I’m a dual US/Canadian citizen. There was a day, a couple of weeks ago, upon which I said, “I have never been more proud to be an American — and I’ve never been more ashamed.” I was proud that my fellow Americans had elected Barack Obama as president; I was ashamed that California had ratified […]
Of course, my books from big publishers like Tor earn royalties beyond their advances, but when dealing with small presses, royalties are rarely seen; the advance, such as it is, is usually all that ever materializes. So it was to my astonishment and delight that I just received a nice cheque from ISFiC Press, publishers […]
And why shouldn’t they? It’s a terrific book — and I should know; it was published under my Robert J. Sawyer Books imprint. :) In the December 2008 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction, Peter Heck writes: Hughes has taken what in other hands might have been just a cute idea and turned it into something […]
My writing students rock! Tony Pi was my student for an intensive SF writing workshop at the University of Toronto in the summer of 2001. He’s a terrific guy, and a terrific writer — and, man, is he ever on a roll, as you can see here, with stories in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine […]
I have the Best. Fans. Ever. Matthew Lachmuth, of Calgary, Alberta, made the T. rex skeleton pictured above as a present for me. He did it as a project in his welding class at SAIT Polytechnic. The skeleton is 39 inches long, 21 inches high, and 4.5 inches wide at the widest point, and it […]
Woot! I’m way behind on my blogging, but I wanted to mention that on September 21, 2008, George Clayton Johnson left a message on my answering machine. Yes, that George Clayton Johnson: co-author of Logan’s Run, author of “The Man Trap” for the original Star Trek, contributor to the original Twilight Zone. We’d met at […]
I give a lot of keynote addresses. Today’s was special, though: it was for the annual meeting of the Science Teachers Association of Ontario. My talk was on “Using Science Fiction in the Science Classroom,” and it was very well received. Also, I just received a nice bit of feedback on the previous keynote I […]
Steph the Video Guy from Prince George, British Columbia, grabbed me for five minutes at the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary earlier this month, and produced this “Steph’s Author Ambush” video — with cameos by Peter Hartwell (my editor’s son) and Guy Gavriel Kay. Check it out! (Direct YouTube link.) Among the people I mention […]
I got asked the above question today in email, and here’s my reply: The smallest number of characters with which you can effectively tell the story. If you have multiple minor characters who can be consolidated into one, do so. Classic example: the original Star Trek pilot. The character of Number One lacked emotions; the […]
The following first appeared as the lead article in Spring 2008 edition of the The Writers’ Union of Canada Newsletter (Volume 36, Number 1). Although the references to Canadian media outlets may be unfamiliar to people from outside Canada, the general principles are still applicable. (The screen capture above is from an appearance Robert J. […]
The World Fantasy Convention in Calgary last week was amazingly well-run and an enormous amount of fun. Randy McCharles (above) was the convention’s chair, and he did a fabulous job. I’ll be nominating him for the Aurora Award for Best Fan Organizational next year, and I urge other Canadians to do the same. Way to […]
Leaving first thing in the morning. Hope to see a bunch of you there! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
My Calgary friend H. Don Wilkat sent me this link this evening to the wonderful book The Atlas of Cyberspace, by Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchin. I already own it in hardcopy, but it’s now available as a free download as well. Way cool! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
Roman Frillarte, a fan of my work, drew to my attention the debut of “My Mobile Witness,” not unlike the Alibi Archives that appear in my novel Hominids and its sequels. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
A letter I received today: In what ways would you consider The Terminal Experiment philosophical? What themes or messages are you trying to convey in The Terminal Experiment? What does the book say about the human condition? Can’t blame the guy for trying … The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
Many in the SF business know and love Ian Randal Strock, formerly of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, editor of Artemis, and now editor of SF Scope. Ian’s first book comes out tomorrow: The Presidential Book of Lists: From Most to Least, Elected to Rejected, Worst to Cursed: Fascinating Facts About Our Chief Executives. It’s […]
… was lots of fun! I was Guest of Honour at this small convention in Edmonton this past weekend. I had blast doing a joint reading with Thomas Wharton, enjoyed defending Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin against Canticle for Liebowitz and Dune on an SF-survivor panel, had a terrific GoH interview (conducted by Barb Galler-Smith), and […]
Not quite as cool as “Where the Hell is Matt?,” but still absolutely charming: “Boom De Ah Dah.” (That’s my buddy Jay Ingram singing the line, “I love the planet.”) And watch carefully for the fellow singing near the end (easier to see in full-screen mode). The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
Referenced in passing in a scene I’m writing, but, man, this is a beautiful piece of music: the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, written (and conducted in this clip) by Ennio Morricone. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
OMG! So, I’ve now got copies of the December 2008 Analog in my hot little hands. Of course, my new novel Wake is not on the cover this month, the way it was last month when the serialization began, but I flipped the issue open, to see what interior art they’d come up with. And […]
My Hollywood agent just emailed to say that the first of what we’re hoping will be a great many checks related to the sale of my novel Flashforward to ABC arrived at his office today. Woohoo! More on the Flashforward TV series is here. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
And I will! Yee-haw! Guest of HonourPure SpeculationEdmonton, AlbertaOctober 17-19, 2008www.purespec.org Program ParticipantSurrey International Writers ConferenceSurrey (Vancouver), British ColumbiaOctober 23-26, 2008www.siwc.ca Rob will be offering this three-hour master class on on Thursday, October 23: “The Intimately Human and the Grandly Cosmic” — making your science fiction appeal not just to the mind but to the […]
More details to come, but mark your calendars: Hayden Trenholm, the author of the SF noir novel Defining Diana, and Robert J. Sawyer, author of the SF noir novella “Identity Theft,” will be appearing together in Prince George, British Columbia — home of Canada’s wonderful Bundoran Press — early in November 2008. On Tuesday, November […]
I was recently listing what I think are the four must-read books for fiction writers, and observed that agent Donald Maass wrote two of them. One is the amazing Writing the Breakout Novel, and the other is the best book on being a commercial-fiction writer ever written: The Career Novelist. And now, Don has made […]
A letter I received today from a library patron (I’m hoping she’ll ask the library to ban my books — nothing is better for sales) … :) Since I wrote you, I’ve devoured another 10 or so of your novels. I’m on Frameshift, and I’ve been traumatised by Chapter 1 (nazi concentration camp…). You should […]
Look for me this weekend at Vancouver’s venerable VCON science-fiction convention. This year, VCON is welcoming a bunch of Guests of Honour Emeriti. In addition to this year’s Author GoHs Kelley Armstrong and Patrick Rothfuss, past Author GoHs in attendance include authors Don DeBrandt, Lynne Fahnestalk, Eileen Kernaghan, Jeanne Robinson, Spider Robinsion, and Robert J. […]
That’s Elizabeth Hirst, above, one of my students when I was Writer-in-Residence at the Odyssey Workshop in 2006. She’s sold a story called “Made of the Mist” to AlienSkin. It should be in the next (October-November 2008) issue. Congratulations! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
TITSATAAFL* I get my business cards from VistaPrint — and I always pay for the cards, rather than take their free ones that have advertising (usually for their own printing services) on the back. (Even if you’re a fiction writer, you’re still a business person — so present yourself as such; cards with ads for […]
An email I received just now, seeking advice: I have contacted an agenency in New York that likes to see the first five pages of a manuscript first before anything. Would it be acceptable, or fair to them rather, to send the first five pages even though the whole thing is not finished. If they […]
Visitors to my home frequently remark on the life-size reproductions of fossil hominid skulls I have in my living room and office. For those who are curious, most of them are from Bone Clones. The ones in my living room are: Australopithecus aethiopicus (aka Paranthropus aethiopicus) (“the Black Skull”) skull only KNM-WT (pictured above) Australopithecus […]
