X. Ho Yen's Author Newsletter, 05 February 2020

Greetings Dear Subscribers to X.HoYen's Author Newsletter, working to get MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE properly published!

05 Feb 2020 (last one was sent 01 Oct 2019)

You all know the drill. This is the long haul. Right now I'm focused more on what's next after MSD, and on the continuing process of learning how to ignore inevitable, crushing defeat without succumbing to Dunning-Krueger Effect. I'll resume querying agents again soon, after having made a minor modification to MSD's prologue to enhance its hook.

Since my last newsletter I read another contemporary science fiction novel, "Solitude", by Dean M. Cole. It's a page-turning romp from start to finish, but ultimately for me an empty experience. It's exactly the sort of thing agents and publishers want instead of the though-provoking, slow-burn-deep-payback kind of work I prefer to write. So I continue to be dismayed, delayed, and demoralized by the sharing part of creativity, and continue to work on finding a functioning head space for more writing.

In case anyone missed it, the program I'm working on in my day job, the Space Launch System, shipped its first Core Stage recently. I'm working on the Exploration Upper Stage, but did a little work on Core Stage over the last couple of years. Attached are two of my favorite pics from that day (sent to me by a non-contract coworker at Boeing), and here's the SpaceFlightNow story:
https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/01/08/photos-first-sls-core-stage-departs-factory/
You should know that there's a new international and corporate race back to the Moon, now that we know the Moon has water. It's not about flags and footprints any more, this is the start of real space industry and expansion into The Expanse.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/06/the-race-to-develop-the-moon

The next X.HoYen's Author Newsletter will likely come many months from now.

Standard stuff

Please do share the URL with fellow sci fi fans, especially anyone who enjoyed The Martian, Infomocracy, or The Expanse. I'm convinced Minimum Safe Distance 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
https://twitter.com/XHoYenAuthor