X. Ho Yen's Author Newsletter (9 Nov 2023) - Galacticon (Denver)
Greetings Dear Subscribers,
How are you? Any news? Send me a note. Seriously. I’m not kidding. :)
* Books
* Other stuff
* The standard stuff
Post reviews, not just of my books, on TheStoryGraph.com! I like it better than Goodreads. I think it uses a much smarter cross-connection system than the traditional flat categorization system, helping you find what you’ll enjoy across categories. Plus, it’s not owned by the ‘Zon.
I’m NOT affiliated with TheStoryGraph.
============ Books ============
1)
Good nyews everyone!
In addition to some positive reviews from strangers on TheStoryGraph and Goodreads (where it’s also on several to-read lists), MSD now has five positive editorial reviews (out of five purchased), the latest from Kirkus Reviews:
”Ho Yen’s prose style varies based on which characters he is following, from the grit and suspense of Hutney’s chapters to the wry serenity of the SelfMade: …
Nothing to sneeze at!
2)
I’ve begun the long-lead (many months, exhausting) process of trying to get reviews and bookblogger attention on “Custodians of the Future”.
As a reminder there will be another *eBook* promotional period (USD0.99) from 4 Dec to 11 Dec 2023, which applies to both MSD and CotF. Please consider passing the word in the days before that time frame to any possible interested parties. My books are flagged as “for adults”, but really are appropriate for new adults as well as precocious young adults, so they should make good holiday season gifts.
As always, all books in all available formats through all vendors can be purchased through my books page: https://XHoYenAuthor.com/books
============ Other stuff ============
1)
I’ll have a Community Table at Galacticon in Denver, 24-26 Nov 2023. (no selling, just handing out postcards and otherwise exposing my books)
https://www.galacticondenver.com/
Also, this con required me to submit a panel/presentation topic in exchange for the table. So I’ve put together a presentation and have sent a query down to long term memory to resurrect my public speaking emulator software. We’ll see how it goes. This will be my third public speaking activity outside my workplace, ever, and my first as an author. The first was when my high school had me reading something over the school PA system (I chose a passage from MLK’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, iirc), and that probably doesn’t count since it was voice only. The second was in a geek club decades ago, and that probably doesn’t count, either. Neither does “Space Autistic Author”, since that’s asynchronous and scripted. So yeah, wish me luck. :)
Panel time: I won’t know until a week before the con!
2)
Some fun stuff:
Could any of these be the real world equivalent of the "Epstein Drive" from "The Expanse"? #theexpanse I'll be watching.
Pulsed Plasma Rocket:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576522001187
VASIMR Plasma Engine (Ad Astra/fmr Astronaut Chang-Diaz):
https://www.adastrarocket.com/our-engine/
Nuclear Thermal Engine (DARPA/NASA):
https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-07-26Here's a big "you go, girl!" to chicana writer V. Castro. I felt an immediate kinship on reading this first article because she's doing her own thing, even though it's almost entirely not my thing.
Recently she wrote "Aliens - Vasquez" for Del Ray, which I suspect could be a great gateway book for Latinx youngsters in need of representation in pop culture books.
https://rue-morgue.com/exclusive-interview-author-v.../
Here’s a funny story!
I worked at ULA (United Launch Alliance) for years, mostly on the Atlas V and Delta IV rocket programs, but also a little on the new “Vulcan” rocket shortly before I participated in a voluntary layoff the new leadership had initiated.The first Vulcan rocket is scheduled to launch the first Astrobotics lunar rover to the moon, a Peregrine rover design, in late December of this year.
When ULA first named their new rocket, they chose a terrible, terrible name, “Eagle”. (This was, allegedly, after some kind of in-company naming lottery, although I knew of no one who had participated.) This was after SpaceX had named their new rocket “Falcon”, so regardless of the Apollo program’s history with the Eagle lander that name would have just seemed…weak. Very weak.
I was among many of the rank and file employees who immediately “screamed and yelled” that “Eagle” was a terrible name and needed to be changed. Eventually the higher ups arranged for a company-wide naming lottery. Candidate names were submitted. Most of them were better than “Eagle”. In the end, the company chose “Vulcan”, after the Roman god of the forge, which I think is a fantastic name, far better than the original choice. Everyone was also aware of the implicit relationship between the name “Vulcan” and “Star Trek”, but the Roman god of the forge is plenty strong without it.
Then they chose the Vulcan’s logo, without consulting the rank and file. It’s meant to evoke someone working a forge, wrangling heat and throwing smoke, but…take a look…
https://www.ulalaunch.com/images/default-source/default-album/vulcan_art_nowords.jpg?sfvrsn=4474ba8a_4
it just looks like a doob…in the state famous for having legalized marijuana. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. We in the rank and file let them know, but what more could we do? It was out there. ULA had committed itself. We collectively did an arms-up shrug, a corporate "salute” the world over.I’ve had people in stores see me wearing my Vulcan beanie cap:
(even in this closeup selfie you can barely read “Vulcan” below the smoking doob logo)
and from their reaction I could tell they thought I was an enthusiast of the 4/20 kind rather than of rockets. I don’t know for sure, but there are different reactions when you wear “obvious space enthusiast” garments.
Interestingly, if you go to the ULA store for “Vulcan” now, all you see is this different “Vulcan-Centaur” graphic:
https://www.logosoftwear.com/shops/VulcanCentaur
I wonder if they’re finally transitioning to a different logo…
In any case, keep an eye out for that Astrobotics Peregrine lander flight in December, and subsequent ones. Go Vulcan! Go Vulcan-Centaur! Go Peregrine!
The VIPER lander will rely on a Griffin lander, also by Astrobotics. I’ve been working on the VIPER program (part of the larger Artemis program) for a few years now, and while I have my uncertainties about it, I nevertheless would love to see it succeed.
In January 2024, Intuitive Machines plans to launch a lunar lander to the Malapert crater,
https://spaceflightnow.com/.../intuitive-machines.../
which is not far from where readers are first introduced to the SelfMade in "Minimum Safe Distance" (ch.2, p.25):
"On an oddly shaped plateau between what the humans call the Malapert, Amundsen, and Scott craters, it can see in one direction the rim of a smaller crater atop the plateau, and in the opposite direction the rim of a much larger, much older crater that stamped out the plateau’s sharp southeastern edge."
See this lunar south pole pic:
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/uploads/SP_Mosaic.400m.label.pngHere’s a pretty good status on fusion research, for those interested in saving the world:
https://www.geekwire.com/2023/fusion-fever-a-reality-check-on-the-multibillion-dollar-race-to-reinvent-energy-and-save-the-planet/The "intelligence engine" arms race is picking up...
https://venturebeat.com/ai/meet-nightshade-the-new-tool-allowing-artists-to-poison-ai-models-with-corrupted-training-data/
This tool intentionally “sours” an image for AI image engines that would scrape it, with the intent of protecting artists from AI scraping theft. David Gerrold brought up the topic of “deep fake” pics and vids. Will this kind of technology be able to stop deep fake vids? Time will tell…This is really good stuff, especially for parents and educators!:
https://youtube.com/shorts/b9gsSDYUvW4?feature=shared
from https://thinkingispower.com/Finally, I want more Star Trek: Lower Decks!
I recently got a Star Trek tortilla chip. :)
And only after looking up the actual graphic design did I realize my pic is backwards (interesting how that works, me having grown up with original Star Trek). But somehow when I flipped it over it no longer resembled the Starfleet symbol. At that point I ate it. :)
============ The standard stuff ============
Here’s a printable, one-page ad for MSD if anyone has a nice bulletin board/ad column nearby.
All purchase options can be found here: https://XHoYenAuthor.com/books or at GrandUnificationMonastery.com. 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 Andy Weir’s books, Older’s Infomocracy, Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, Card’s Speaker for the Dead, Mandel’s Station Eleven, Corey’s The Expanse, or Suarez’ Delta-V. I'm convinced my books would appeal to the same audience, because I wrote it for me and *I'm* in that audience.
Thanks for your support!
XHY
https://XHoYenAuthor.com