Robert J. Sawyer

Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer

Archive for June, 2009

First look at Watch cover

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Click for a larger version.Click again if your browser reduces image to fit your screen.Here’s the first look at the cover for Watch, second volume of my WWW trilogy. This is the American version for Ace Science Fiction; the Canadian version for Penguin Canada will be similar, but will lack the “WWW:” in front of […]

#2 Bestseller in Saskatoon

Friday, June 12th, 2009

McNally Robinson‘s Saskatoon superstore provides the data to the major Saskatoon newspaper, The Saskatoon StarPhoenix, for its bestsellers’ list. My Wake is #2 this week on the hardcover list, having been beaten by … Dr. Seuss! The list, which will be in tomorrow’s (Saturday, June 13, 2009’s) StarPhoenix, is below: Oh, The Places You’ll Go!By […]

Listen Up science-fiction episode online

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Although the broadcast debut isn’t until Sunday, June 14, 2009, the special science-fiction episode of the Canadian religious TV show Listen Up is already online on YouTube. The feature interviews are with Robert J. Sawyer, Gabriel McKee, John C. Wright, and Peter Kazmaier, and there are clips from Hugo Award-winner Robert Charles Wilson, and Space: […]

SF writers featured on Listen Up this Sunday

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I was about to write a blog post about my upcoming appearance on the Canadian TV show Listen Up, which airs Sundays at 11:00 a.m. on Canada’s Global TV — but I see Gabriel McKee, author of the excellent The Gospel According to Science Fiction, who is appearing on the same episode (as are Robert […]

Sci-fi writer ready to draw inspiration from Saskatoon synchrotron

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

That’s the headline for a story at CBC.ca today — and here’s the very nice article about my residency at the Canadian Light Source that accompanies it. (There was also a lovely piece on the Saskatchewan CBC Evening News last night, from which the quotes for this article were excerpted.) Visit The Robert J. Sawyer […]

"I love the fact that Robert J. Sawyer is smarter than me"

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Now, that’s a review! The June 11, 2009, edition of FFWD (aka Fast Forward Weekly: Calgary’s News and Entertainment Alternative) has a wonderful, lengthy review of my Wake by Hugh Graham. Here’s the opening, a little piece from the middle, and the close: I love the fact that Robert J. Sawyer is smarter than me. […]

Amy J. Ransom doesn’t play fair in the May NYRSF

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

David G. Hartwell, the reviews and features editor for The New York Review of Science Fiction, tells me my rebuttal to American academic Amy J. Ransom can’t appear in print until three months from now, long after the end of the Worldcon in Montreal, and so I’m posting it here: Amy J. Ransom’s frame for […]

French edition of Wake

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Le w00t! I’m delighted to report that French rights to Wake have sold to Éditions Robert Laffont in Paris, via my agents Ralph M. Vicinanza Ltd. Visit The Robert J. Sawyer Web Siteand WakeWatchWonder.com

Nick DiChario novel from RJS Books nominated for Campbell Memorial!

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Nick DiChario is now two for two! His Valley of Day-Glo, published under Fitzhenry & Whiteside’s Robert J. Sawyer Books imprint, is a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award — the principal juried award in the science-fiction field, voted on by a blue-ribbon panel of American and British academics, critics, and authors. The […]

Flashforward premieres Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

So says The Hollywood Reporter (and, of course, note that of all the ABC series they could choose to show a still from to illustrate this article, it’s Flashforward. Yes, we rock.) Visit The Robert J. Sawyer Web Siteand WakeWatchWonder.com

Nice note about my CSWA keynote

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Lovely feedback from the Canadian Science Writers’ Association on my closing keynote address at their annual meeting last month in Sudbury: “In a conference already packed with treats and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, Rob’s talk on the craft of science writing from a science fiction writers’ perspective stood out as a celebration of compelling science communication. His […]

Land of the Lost

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Carolyn and I saw the new Land of the Lost film tonight in Saskatoon. There were eight people besides ourselves in the theatre — not a good sign for a film that’s been out for all of 100 hours at this point. It was … bizarre. It actually might appeal to my friend Nick DiChario, […]

"Eucild’s Child" by Jael

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Over in my Yahoo! Groups newsgroup, there was some discussion of which RJS book cover was each person’s favourite. Of course, I think Wake has a fabulous cover, but as Bryan Rumble pointed out in my group, so does my Aurora Award-winning book Relativity: Stories and Essays, from ISFiC Press. The cover painting, by Jael, […]

SFRevu reviews SF novel Wake — practically a palindrome!

Monday, June 8th, 2009

And a very nice review it is, too: A brilliant look at interspecies communication with some remarkable insights into the future of artificial intelligence; one of Robert Sawyer’s best efforts and one that will open your eyes to new possibilities. He’s likely to score a hit with everyone from Gibson and Stephenson’s crowd to science […]

Only five writer-in-residence appointments left

Monday, June 8th, 2009

I’ve only got five writer-in-residence appointments not yet spoken for during my stint at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon. If you want one, better book fast. I expect them all to be booked up shortly. Contact me at sawyer@sfwriter.com if you’d like to book an appointment. Visit The Robert J. Sawyer Web Siteand WakeWatchWonder.com

EDGE Publishing Bash in Calgary on Saturday

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Come see me and a bunch of other fine authors at this event in Calgary on Saturday, June 13: You may already have received this invitation, but I want to be sure you know about our upcoming Fine Fiction, Fine Art and Fine Wine multi-author book launch event … Hades Publications is celebrating nine years of […]

Planet S loves the Rob-man

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Planet S: Saskatoon’s City Magazine comes out every two weeks. The last page is a section called 14 Days which lists “City Events * Movies * Music” for the next two weesk, and at the right side of the page there’s a sidebar labelled Top 6, listing the six best bets for the coming fortnight. […]

First five days in Saskatoon

Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Carolyn and I are safe and sound in Saskatoon (say that five times fast!). We’re having a blast, but — man! — I haven’t had a chance to catch my breath. We flew here from Toronto on Monday, June 1, had lunch with Canadian Light Source’s Matthew Dalzell, then did our safety training at CLS, […]

Fort Morgan Times loves Wake

Friday, June 5th, 2009

The Fort Morgan Times (Fort Morgan, Colorado), has just published a nice review of my novel Wake. The review begins: “www:Wake” by Robert J. Sawyer is another delight from the pen of an author who knows how to romp through the kind of speculation which makes science fiction most fun. Most intriguing is the end, […]

Guest of Honour at Ad Astra in 2010

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Toronto’s Ad Astra science-fiction convention has always been very good to me, and next year, they’ll be having me back as one of their Guests of Honour. (The other author GoHs are Eric Flint and Todd McCaffrey, both of whom are friends — I’m looking forward to spening some time with them.) This will be […]

Al Moritz wins the Griffin!

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

Al Moritz, the leader of my wife’s poetry writing workshop — the venerable Algonquin Square Table at the University of Toronto — just won the Griffin Award, worth $50,000 (yes, you read that right: fifty thousand dollars)! Al is a great guy, and a fabulous writer, and Carolyn and I are thrilled, thrilled, thrilled for […]

Listen online to RJS on CBC’s "Fresh Air"

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

I was a guest in studio on CBC Radio One’s Fresh Air, heard Ontario-wide, on Sunday morning, May 24, 2009. The topic, of course, was my new novel Wake, and the interview is now online here (9 minutes — Windows Media Player is required, I think). CBC’s website described the interview thus: Fresh off our […]

McNally Robinson interviews Robert J. Sawyer

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

In advance of my reading at McNally Robinson Saskatoon on Thursday, June 4, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., the bookstore chain has put this interview with me online. The interview was conducted by Nicole Berard. In the interview, I discuss my residence at the Canadian Light Source, the Flash Forward TV series, and, of course, my […]

Canadian Light Source writer-in-residence submission guidelines

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

If you want me to critique a manuscript while I’m writer-in-residence at the Canadian Light Source, you must adhere to the following guidelines. I’m happy to critique any kind of manuscript — fiction (all genres), nonfiction, scripts, plays, poetry, school essays, etc. 1) Book an appointment in advance with me by emailing me at: sawyer@sfwriter.com […]

Boston Globe reviews Flash Forward — the novel, not the TV series

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

It’s a nice little capsule review that in fact makes no mention of the TV show; rather, it’s a roundup of reviews of books that are being read by Boston-area book clubs, and says: “Flash Forward,” by Robert J. Sawyer. A science-fiction story that explores many of the questions of time travel and has well-developed […]

Supernatural Investigator is "Unsolved Mysteries for braniacs"

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Out of the blue, a lovely article about me and Supernatural Investigator, the series I host for Canada’s Vision TV, which is having its season finale tonight. The article, by Alex Strachan for the Canwest News Service, begins: Mississauga writer Robert J. Sawyer will have a flashy new sci-fi drama series on network TV this […]