Robert J. Sawyer

Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer

Archive for November, 2007

Aurora Award nominations now open!

Friday, November 30th, 2007

Yes, already! Nominations are now being accepted online for the Aurora Awards to be given in May 2008 at Keycon; these nominations are for work first published or done in 2007. You must be a Canadian citizen (not necessarily resident in Canada) or a Canadian resident to nominate; there is no charge to do so. […]

Where to submit

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

So, I got this question via email today (no please, no thank you, just the naked question): “Re: sci-fi short stories. Where would I submit short story?” My reply: “To whichever science-fiction magazine is your favorite; if you don’t have one — if you’re not actually reading the markets you want to sell to — […]

Immigrating to Canada

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

Whenever I visit the United States, people there ask me about immigrating to Canada, and increasingly so over the last couple of years. For those who are interested, here’s the official Canadian government site on immigrating to Canada. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Stargazing RJS-style: L.A. Photos

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

David S. Goyer, Robert J. Sawyer, Brannon Braga. David co-wrote Batman Begins; Brannon co-produced various Star Trek series; we had lunch at the wonderful Chateau Marmont … no special reason. :) Keith Calder, Robert J. Sawyer, and Jessica Wu. Keith and Jessica are principals of Snoot FX, the company that has Rob’s Hugo-nominated “Identity Theft” […]

My Dinner with Andre

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

Andre Bormanis, that is — science consultant, script writer, and producer for various Star Trek series. Carolyn and I joined Andre and his lady Micha for a wonderful dinner tonight (at a great L.A. restaurant called “The Nook”). Andre and I became friends at the NASA Ames / SETI conference we both attended back in […]

Los Angeles

Monday, November 26th, 2007

LosCon 34 in Los Angeles was wonderful — a really pleasant, really well-run convention. I particularly enjoyed spending time with David North Reynolds, the fan guest of honor — an archaeologist who has worked with Lucasfilm, and who shares my passion for The Land of the Lost (from which the still above comes). Another highlight: […]

The kind of note writers never get from editors

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

… but I did, today — yay! We love what you’ve done. It makes a lot of great points, and also manages to be a great read. I don’t think we need to make any requests for changes. The note was from Carol Toller of Report on Business Magazine, the glossy monthly magazine included with […]

SciFi Wire on Rob’s Science editorial

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

A nice little article by the terrific John Joseph Adams is here. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Holder Tonight

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

I’ll be on the radio program Holder Tonight tonight (well, early Wednesday morning) at 1:00 a.m. Eastern time, talking about, among other things Robert J. Sawyer Books, the line I edit for Red Deer Press. Holder Tonight is hosted by Peter Anthony Holder (above), and is heard in Montreal on CJAD 800 AM and Toronto […]

Amazon introduces Kindle ebook reader

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

I got to play with one of the beta-test units a while ago, and immediately fell in love. Sadly, they’re only available in the US right now — can’t wait for them to come to Canada! The e-ink display is gorgeous, the ergonomics (especially the big page-changing buttons) are much better than the Sony eBook […]

Willettized!

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

My former writing student Ed Willett — he twice took my course at Banff — does a weekly science column for the Regina Leader-Post and the CBC in Saskatchewan, and this week’s column is inspired by my editorial on robot ethics in the current issue of the journal Science. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Kansas City Star Top Five SF/F Books of 2007

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

The Kansas City Star‘s Top Five SF&F Books of 2007 (alphabetically by author’s last name): The Guild of Xenolinguists, by Sheila Finch. Watch your language; ETs may be listening. The Accidental Time Machine, by Joe Haldeman. A mans time machine moves in one direction forward. Rollback, by Robert J. Sawyer. A procedure that should takes […]

"The Menagerie" on the big screen

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

Well, after thinking about it for five days, I’ve decided that the particular showing I saw at the Empire theatre in Mississauga of the classic two-part Star Trek episode “The Menagerie” was a disappointment. There’s no way the theatre was using a true 1080p HD projector; my guess is that it was just VGA quality […]

DNTO

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

I can’t say I really enjoyed doing the Star Trek vs. Star Wars piece earlier this week, but I really loved the interview on Definitely Not the Opera I did on privacy. I just (Saturday afternoon) caught the Winnipeg CBC feed of it, but you can still get the Calgary or Vancouver feeds at a […]

Boston Globe interview

Friday, November 16th, 2007

… is here, at least for the time being. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Sawyer editorial in Science

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

So, earlier this week, in this blog post about the anthology of science-fiction stories that first appeared in the journal Nature, including one of my own, I wrote: “Now, if I could only find some way to also make an appearance in Science, the other big scientific journal, my life would be complete … :)” […]

Radio interview marathon

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

I’m doing separate radio interviews for the following CBC stations across Canada on the topic of robot ethics. Go to CBC.ca to listen in. All times are Eastern (Toronto/New York), and some might be recorded at these times but airing later this afternoon. The topic? Robot Ethics. 3:50YELLOWKNIFE Catherine Pigott – Producer Norbert Poitras – […]

Sounds Like Canada

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Well, the segment went much longer than I’d been told; I’d been told it would go ten minutes, and we recorded half an hour worth of material. In the heat of it, I said that Star Wars never won a Hugo, which, of course, is wrong, and I apologize for that. :) Anyway, the semgent […]

Upcoming Appearances

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Guest of HonorLoscon 34Los Angeles, CaliforniaNovember 23-25, 2007http://www.loscon.org/ Keynote Speaker at Dedication CeremonyThe David J. Williams III Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror CollectionKansas State University, Manhattan, KansasTuesday, December 4, 2007, at 2:30 p.m.Press Release PanelistAd Astra 2008Toronto, OntarioMarch 28-30, 2008http://www.ad-astra.org PanelistEerieCon 2008Niagara Falls, New YorkApril 18-20, 2008 PanelistKeycon 25The 2008 Canadian National Science Fiction ConventionWinnipeg, […]

Star Trek vs. Star Wars on the CBC

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Tomorrow morning, Friday, November 16, 2007, I’ll be on CBC Radio One’s flagship show Sounds Like Canada talking about Star Trek vs. Star Wars. I, of course, am a big advocate that Star Trek is the more significant work. The producers have grabbed two sound clips from The Original Series of Trek at my request: […]

Sook-Yin drops by

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

The recording went fine this afternoon for my interview about the future of privacy for CBC Radio One’s Definitely Not the Opera; the show will air on this Saturday, November 17, 2007. Some of my thoughts on this issue first appeared in this deliberately provocative piece in Maclean’s, Canada’s weekly newsmagazine. Pictured: Host Sook-Yin Lee […]

SFScope: My Favorite News Site

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Over the years, a lot of science-fiction news sites have appeared. I check all of them from time to time, but for many months now my favorite has been one that’s fairly new on the scene: SFScope, edited by Ian Randal Strock, formerly of Analog, and also associated with Science Fiction Chronicle and Artemis. Why […]

Amazon’s definition of "Best"

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007

Well, Amazon.com has weighed in with its list of “Best Books of 2007.” Here’s the list for Science Fiction and Fantasy. See the starburst that says “Best of 2007” and the banner that says “Best Books of 2007”? Ah, but what does the descriptive text say? “Here are the topselling science fiction and fantasy books […]

Definitely Not the Opera

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

I’ll be interviewed about the future of privacy this Saturday, November 17, at 1:00 p.m. on CBC Radio One’s Definitely Not the Opera, hosted by Sook-Yin Lee (who’s dropping by my home tomorrow to record the interview, and — I kid you not — look through my trash). Above: Sook-Yin, as she recently appeared in […]

ZtreeWin: Best Windows File Manager Ever

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

Check out ZTreeWin — a modern implementation of the legendary XTree DOS file manager, but for Windows. So much more powerful, and so much less awkward, than Windows Explorer. One of my all time favorite apps. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Futures from NATURE

Monday, November 12th, 2007

Tomorrow — Tuesday, November 13, 2007 — Tor Books releases Futures from NATURE, edited by Henry Gee, an anthology of 100 short-short science-fiction stories first published in Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. The anthology contains my story “The Abdication of Pope Mary III” (which first appeared in Nature‘s 6-12 July 2000 issue). In its […]

Brandon, Manitoba

Friday, November 9th, 2007

I’ve been in Brandon, Manitoba (not to be confused with Benson, Arizon) the last couple of days. Yesterday, I gave the keynote address to the Manitoba Public Libraries annual meeting — a spirited hour and fifteen minutes, with Q&A, about the future of libraries. I was quite provactive, and the librarians really seemed to enjoy […]

Separated at birth?

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

You decide! Scott Edelman’s photo of artist Alan M. Clark and author Robert J. Sawyer from the 2007 World Fantasy Convention. The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Another Odyssey podcast

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

There’s a new podcast of me teaching at Odyssey, the wonderful SF&F workshop run by Jeanne Cavelos. Podcast #9 there is the new one, on whether your SF element in your story is extraneous; the previous one, Podcast #4, is still there: me talking about point-of-view. Check ’em out! The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Canadian bestsellers at Bakka-Phoenix

Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

Canadians dominate the current bestsellers list at Bakka-Phoenix, Toronto’s SF speciality store, including my essay collection back on the hardcover list at #4! See here.