{"id":3808,"date":"2021-11-12T20:02:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T02:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lfs.org\/blog\/?p=3808"},"modified":"2024-01-03T20:20:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T02:20:01","slug":"fans-respond-in-inspiring-way-to-prometheus-winning-author-sarah-hoyts-call-for-help-during-a-difficult-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/fans-respond-in-inspiring-way-to-prometheus-winning-author-sarah-hoyts-call-for-help-during-a-difficult-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans respond in inspiring way to Prometheus-winning author Sarah Hoyt\u2019s call for help during a difficult transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The bonds between a novelist and her fans can become incredibly strong over the years, even life-changing.<\/p>\n

That may be even more notable and common in the realm of literary genres like science fiction and fantasy, where fandom has played a pivotal role in supporting authors and connecting with other fans through conventions, clubs, fanzines and blogs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Writer Sarah Hoyt. Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One heartening example of that forged fellowship making a big difference in someone\u2019s life is the support that Prometheus-winning sf\/fantasy author Sarah Hoyt has been receiving recently from her fans during a personal health and financial crisis.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hoyt may be best known to LFS members for Darkship Thieves<\/em>,<\/a> the 2011 Prometheus winner for Best Novel, and its sequels: Darkship Renegades,\u00a0<\/em>a 2013 Prometheus Best Novel finalist;\u00a0A Few Good Men<\/em>, a 2014 Best Novel finalist;\u00a0Through Fire<\/em>, a 2017 Best Novel nominee; and\u00a0Darkship Revenge<\/em>, a 2018 Best Novel finalist.<\/p>\n

Hoyt also won the 2018\u00a0Dragon Award<\/a>\u00a0for Best Alternate History Novel for\u00a0Uncharted<\/a><\/em>, which she co-authored with Kevin J. Anderson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet, Hoyt\u2019s actual literary and genre range is far wider than such science fiction, set in the future in this solar system, that imagines both a functioning anarcho-capitalist society in the asteroids and a terrible authoritarian threat on Earth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Hoyt, who moved from Portugal to the United States in the early 1980s and became an American citizen in 1988, has published more than 30 novels of science fiction, fantasy, mystery and historical fiction, from Noah’s Boy<\/em>\u00a0and Other Rhodes<\/em> to Barbarella.<\/em> She\u2019s also contributed countless stories to many anthologies, published by Baen Books and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Through such prolific fiction, Hoyt has garnered quite a few fans \u2013 including but not limited to libertarian futurists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Plus, through her freelance non-fiction essays in a variety of national magazines and her regularly published According to Hoyt<\/em><\/a> blog, Hoyt has gained many more readers and fans \u2013 and many have become avid supporters and friends, after reading her very personal and honest musings about her life, family, cats, and American culture.<\/p>\n

That may be why her initial fundraising goal of $50,000, set for her first Go Fund Me campaign, was exceeded within hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the reason I did the GoFundMe was to be able to write,\u201d Hoyt wrote in one of her recent blog posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the alternative was to borrow and then sit here, with my hair falling out and without any nails, while I waited for the other house to sell.
\nFor now? It\u2019s surreal because for the first time ever, we have a cushion. I.e. if something goes wrong, like the other house takes three months to sell, we\u2019re not going to be broke\/homeless,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

You can read the whole story on her blog,<\/a> but basically Hoyt faced a simultaneous and interlinked health, financial and career crisis, prompted by her recent discovery that many of her debilitating illnesses and exhaustion of the past decade and more are due to where she lives: at a high altitude near Denver. The symptoms greatly impaired her ability to write and meet her many story\/novel writing deadlines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sarah Hoyt at an sf convention (Creative Commons license)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once she and her husband discovered the cause of her health problems, from a visit to a friend at a low altitude where all of her worst symptoms disappeared, Hoyt realized that moving to a different city and home was imperative.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, they had to buy and move into their new home before they were able to sell their old home, sparking a cash-flow crisis that threatened their financial health and stability.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, fans of Hoyt\u2019s fiction and her blog have come through in a big way, astonishing Hoyt and exceeding her expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning, while lying in bed, I realized this entire GoFundMe experience is one of the turning points of my life,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis side of the keyboard? It\u2019s pretty lonely. I often wonder if I\u2019m flinging out things no one cares about\/reads. Like shouting into the dark, and not being sure there\u2019s anyone there. Sometimes there\u2019s glimmers of eyes.<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s amazing to get this kind of response. It\u2019s \u2014 life affirming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoyt confessed that she imagined that the campaign might spark contributions of $25,000 over two weeks, if she begged a lot. \u201cAnd then we\u2019d borrow the other half, pay the bill, and if the house sold quickly, we\u2019d be okay. Mostly. I mean BTB \u2014 back to broke \u2014 but not in a hole, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then the GoFundMe funded in\u2026 7 hours? And is now double the amount? And I\u2019m not keeping it up because I\u2019m greedy, but because people keep sending me emails and pms saying \u201cleave it up another week, so I can play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her campaign is scheduled to end Nov. 16.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some inspiring excerpts from some of her other recent blogs:<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in the discord group keep saying it\u2019s like a real life It\u2019s A Wonderful Life.\u00a0<\/em>They\u2019re not wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMostly \u2014 mostly? \u2014 I have this feeling that somehow everything has changed. That from now on everything will be different, because I\u2019ll be different.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not quite sure how yet, but it feels like a good change. Like, I\u2019ll be able to \u201cgrow into myself\u201d and fill my own outlines.\u00a0But knowing what I\u2019m doing matters, and matters for SO MANY PEOPLE has tweaked something deep inside me. \u00a0Knowing I matter, and people have been helped, and \u2026. just having a financial cushion so I don\u2019t need to do everything myself (uphill, both ways) will make a difference over time.<\/p>\n

“Again, thank you. I\u2019m confused. Fundamental parameters of my life have changed, and I\u2019m not even sure how yet.<\/p>\n

“And I have you to thank for it.<\/p>\n

“And I do. More than I can tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for right now? It\u2019s a wonderful life,\u201d Hoyt wrote recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lights in the great dark theater have come on. And the darkness I\u2019ve been flinging words into is full of friendly, loving faces.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s stunning. It\u2019s almost unbelievable.
\n\u201cAnd yes, it is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For more about Hoyt and the impact of her campaign, visit her According to Hoyt<\/em> blog at https:\/\/accordingtohoyt.com<\/a><\/p>\n

To see the progress of her campaign, visit her GoFundMe page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Grossberg The bonds between a novelist and her fans can become incredibly strong over the years, even life-changing. That may be even more notable and common in the realm of literary genres like science fiction and fantasy, where fandom has played a pivotal role in supporting authors and connecting with other fans through … Continue reading Fans respond in inspiring way to Prometheus-winning author Sarah Hoyt\u2019s call for help during a difficult transition<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32,10,2206],"tags":[433,1264,432,435,424,1318,18,224,434],"class_list":["post-3808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-updates","category-news","category-sarah-hoyt","tag-a-few-good-men","tag-according-to-hoyt","tag-darkship-renegades","tag-darkship-revenge","tag-darkship-thieves","tag-go-fund-me","tag-sarah-hoyt","tag-sf-fandom","tag-through-fire"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-Zq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3808"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3820,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808\/revisions\/3820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}