Robert J. Sawyer

Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer

Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

Locus Online has Rollback tour dates

Monday, March 5th, 2007

Mark R. Kelly, the incredibly hard-working editor of Locus Online, has listed the tour dates for Rollback on Locus Online‘s “Author Appearances” page. Newly added: events in Winnipeg, Manitoba (on Thursday 26 April at McNally Robinson in Grant Park, at 7:00 p.m. — actually, Mark’s missing this one), Alexandria, Virginia (on on Sunday 22 April), […]

Marvel Super Heroes Science Exhbition: save your money

Monday, March 5th, 2007

I was going to write a long blog entry about how lame, disappointing, and just downright dull and pathetic the “Mavel Super Heroes Science Exhibition” currently on at the Ontario Science Centre (and traveling to other museums) is, but I don’t have time, so this will have to do. Save your money. I have seen […]

Writers of the Future panel at Ad Astra

Monday, March 5th, 2007

Writer Nick Matthews took a bunch of pictures, which you can find here. Left to right in the group shot: Tony PiRobert J. SawyerJames Alan GardnerStephen KotowychMike RimarJim C. Hines I’m a judge; the others are all Canadian winners of the contest.

Birthstones launch tomorrow!

Thursday, March 1st, 2007

Tomorrow (Friday) at 8:00 p.m. in the Reflections room at AD ASTRA, Toronto’s science-fiction convention: Come celebrate the launch of Phyllis Gotlieb’s latest novel BIRTHSTONES, published by Robert J. Sawyer Books. Phyllis’s career is now in its fifth decade, and she’s without doubt the founding mother of Canadian SF. Join Phyllis and her editor for […]

Fan Central Station

Thursday, March 1st, 2007

Carolyn and I are hustling to get ready for the arrival of seven — count ’em, seven! — house guests tomorrow, who are all staying with us for Ad Astra, the Toronto SF convention. What did Colonel Taylor say? Oh, yeah: “It’s a madhouse! A madhouse!” :) The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Runnymede Library reading

Thursday, March 1st, 2007

Karl Schroeder and I read today over lunch at the Runnymede Public Library in Toronto. Lou Sytsma, who is active on my Yahoo! Groups newsgroup, has posted some great pictures from the readings here (hover your mouse over each picture to read the caption Lou has written). Thanks for the great pictures, Lou! As Lou […]

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 […]

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 […]