Lots of info about Thin Air: Winnipeg International Writers Festival, featuring Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Charles Wilson, and Nick DiChario, in today’s Winnipeg Sun newspaper.
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Not only does Humans contain the hottest sex scene I’ve ever written, it also contains what I think is the best passage I’ve ever written, namely Ponter and Mary visiting the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington.
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This is fascinating: imagine seeing colours you have never seen before.
“Gene Cure” for Colour Blindness
(As some will recall, colour blindness figures in the plot of my novel Mindscan, and the plasticity of the brain is key to my novel Wake.)
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One of the things I inherited from my parents is a love of folk music. I am a huge Pete Seeger fan, and also greatly admired Peter, Paul and Mary.
(In fact, this no doubt had an influence on the kind of writer I turned out to be. One school of writing says, if you want to send a message, call Western Union. Another — the one Pete Seeger (and Woody Guthrie) and Peter, Paul and Mary — subscribed to says, if you want to send a message, send a message! I’m of the latter school, and it’s the protest songs of these artists that influenced me.)
Mary — Mary Travers — of Peter, Paul and Mary passed away today.
Among the songs the group was known for: “If I Had a Hammer” (which they performed during the 1963 March on Washington), “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?,” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” (and, yes, “Puff, the Magic Dragon”).
The New York Times has an death notice.
And here’s Pete Seeger himself introducing a clip of Peter, Paul and Mary. I have tears in my eyes right now listening to it.
Frolic in the autumn mist, Mary: you deserve it. What you did mattered, and it made a difference.
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In Canada, both Amazon.ca and Futureshop.com have the 40th anniversary Planet of the Apes Blu-ray box set on sale for the terrific price of Cdn$59.99. Just ordered me a set.
(Now have to buy a Blu-ray player so I can watch it!)
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Illegal Alien is a courtroom drama with an extraterrestrial defendant. While looking at the proofs, I was pleasantly reminded of a bit of business from the book (first published in 1997) that I’d completely forgotten writing:
At nine a.m. the next morning, Dale and Frank entered Judge Pringle’s chambers. Linda Ziegler was already there, as were juror number 209 — a pudgy white woman of forty-one — and a man Dale had seen around the courthouse over the years but didn’t know. A moment later, Judge Pringle entered, accompanied by a stenographer. Pringle waited for the stenographer to get set up, then said, “Mr. Wong, will you please introduce yourself to the others?”
“Ernest Wong, representing Juror 209.”
“Thank you,” said the judge. “Let the record show that also present are Ms. Ziegler for the People, and Mr. Rice for Mr. Hask, who is not here. Also present with my permission is Dr. Frank Nobilio, American delegate to the Tosok entourage. Now, Juror 209, good morning to you.”
“Good morning, Judge,” said Juror 209, her voice nervous.
“Okay,” said Judge Pringle, “Juror 209, your attorney is here. Feel free to stop me anytime you want to consult with Mr. Wong, and Mr. Wong, of course anytime you wish to interpose an objection or make an inquiry, you are entitled to do so.”
“Thank you,” said Wong.
“Now, Juror 209, some questions have been raised.” Pringle held up a hand, palm out. “I’m not saying you’ve done anything wrong, but when questions are raised relating to juror conduct or juror impaneling, the appellate law here in California requires me to make an investigation, so that’s what we’re doing. Okay? Okay. You were asked to fill out a questionnaire prior to serving on this jury, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you fill out the questionnaire truthfully?”
“Objection!” said Wong. “Calls for self-incrimination.”
Judge Pringle frowned. “Very well. Juror 209, we have a problem here. Question 192 on the jury questionnaire asked if you had ever seen a flying saucer. Do you recall that question?”
“I don’t recall a question using that term, no, Your Honor.”
Judge Pringle looked even more irritated. “Well, let me read the question to you.” She rummaged on her desk, looking for the questionnaire. Linda Ziegler rose to her feet, her copy in hand. Pringle motioned for her to bring it forward. The judge took the sheaf of papers, flipped through it until she found the appropriate page, and read, “`Have you ever seen a UFO?’ Do you recall that question.”
“Yes.”
“You recall it now,” said Pringle.
“I’ve always recalled it — but you asked me about flying saucers, not UFOs.”
Pringle was getting more annoyed by the minute. “What’s the difference?”
“A UFO is an unidentified flying object. By definition, it’s something the nature of which you don’t know.”
“And you put on your survey that you’d never seen a UFO.”
“That’s right.”
“The Court has received a letter from a member of the Bay Area chapter of MUFON. That’s the … the –“
“The Mutual UFO Network,” said Juror 209.
“Yes,” said Pringle. “A member of the Bay Area chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, saying that you were a speaker at one of their meetings about eight years ago. Is that true?”
“Yes. I lived in San Rafael back then.”
“What was the subject of your talk?”
“My abduction experience.”
“You were kidnapped?” said Pringle.
“Not that kind of abduction. I was taken aboard an alien spacecraft.”
Judge Pringle visibly moved away from the woman, shifting her weight on her chair. “Taken aboard an alien spacecraft,” she repeated, as if the words had been unclear the first time.
“That’s correct, Your Honor.”
“But you specified on your questionnaire that you had never seen a UFO.”
“And I never have. What I saw was wholly identified. It was an alien spaceship.”
“Alien — as in from another world?”
“Well, actually, I believe the aliens come from another dimension — a parallel time track, if you will. There’s a lot of good evidence for that interpretation.”
“So you’re making a distinction between a UFO — something unknown — and an alien spaceship?”
“Yes.”
“Surely you’re splitting hairs, Juror 209.”
“I do not believe so, ma’am.”
“You felt completely comfortable denying having ever seen a UFO on your jury questionnaire?”
“Yes.”
“But surely the spirit of the question –“
“I can’t comment on the spirit of the question. I simply answered the question that was asked of me.”
“But you knew what information we were looking for.”
“With all due respect, Your Honor, it says right on the questionnaire, it says — may I see that? May I see the questionnaire?” Pringle handed it to her. “It says right here, right at the top, it says, `There are no right or wrong answers. Do not try to anticipate the answers likely to get you placed on or removed from the jury panel. Simply answer the questions as asked truthfully and to the best of you knowledge.'”
Pringle sighed. “And you felt what you gave was a truthful answer?”
“Objection!” said Wong. “Self-incrimination.”
“All right,” said Pringle. “Did you –“
“No, I don’t mind answering,” said Juror 209. “Yes, I felt my answer was truthful.”
“But you know in court we want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
“Forgive me, Your Honor, but it’s been quite clear throughout this case that you want nothing of the kind. I’ve seen Mr. Rice, there, and Mrs. Ziegler, cut off all sorts of answers because they were more than either of them wanted the jury to hear. By every example I’ve ever seen, the Court wants specific answers to the narrow, specific questions posed — and I provided just that.”
“Did you have a special reason to want to be on this jury?”
“Objection!” said Wong. “Self-incrimination again.”
“All right, all right,” said Pringle. “Juror 209, I don’t mind telling you I’m extremely disappointed in you. As of this moment, you’re dismissed from the jury panel.”
“Please don’t do that,” said Juror 209.
“You’ve given me no choice,” said Pringle. “Just be happy that I’m not finding you in contempt. Deputy Harrison will take you home. We’ll try to get you there before the press gets wind of this, but I suspect they’ll be all over you by this evening. I cannot order you to be silent, but I do ask you to please consider the impact any statements you might make to the media will have. All right? You’re dismissed.” Pringle sighed, then turned to the lawyers. “We’ll move up the appropriate alternate juror. I’ll see you in the courtroom in” — she looked at her watch — “twenty minutes.”
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The debut episode of FlashForward — the ABC TV series based on my novel of the same name — airs Thursday, September 24, at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. Central) on ABC.
And the very next night — Friday, September 25, also at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. Central), ABC is repeating the series opener (which is called “No More Good Days”).
The following week, on Thursday, October 1, at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. Central), ABC is showing our second episode, “White to Play.”
And the very next night — Friday, October 2, at 8/7, they’re repeating “White to Play.”
This is amazing support by ABC (which has been super-amazing all along).
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… and President Barack Obama was perfectly within his rights to call him that (when asked about West’s conduct).
If Obama had called West an “asshole,” maybe that would be marginally newsworthy, but none of the dictionaries I’ve checked flag “jackass” as objectionable, of questionable taste, or obscene. “Jackass” refers to a donkey, not an anus, for Pete’s sake, and is a synonym for “blockhead” according to the American Heritage English Dictionary.
Why is this even remotely newsworthy? What Kayne West did to Taylor Swift was wrong, and it’s reassuring to have a President who actually does recognize the difference between right and wrong.
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The long-running New York science-fiction radio program Hour of the Wolf recorded an interview with Robert J. Sawyer at Readercon in July 2009, and it aired on Saturday, September 12. You can listen to an MP3 of the broadcast right here.
I come on at 27 minutes and 20 seconds mark and run all the way to the 1 hour 43 minutes and 30 seconds mark. The host is Jim Freund.
Topics: why I gave up writing short fiction, my mission statement as a writer, the FlashForward TV series, why there are not many scientists on TV, my new novel Wake (including me doing a reading from the book), and more.
(The terrific theme music is from the 1972 movie Silent Running, always one of my favourites.)
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An email I received today about Final Draft, a popular scriptwriting program. The version I use, 6, is about to have tech support discontinued, which I don’t mind. But I do mind this:
Because authorizing version 6 is very much a technical matter, this service will also be discontinued on December 23rd. You will still be able to run the program in full mode on an unauthorized computer as long as the CD is in the drive when the program is launched. Once the program is open the CD can be removed. You will still have every program command and feature available to you, the same as the day you bought it. The only difference will be if your computer is not authorized, you will need to take this one extra step in order to open the application.
The CD, of course, is copy-protected, so once it dies, you’re hosed (and, of course, one can’t use Final Draft 6 on most netbooks now, since they lack CD drives). Thanks heaps, guys.
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My wonderful agent Ralph Vicinanza just sold Portuguese rights to FlashForward, bringing to 18 the number of languages my work has or will be appearing in: Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, English, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, and Spanish. w00t! (And le w00t! and el w00té! and …)
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But the start time for this event is 6:30 (not an hour later as previously announced), because FlashForward airs at 7:00 p.m. Central Time — including Winnipeg. D’oh!
Details are here.
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At Astronomy Picture of the Day, over here. Cool!
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… and, really, that means that each year there are two Hugos given for books, one for fiction and one for nonfiction (for instance, the year my novel Hominids won the Hugo, Better to Have Loved, the wonderful biography of Judith Merril, by Judy and her daughter Emily Pohl-Weary, also won a Hugo in the Related Book category).
To promote discussion of the nonfiction books about science fiction and related topics that are eligible for this award — and are worthy of notice in their own right — Dr. Farah Mendlesohn, herself the author of one of the very best nonfiction books of recent years, Rhetorics of Fantasy, has started a LiveJournal community to chat about such things. Check it out!
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A response to the person who decided to nitpick about one sentence in a 12-minute radio interview I did a week ago:
An interview is a pop quiz — you have to answer live on air immediately, often about things you haven’t thought about for years. We who are brave enough to go on the air don’t have the luxury of waiting days to compose a response and then emailing it at our leisure. :) Still, thank you for your comment.
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My great friend playwright Linda C. Carson sent me this link to an article by John Olson in The Village Voice. Given that I get asked almost every day to read someone else’s manuscript, all I can say is that Olson has nailed it exactly: it’s a terrible imposition and a no-win situation.
[Update: and listen to Harlan Ellison read a poem inspired by this here.]
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The only book with a longer run on the hardcover list currently is Stephenie Meyer’s The Host.
The full list is here.
My previous three-consecutive-month runs were for Rollback in paperback (data periods February, March, and April 2008) and for Hominids in hardcover (before it had won the Hugo; data periods May, June, and July 2002).
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… is now available here. (The Book Club is doing my FlashForward this month.)
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The rocket is the one standard part of the Hugo trophy design; everything else varies from year to year. That’s me on the left holding my award from 2003, and Robert Charles Wilson holding his from 2006:
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Ray Barrett spoke one of the most famous lines in all of science fiction, at least for British and Canadian SF fans of my generation, in the opening credits of each episode of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Stingray: “Anything can happen in the next half-hour.”
Rest in peace, Commander Shore.
SF Scope has an obituary.
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SF Scope has a roundup of RJS news here.
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“A thoroughly entertaining novel. The characters and story keep you turning the pages to see how this future turns out.” — CNN
“A creative, soul-searching exploration of fate, free will, and the nature of the universe. This first-rate, philosophical journey should have wide appeal.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review, denoting a book of exceptional merit)
“The idea behind this book is unbelievably cool. Sawyer fully examines the double-edged sword of foreknowledge. Readers will enjoy Flashforward‘s stunningly neat wrap-up.” — SciFi.com
“A novel full of very human pain and confusion on several levels, from the emotional ones of grief and love to the intellectual ones of theoretical physics and philosophy.” — Analog
“An utterly fascinating premise, and hard questions about free will and determinism. Sawyer imagines both the poignant and the darkly humorous sides to knowing one’s own future.” — Winnipeg Free Press
“Great storytelling, with well-developed characters that you care about.” — The Boston Globe
“Sawyer’s strength lies in combining human-sized problems with cutting-edge science; he does a masterful job of blending them here.” — The Davis Enterprise (Davis, California)
“Needless to say, I like Flashforward. Sawyer manipulates an intricate plot brilliantly.” — Denver Rocky Mountain News
“Sawyer’s book is both intellectually and dramatically satisfying.” — The Orlando Sentinel
“Sawyer brings a fresh and startling approach to a tale that explores the repercussions of knowing the future.” — Library Journal
“An intricate examination of fate and free will. Sawyer’s ingenious conundrum and his deft handling of his characters’ differing viewpoints make Flashforward a provoking read.” — Maclean’s: Canada’s Weekly Newsmagazine
“An excellent SF novel, a perfect blend of cosmic speculation and human drama, and Sawyer’s best book yet. Flashforward‘s plot lets Sawyer muse on true love, free will, quantum reality, and the nature of consciousness while telling a funny, wrenching tale of fallible humans in a mystifying universe.” — Starlog
More about the novel FlashForward
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Interview by Rob Salem in today’s edition of Canada’s largest-circulation newspaper; the online version is here. Says David, very kindly:
We had an amazing time figuring out how to adapt it. I felt like I’d won the lottery of television writers.
Awww. :)
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Woohoo! In cooperation with ABC, Tor Books in the United States has produced terrific floor-display stands (sometimes called “dumps”) for the new mass-market edition of my novel FlashForward, which is the basis of the TV series premiering two weeks from today.
Here are a couple of shots of the stand in a Barnes and Noble in Syracuse, New York, as taken by my friend Dennis Pettit.
(Real RJS trivia buffs will recognize “Pettit” as the name of Afsan’s apprentice in my 1994 novel Foreigner; that Pettit is named in honor of Dennis.)
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Wordnik is a cool new free online dictionary site. Look up words here, and read the FAQ here for what makes it special.
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And the CBC Book Club is featuring Sawyer’s Aurora Award-winning novel FlashForward this month: CBC Book Club
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The list keeps growing:
AXN (Spain, Portugal), Digiturk (Turkey), Fox International Channels (Greece, Cyprus), Nelonen (Finland), RUV (Iceland), SBS (Netherlands), TF1 (France), TV2 (Norway), Cuatro (Spain), RTE (Ireland), Five (UK).
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The five-star review concludes:
This book pushed everything to its limits, questioning morality, immorality, evil and good. It was confusing, irritating, annoying … and yet it was also the most entertaining, and informative book I’ve read in a long time. It turned me around, upside-down, and made me love it. It’s the kind of book I treasure the most because it reveals more about my world than in any classroom and ask questions on ideas I thought to be hard-grained truths. No doubt, my grandmother would burn it. Wonderful.
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