Robert J. Sawyer

Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer

Archive for February, 2007

Karina Sumner-Smith: Eligible for the Campbell

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

If you haven’t done your 2007 Hugo nominating ballot yet, do so! Deadline is this weekend. Among those eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer this year is my friend Karina Sumner-Smith, who lives here in Toronto. You want proof that she’s worthy of the Best New Writer award? It’s just […]

More Book Lover’s Ball photos …

Monday, February 26th, 2007

… this time also including lots from the literary-themed fashion show that concluded the evening. Check them out. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Karl Schroeder and Rob Sawyer read together …

Monday, February 26th, 2007

… this very Wednesday, February 28, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Runnymede Public Library in Toronto, 2178 Bloor Street West (Runnymede & Bloor). Admission is free. This “Literary Lunch” is the final official event of Keep Toronto Reading month. I believe Karl will be reading from Sun of Suns; I haven’t decided […]

My Tor books

Monday, February 26th, 2007

All fourteen of the books I’ve had published by Tor are still in print. You can see Tor’s own online catalog them here, including excerpts from most of them. (And the main Tor web site page about me is here.) The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Virginia in the news

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

I was already looking forward to my trip to Richmond, Virginia, in April to be Guest of Honor at RavenCon, but now I’m looking forward to it even more. Congratulations, Virginia! You’ve done a wonderful thing. Virginia Apologizes for Role in Slavery The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Yo, Toronto: Ad Astra is next weekend!

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

Toronto’s annual science-fiction convention, Ad Astra, is coming up in six days (March 2-4, 2007). I’ll be there, doing a bunch of programming, reading a chapter with naked people in it from Rollback, launching Phyllis Gotlieb’s new novel Birthstones (which I edited), and just hangin’ out and having fun. Come on out! It should be […]

So much for slowing down …

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to try to slow down the pace of my life a bit. But I see I have 14 flights scheduled in the next 90 days — gak! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Unearthed: Unearth

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

Cleaning my home today, I stumbled across Volume One, Number One, of Unearth: The Magazine of Science Fiction Discoveries, dated Winter 1977 — almost 30 years ago. This magazine, which was edited by John M. Landsberg and Jonathan Ostrowsky-Lantz was, according to the editorial, “a market solely for writers who had not yet made a […]

I’ve been Interrobanged!

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

The student newspaper at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, where I spoke recently, has this to say about my visit, in a very nice article by Ashley Houghton. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Astronomy lecture in Calgary

Friday, February 23rd, 2007

The Calgary Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada is hosting Robert J. Sawyer for the evening of Thursday, March 15, 2007, for the annual Peter Sim Lecture. Astronomy and Science Fiction Exploring strange new worlds happens as often at a writer’s keyboard as it does at an astronomer’s eyepiece. From exploring the worlds […]

Carolyn is more suspicious than I am

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

So, on February 6, I went to the local Canadian passport office, to renew my Canadian passport; the office is upstairs in a mall near my home. I noticed as I entered the office that there was a sign on the outside wall of the office advertising a place in mall that took passport photos. […]

Looking for a keynote speaker?

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

I do lots of keynotes about science, technology, and the future (in fact, I’m off to do one today) — and Speakers’ Spotlight, the speakers’ bureau I work with, has just revamped its web page about me. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

How’s this for a Guest of Honor line-up?

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

* Michael Bishop* Kathleen Ann Goonan* Joe Haldeman* Jack McDevitt* Mike Resnick* Robert J. Sawyer Not too shabby, eh? :) We’ll all be at the 20th anniversary Oasis in Orlando, Florida, May 25-27, 2007. The con sent me my etickets for the fligths today, so — woohoo! (All of us are returning Guests of Honor […]

Even more photos from the Book Lover’s Ball …

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

… are on the blog of Quill and Quire, the Canadian publishing trade journal (some of the photos are by Carolyn Clink!). Check them out! (To get the joke caption of the final photo, you have to have read Stephen Henighan’s column in Geist, which has made quite a stir. The Giller is Canada’s top […]

Writers of the Future winners

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

I’m a judge for the Writers of the Future contest, and the winners for the fourth quarter of 2006 have just been announced: 1. Andrea Kail from New York, NY2. Edward Sevcik from Austin, TX3. John Burridge from Eugene, OR I’ve only today learned the names of the authors, since we don’t see them when […]

Photos from the Book Lover’s Ball

Monday, February 19th, 2007

Here are a few photos from Thursday night’s Book Lover’s Ball in Toronto Robert J. Sawyer and Carolyn Clink: Carolyn bought a new dress and new shoes for the occassion Robert J. Sawyer and Harold Fenn: Harold’s company, H.B. Fenn, distributes Tor Books in Canada; I owe much of the success I’ve had to this […]

AI and Sci-Fi: My, Oh, My!

Monday, February 19th, 2007

I’m on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Lifeboat Foundation, which is a group dedicated to safeguarding humanity. They’ve just done up a beautiful web page featuring my article AI and Sci-FI: My, Oh, My!. Check it out! :)

Rollback Book Tour

Monday, February 19th, 2007

The itinerary is set for my book tour for Rollback, my new novel. I’ll be in seventeen cities in April and May: Albany, NYCalgary, ABCamp Hill, PADenver, COEdmonton, ABHoneoye Falls, NYKitchener, ONLondon, ONMilford, NHOshawa, ONSarnia, ONSaskatoon, SKRichmond, VAToronto, ONVancouver, BCWashington, DCWoodbridge, ON Here are the events: Sat 14 Apr 2007: * Bakka Phoenix Books, 697 […]

North America’s largest library honours Rob

Friday, February 16th, 2007

Science-fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer has just received the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award. Established in 2001, this is one of Canada’s top book-related honours. The award, which includes a cash prize of $2,500 and a crystal sculpture, was presented in front of a sold-out audience of 640 at the second annual Book Lover’s […]

Anna Nicole Smith

Wednesday, February 14th, 2007

Air Canada managed to get me on a later flight, after my earlier flight from Vancouver was canceled because of an impending snow storm in Toronto, and so I’m now home safe and sound in freezing Mississauga (quite a contrast to the balmy weather in Victoria). I’ve been on the road for five days, but […]

Professional Courtesy

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

So, I was at an event today during which four authors, from four different publishers, were addressing booksellers. Each of us was to have 10 to 12 minutes to speak. The first guy said right up front that he wasn’t going to bother to keep track of his time, and rather would leave it up […]

The Dragon Page on Rollback

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

A great podcast. Check it out here. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

And here’s the article on splitting the genres

Monday, February 12th, 2007

A little while ago, I had a post here about being asked for a quote about a New Jersey bookstore separating SF and fantasy. Here’s the resulting article, from the Trentonian. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Great time in London

Friday, February 9th, 2007

Carolyn and I had a wonderful day today at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, a two-hour drive from our home in Mississauga. I gave two readings and talks there. The first one, at 2:00 p.m., was mostly for the Fanshawe faculty and students; the second one was open to the public, and co-sponsored by the […]

Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards

Thursday, February 8th, 2007

Mark R. Kelly has just posted the annual update to his monumental Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards, a huge database listing award wins and nominations for awards major and minor; it’s really an amazing piece of work, and must have taken an awful lot of time and effort to compile. The summary page about […]

Sharing a birthday

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

The official pub date for my next novel, Rollback, is April 3, 2007, and, as I’ve already noted here, the novel has received a starred review, denoting a book of exceptional merit, from Publishers Weekly. Well, I’m pleased as punch to see that my good buddy Allen Steele has a new novel being published the […]

They love me in China …

Monday, February 5th, 2007

… and the royalty checks I just received for Far-Seer, Fossil Hunter, Foreigner, and Golden Fleece are proof. :) Woohoo! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Rob in London, Ontario

Monday, February 5th, 2007

I’ll be giving two free public readings and talks (each one different) at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, this Thursday, February 8, 2007: 2:00 to 2:50 p.m.: Reading plus Q&A 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.: Reading plus Q&A Both are in D-Building room D-1060. Everybody is welcome! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Research and more research

Monday, February 5th, 2007

I do a lot of research for my novels, and so I thought I’d share a list of the nonfiction books currently on my desk, for those who might be interested: Hoffman, Donald D. Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See. Wolfram, Stephen. A New Kind of Science. Farah, Martha. The Cognitive Neuroscience of […]

A little email advice

Sunday, February 4th, 2007

A few months ago I groused about having missed out on a friend’s 50th birthday party because the invitation came with a spam-like subject line of “TOP SECRET!!!!” Well, today I got a important email that actually had the word “SPAM” in the subject line (saying “this is not SPAM”), and just now I received […]