Jerry Quarry; Ali had been barred from fighting after he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
1825: After some eight years of construction, the Erie Canal, which connects the Great Lakes with New York City via the Hudson River at Albany, officially opened; its success propelled New York City into a major commercial center and encouraged canal construction throughout the United States.
1813: British and U.S. troops clashed in the Battle of Châteauguay during the War of 1812.
1795: The National Convention, the assembly that governed France during a pivotal period of the Revolution, was dispersed.

25 Oct

1936: Germany and Italy established the Rome-Berlin Axis.

It’s time to listen to “Gimme Shelter” again, isn’t it? Art, baby!

=== Standard Stuff === How to Help ===

Why help? Since I subvert pop genre expectations instead of pandering to them, and because of my autism and other isolating factors, it’s extremely difficult and expensive for me to reach out into the world to find my audience. I don’t have a team helping me. Just writing newsletters like this is an exercise in self-esteem suspension of disbelief (swirly thing alert!).

I truly rely on word of mouth and grassroots support. In case anyone assumes this is some kind of gravy train side hustle, I’m still thousands of dollars in debt on this, and every convention adds more red to my ledger. I’m in this for the long haul, but I must keep reaching out and pushing. This is not “write it and they will come”, that’s the erotic fantasy romance section (which sells itself).

How to help: Reading my books, writing reviews (if you liked them :), and passing the word would be great. If not that, then one could post my one-page ads (see below, or on each book’s page on the web site) on appropriate billboards and tell people about my web site, https://XHoYenAuthor.com .

Please help with discovery by posting this week (or maybe set reminders in your calendar for July and November?) something like the following:

Know someone who likes irreverent, inclusive, hopepunk sci fi? Check out this award-winning author: XHoYenAuthor.com/lauds

But here’s something very nice that anyone can do to help — request that “Minimum Safe Distance” be carried by your local library!

It’s usually as simple as going to your library system’s web site and searching for “suggest a purchase” or “submit a suggestion”. Usually, there’s a special page for that, and often it’s at the front of your dashboard.

They will want information like this:

Title: Minimum Safe Distance
Author: X. Ho Yen [please get the capitalization and spaces right, one after the period, another after ‘Ho’]
Publication year: 2022
Format: Book/Paperback
# of pages: 396
ISBN: 978-0-9766158-1-1
Publisher: Grand Unification Monastery
Audience: Adult
Language: English
Notes:
Good professional editorial reviews, including Kirkus:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/x-ho-yen/minimum-safe-distance/
“…Ho Yen’s descriptions of advanced technologies should please fans of hard SF, but what really makes the book work are the questions it raises about what it means to be a person and a member of a species.” Our verdict: Get It
Carried in Arapahoe County Library System:
https://arapahoelibraries.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S115C2180350

and the Colorado State Library Book Club Resource (https://csl.catalog.aspencat.info/Union/Search?view=list&lookfor=minimum+safe+distance&searchIndex=Title&searchSource=local),

and Biblioboard (https://library.biblioboard.com/content/a3f3fc17-626b-428b-b6a2-5b5a9a44a494).

Author web site: https://XHoYenAuthor.com

This process usually takes only a few moments once you find the book suggestion/recommendation page. Thanks! Put a reminder in your calendar right now!

I haven’t been emphasizing “Custodians of the Future” as much as MSD, but only because MSD has more kudos (which is because I spent a lot more money on MSD, and that’s unsustainable). I’m hoping that interest in MSD will lead to interest in my other stuff.

Space Autistic Author

If you haven’t watched “Space Autistic Author”, Logs 1 to 3, yet, do check them out. They’re only a few minutes long, but they’re fun! Logs 2 and 3 demonstrate how SAA allows cross-promotion with other creatives without requiring anyone to vouch for anyone else’s work. Pass the word!

While you’re there, check out the other videos on my channel, especially the Galacticon ‘23 video (in 4 parts). That one’s longer, but it shows why my pen name is not cultural appropriation, and gives a fun overview of Mars exploration (since the late 1800s) with details of my participation in it, mostly on the Mars Global Surveyor mission.

https://XHoYenAuthor.com/media

Like, subscribe, and share!

Here’s a printable, one-page ad for MSD if anyone has a nice bulletin board/ad column nearby

Printable, one-page ad for CotF

All purchase options can be found here: https://XHoYenAuthor.com/books. Both sites include links showing how several of the big vendors allow you to gift eBooks.

Thanks for sticking with me! I hope it’s at least mildly entertaining to watch this author second career thing come together.

Please do share my page with fellow realism-based sci fi fans, especially anyone who enjoys Corey’s The Expanse, Older’s Infomocracy, Card’s Speaker for the Dead, Mandel’s Station Eleven, Suarez’ Delta-V, or movies like “Arrival” and “Don’t Look Up”. I'm convinced my books would appeal to the same audience, because I wrote them for me and I'm in that audience.

Thanks for your support!
XHY
https://XHoYenAuthor.com

X.HoYen https://xhoyenauthor.com