Robert J. Sawyer

Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer

Archive for the 'Berton House' Category

A year since Berton House

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

It was one year ago today that Carolyn and I began the long journey home from the Berton House Writers’ Retreat in Dawson City, Yukon. We’d spent three fabulous months there, at the childhood home of famed Canadian nonfiction writer Pierre Berton. We both miss it. A note for posterity: any writer seriously thinking about […]

Berton House memories

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

In a web exclusive video, TVOntario’s Steve Paikin interviews Robert J. Sawyer about his summer at the Berton House Writing Retreat (click on “Web-Exclusive: Robert Sawyer). The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

We Love to Fly …

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

… and it shows! After 91 days on the road — the longest road trip I’ve ever taken — Carolyn and are now back home safe and sound in Mississauga. Over the last three months, I made these flight: 1. Toronto to San Francisco (NASA Ames) 2. San Francisco to Vancouver 3. Vancouver to Whitehorse […]

Farewell to Berton House

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

Our Klondike adventure is over. Carolyn and I finished our three months at the Berton House Writers Retreat in Dawson, Yukon, today. We arrived here on Tuesday, July 3, 2007, for an 87-day stay (minus 14 days for our side trip to China). It’s been a mostly relaxing, mostly productive time, and I’m going to […]

Klondike Poetry Round Robin

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

Last night (Monday, September 24, 2007), my lovely wife Carolyn Clink ran a poetry round robin at the Dawson Public Library here in the Yukon. It was a wonderful event: about a dozen residents showed up (including Dan Davidson, the editor of the local paper, and Suzanne Saito, the Berton House liaison). Carolyn read the […]

At last! Northern Lights!

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

Finally! About 4:30 a.m. this morning I got up to pee here at Berton House, and, on my way back to the bedroom, I looked out the kitchen window, and — Oh, my God! Northern lights! A spectacular show of the aurora borealis, rising up from the hills on the far side of the river, […]

T-minus One Week

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Today begins my final week at the Berton House writers’ retreat in Dawson City, Yukon; one week from today, on Wednesday, September 26, Carolyn and I depart for Whitehorse (the territorial capital); we’ll have a day of sightseeing there, plus me doing a reading at the public library, then on Friday, September 28, we’ll at […]

Back at Berton House

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

After a wonderful two-week trip to China, Carolyn and I are back at Berton House in Dawson, Yukon. We’ll be here for 24 more days. I still plan to get more pictures and commentary up about the Chengdu SF conference, but for now — back to work on my novel! The Robert J. Sawyer Web […]

Back in Canada

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

Carolyn and I have made it safe and sound to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. Tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., we take the final flight from Whitehorse to Dawson, and return to Berton House. All is well, but we’re exhausted. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Open house at Berton House

Friday, August 17th, 2007

Yesterday, Thursday, August 16, 2007, was the “Authors on Eighth” celebration here in Dawson City, Yukon. As part of it, Carolyn and I hosted an open house at Berton House. Some bald guy gave a tour. The gentleman leaning against the doorway on the left is Dan Davidson, editor of the Klondike Sun newspaper. Among […]

Berton House halfway mark

Thursday, August 16th, 2007

Today, Thursday, August 16, 2007, marks the halfway point in my residency at Berton House, here in Dawson City, Yukon. Carolyn and I have been here 44 days, and we now have 43 left to go (14 of which will be spent on our side trip to China). We’re having a great time, and I’m […]

Fun and games in Dawson City

Sunday, July 29th, 2007

Carolyn and I have been at Berton House way up north here in Dawson City, Yukon, for 26 days now, and we’re continuing to enjoy it and find it productive. And although we’re here on a writing retreat, we’re still finding time for some fun too. Last weekend was the famed Dawson City Music Festival, […]

Berton House renovations

Monday, July 23rd, 2007

Last winter, Berton House, where Carolyn and I are now staying, was renovated as part of the Canadian TV show The Designer Guys. You can read all about that renovation, and see a bit more of Berton House, in this posting from the Mayor of Dawson’s blog. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Pierre Berton’s History for Young Canadians

Saturday, July 21st, 2007

Aww, those nice people at Fitzhenry & Whiteside! Pat O’Neill, the sales manager for Canadian publisher Fitzhenry & Whiteside, has sent a donation of four books by Pierre Berton to Berton House; all were published by Fifth House of Calgary, a Fitzhenry & Whiteside company, and are in the series “Pierre Berton’s History for Young […]

Settling in at Berton House

Friday, July 13th, 2007

Carolyn and I have been here as sole occupants of the Berton House Writers’ Retreat for ten days now, and it’s high time I posted some pictures! Berton House is a tourist attraction, with four historic signs for people to read outside. Here I am at the viewing platform, with three of the historic signs […]

Fair Warning

Sunday, May 13th, 2007

For all of July, August, and September, 2007, I will be on a writing retreat at Berton House. During that time, I will only deal with the most-pressing of business-related emails, and I won’t be answering general questions, giving writing advice, writing introductions to other people’s books, blurbing other people’s novels, or doing “just one […]

Berton House revealed!

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

As I mentioned back in December, Carolyn and I are going to Dawson City, the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush, in Canada’s far-north Yukon Territory for the months of July, August, and September on a writing retreat at Berton House, the childhood home of famed Canadian writer Pierre Berton. Well, the Designer Guys — […]

I’m off to Berton House in the Yukon next summer

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006

Carolyn and I will be spending three months next summer in Canada’s far north. We’ll be living at Berton House, the childhood home of famed Canadian nonfiction writer Pierre Berton, in Dawson City, Yukon Territory; Dawson City was the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush, and is at latitude 64 degrees north, about 100 km […]