Robert J. Sawyer

Just a quick note to say I’ll be at the science-fiction convention Arisia over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, January 18-21, 2008, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

My buddy Walter H. Hunt, author of the Dark Wing series from Tor, is in Toronto for a conference, and so we had lunch today.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Home at last! In the last six days, I’ve taken eight flights — something that’s always risky in winter. Indeed, one of my flights was almost canceled, and for two of the others, my connections ended up being so tight (because my earlier flights on those days had been delayed by bad weather) that I had to run to make them. For one, I literally made it to the aircraft with seconds to spare.

My worst travel day was this past Monday, December 3, 2007. I started the day in Victoria, British Columbia, where I gave the keynote address to the Canadian Home Care Association (about the future of medical technology). As soon as my talk was over, I high-tailed it to Victoria’s airport, and started my first of four flights that day to get me to Kansas State University, where I was delivering another keynote the next day.

The four flights were Victoria to Vancouver, Vancouver to Denver, Denver to Kansas City, and Kansas City to Manhattan, Kansas (where K-State is located). I thought I was home free after I got on my Vancouver flight on time, because the weather was only bad in the Pacific Northwest (as we Canadians kindly humour the Americans by calling that part of the world; it’s really our Pacific Southwest). But it turned out that my flight from Denver to Kansas City originated in Portland, and was delayed there almost two hours because of the huge storm that just hit that area. As I said, I made it to the final flight — Kansas City to Manhattan, Kansas, with less than a minute to spare.

Today was also very nerve-wracking, even though the itinerary was much simpler: Manhattan, Kansas, to Kansas City, then Kansas City to Toronto. But my flight out of Manhattan was delayed 90 minutes — in Kansas City, where it was originating (it just shuttles back and forth), thanks to freezing rain there.

Fortunately for me, the Kansas-Toronto flight was delayed 10 minutes, or I never would have caught it. (Kansas City is a very frustrating airport: you can’t pre-print your own Air Canada boarding passes for use at it (even though you can for use at many other U.S. airports), and you can’t change gates (I had to go simply from A12 to A14) without going through security a second time; getting the boarding pass and going through security again delayed me so much that if the flight to Toronto had been on time, I’d have been stranded.

I was so tired, and so stressed, that instead of writing on the flight home (I do a lot of my writing on airplanes), I just curled up with a good ebook: Caleb Carr’s wonderful The Alienist (despite the title, not science fiction — “alienist” is an old-fashioned term for psychiatrist, and, indeed, was one of the titles I considered for my novel about alien psychiatry, 1994’s Foreigner).

Ah, well. In the end, the trip was worth it. Although I got to see nothing at all of Victoria, my talk for the Canadian Homecare Associating was extremely well received, and I had a wonderful time at Kansas State University, first speaking at their science-fiction class (taught by Carol Franko), where the students were studying my Hugo-nominated 1997 short story “The Hand You’re Dealt,” then at a wonderful lunch in a gorgeous dining room on campus, then giving the keynote at the dedication of the new David J. Williams III Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Collection there, then at a wonderful signing for my books (I was amazed at how many sold!), and then again at a wonderful dinner out with David’s sister and cousin and some of the K-State Librarians.

All that was on Tuesday; yesterday — Wednesday — I just hung around Manhattan, getting some peace and quiet to work on my novel Wake, and enjoying a nice dinner out with Roger Adams, the librarian who had arranged the donation of the Williams collection and had arranged for me to speak at K-State.

I now have nothing major at all on my schedule for the next five weeks, during which time I’m going to finish Wake (it’s due January 15, 2008). I’m looking forward to just sitting in my living-room La-z-boy with the fireplace going and working on the book.

(For those who’ve been to my home: I do have an office with its own La-z-boy, but in winter, I tend to work at a second workstation in the living room, so that I can enjoy the fireplace there.)

Of course, as soon as Wake is done, it’s back to travel: I’m going to Arisia in Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 18-21, and then I’m off to Calgary to give a keynote address on stem-cell research for the Calgary City Teachers’ Association Conference (and I give a keynote on global warming and Canada’s future the next week back in Toronto to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment).

And then, of course, there’s the trip to Patagonia … but more about that later … ;)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

Nicholas Collins’s BookBlog has nice reviews of Rollback and Fossil Hunter.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

(Photo: Sara Morgan, Robert J. Sawyer, Roger Adams)

On Tuesday, December 4, 2007, Robert J. Sawyer gave the keynote address (“Science Fiction as a Mirror for Reality”) at the Dedication Ceremony of the David J. Williams III Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Collection, at Kansas State University. The collection, consisting of 3,000 items, includes a complete run of Arkham House volumes.

Williams, who lived in Richmond, Kentucky, worked for the U.S. National Security Agency and passed away in 2001. The dedication ceremony was attended by his sister Sara Morgan, who orchestrated K-State’s acquisition of the material, in conjuction with Roger Adams of the Special Collections department of K-State’s Hale Library, where the Williams Collection is now housed.

The David J. Williams III Collection

Coverage of Sawyer’s talk from the K-State newspaper

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

A very nice review (scoll down, past the cover copy) of my Foreigner is here.

(And thanks to Kirstin Morrell for drawing this to my attenion.)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

I’m not teaching there in 2008, but I do recommend Jeanne Cavelos’s Odyssey workshop. Check it out.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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.

Nomination Form

The Official Aurora Awards Web Site

My own work eligible for the Aurora to be given next May is my novel Rollback from Tor Books …

Many thanks to Aurora coordinator Clint Budd for getting this up and running so early!

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 — your chances of success are almost zero.”

Of course, the major magazines in the US are Asimov’s Science Fiction, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. But if you want to publish in them, you’ve got to read them. :)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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

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” under option.

Robert J. Sawyer, Barry R. Levin. Barry runs the world’s best rare-SF bookshop, and gave Rob the store’s Collectors Award for Most Collectable Author of the Year in 2004.

Robert J. Sawyer and Eric Greene, author of one of Rob’s favorite nonfiction books, Planet of the Apes as American Myth

Carolyn Clink, Robert J. Sawyer, Laura Frankos, and Harry Turtledove

Laura and Harry had Carolyn and me over for Thanksgiving dinner — yum!

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 July.

Before dinner, we all watched Jeopardy! at Andre’s place, since a friend of his (and former Trek writer) was a contestant tonight (and she won!).

Before that, Carolyn and I had gone to museums: first, the La Brea tar pits museum, then the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art, to see a wonderful exhibition on Salvidor Dali’s work for the movies in the 1940s and beyond — really fascinating.

But, as they say on Star Trek, all good things must come to an end: tomorrow morning, Carolyn and I fly back to Toronto.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 wonderful Writers of the Future dinner Saturday night, with Larry Niven, Todd McCaffrey, Serena and Tim Powers, Laura Brodian Freas, Jerry Pournelle’s son Alex, and others.

After the con ended last night, Carolyn and I headed off to a wonderful dinner party at the gorgeous Hollywood Hills home of producer Keri Selig and her husband, talent manager Keith Addis. Also on hand: my great buddy filmmaker Michael Lennick, screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs (who wrote Chocolat), actor Jeff Goldblum, and JPL scientist (and frequent movie science consultant) Rich Terrile. A truly terrific evening, with amazingly spirited discussions about global warming, SETI, politics, the future of artificial intelligence, the Mandelbrot set, the state of the film industry, and more.

Carolyn and I have one more day in Los Angeles, then it’s back to Toronto.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

… 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 The Globe and Mail: Canada’s National Newspaper, one of Canada’s most prestigous (and highest-paying!) magazine markets.

And what, pray tell, is my little piece about? Sorry, you’ll have to wait until the January 2008 issue to find out … :)

Below: the current issue (not the one I’m in).

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

A nice little article by the terrific John Joseph Adams is here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 on CFRB 1010 AM. It’ll be a half-hour interview, and I’m sure both stations have Internet streaming feeds …

(I, meanwhile, am in Los Angeles …)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 reader, the promise that new releases will be priced at $9.99 or less (as will all New York Times bestsellers), the inclusion of a decent dictionary for free, plus unlimited Wikipedia access all rock.

Yeah, at $399 it ain’t cheap, but man, is it ever cool. Not only is this the best dedicated ebook reader I’ve ever seen, but the distribution method (for free via wireless connection to the Sprint network, at no cost to the end user), and the pricing model is the best I’ve seen to date.

For the curious, novels of mine available for the Kindle are Hominids, Humans, Hybrids, and a first as an ebook, End of an Era — plus a couple of dozen of my short stories.

As many of you know, I’ve long been an ebook fan — I own dedicated devices including the Franklin eBookMan, the RCA REB-1100, and the Fictionwise eBookwise-1150, plus several Palm OS devices. My trusty Sony Clie TH55 is going to stay my principal reader (because of its portability, magnificent screen, support of multiple formats, backlight, and more), but when the Kindle comes to Canada, I’m going to snap one up.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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

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 years off an elderly couples lives works for one.
• Halting State, by Charles Stross. Virtual gaming can bring down economies.
• Hapenny, by Jo Walton. A tale set in 1949 Britain warns theres a price for giving up freedoms.

The full list of the Year’s Best in all categories is here.

In their full review back on April 22, 2007, The Kansas City Star said:

Oh, to be young again. It’s an opportunity that 87-year-old Sarah Halifax and her husband, Don, get in award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer’s Rollback. In the first two pages, Sawyer depicts the warmth of a couple married for 60 years, looking back on the past from the year 2048 including 2010, when Sarah received a plaque inscribed, “For Sarah Halifax Who Figured It Out.” Sawyer’s near-future speculative fiction reveals many advances in medicine and robotics. But it’s the humanness of the closeness (and the distance) between Sarah and Don that makes Rollback an early candidate for sci-fi book of the year.

More about Rollback is here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 — scan lines were clearly visible. More: the image wasn’t bright enough; black objects (such as the uniform pants) were just solid black blotches, instead of showing details.

Now, yes, they technically didn’t advertise this as an HD projection, but it was geared around the release of the first season of Star Trek on HD DVD. Apparently, some theaters — Calgary was one it, seems — did use true HD projectors, and those who saw the episodes projected thus were blown away. But the theater I saw it in didn’t do that … and, frankly, I feel ripped off, although Carolyn and I enjoyed the company of friends Chris Knight, Lee Amodeo, Lou Sytsma, and others at the showing …

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 little after 2:00 p.m. local time, via the Internet here.

“Mountain” is Calgary, “Pacific” is Vancouver.

That’s host Sook-Yin Lee, above.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

… is here, at least for the time being.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

And indeed I now am in Science — to my considerable delight! I was approached by the editors to write the Editorial for the current (16 November 2007) issue, which is a special issue on robotics.

(Yes, this is Science, the world’s top scientific journal, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

My editorial, on “Robot Ethics,” deals with science fiction’s attempts, and the present real-world follow ups, to come up with codes of rights and responsibilities for robots.

Interest has been huge: I just did six interviews for CBC Radio stations about this, and am about to do one live for the BBC, with another BBC one coming on Sunday morning.

Of course, one of the tie-ins for having me do this is the presence of a robot character — Gunter — in my latest novel, Rollback.

The editorial is available online (after an elaborate, but free, sign-up process) here (while the issue is still current), and permanently as a PDF from the journal, and and as a web page.

There’s also a podcast version — not the actual text of the Editorial, but a redaction for reading aloud.

In a year of lots of cool honors for me — honorary doctorate, award from the Toronto Public Library, China’s top SF award, Canada’s top SF award — this is one of the very coolest, and I am totally, totally thrilled.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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.

3:50
YELLOWKNIFE
Catherine Pigott – Producer
Norbert Poitras – Host

4:10
SUDBURY
Dan Lessard – Producer & Host

4:20
CHARLOTTETOWN
Eva O’Hanley – Producer
Matt Rainnie – Host

4:40
THUNDER BAY
Gerald Graham – Producer & Host
Heather McLeod – Producer & Host

4:50
WHITEHORSE
Dave White – Producer
Russell Knutson – Host

5:10
WINDSOR
Dan Kennedy – Producer
Barbara Peacock – Host

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 is scheduled for tomorrow, although I’m not sure where in “Sounds Like Canada” it’ll appear.

They only used one of the two clips I suggested — the “Lord Garth” one, not the one about Uhura not taking offense at Lincoln’s comment. That disappointed me, because I think it’s the lesser clip — but the Star Wars clip they used was just vapid, sadly (C-3PO introducing himself to Luke for the first time) — nothing really to comment on, for either me, or my opponent in the debate.

The one area I agreed with my opponent on was the unfortuante militarism in Star Trek (although how one could portray Star WARS as a pacifist alternative eluded me); I hate the military aspect of Star Trek, and my Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated novel Starplex was my attempt to portray a Star Trek-like world without that angle.

Ironically, though, the quote that they played was one of the moments were Kirk decried that, too. My friend suggested Kirk had no character growth in Star Trek; I submit that his turning around from saying, in Season One, “I’m a soldier not a diplomat” (which my friend quoted) to saying admiringly in Season Three, of the organizers of a peace conference, “They were humanitarians and statesmen, and they had a dream that spread among the stars” does in fact show character growth — Kirk having learned from (a) his dressing-down by the Organians (who accused him of being a war-monger) and (b) from his love for Edith Keeler (who was a pacifist).

(My opponent’s point being that Luke Skywalker had enormous character growth, whereas the Trek characters remained static … I’m not convinced of the former, and make at least a tentative case that the latter is untrue. Also, watching Spock mature as a commanding officer, and watching him become more comfortable with his human half, is character growth; I disagree with my friend that it makes no difference what order you watch Star Trek episodes in.)

Ultimately, though, a lot of it came down to debating the strenths of a 1960s episodic TV show versus a 1977 movie, in budget, ability to have character growth, and so on — issues that have nothing to do with Star Trek or Star Wars in particular.

Anyway, give it a listen tomorrow.

Rob (at the CBC Broadcasting Centre in Toronto)

• Guest of Honor
  Loscon 34
  Los Angeles, California
  November 23-25, 2007
  http://www.loscon.org/
• Keynote Speaker at Dedication Ceremony
  The David J. Williams III Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Collection
  Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas
  Tuesday, December 4, 2007, at 2:30 p.m.
  Press Release
• Panelist
  Ad Astra 2008
  Toronto, Ontario
  March 28-30, 2008
  http://www.ad-astra.org
• Panelist
  EerieCon 2008
  Niagara Falls, New York
  April 18-20, 2008
• Panelist
  Keycon 25
  The 2008 Canadian National Science Fiction Convention
  Winnipeg, Manitoba
  May 16-19, 2008 (Friday through Monday, four days over the Canadian Victoria Day weekend)
  http://www.keycon.org
• Special Guest
  Comic-Con International: San Diego
  San Diego, California
  July 24-27, 2008
  http://www.comic-con.org
• Panelist
  Denvention 3: The World Science Fiction Convention
  Denver, Colorado
  August 6-10, 2008
  http://www.denvention3.org
• Panelist
  World Fantasy Convention 2008
  Calgary, Alberta
  October 30-November 3, 2008
  http://www.worldfantasy2008.org

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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:

Clip 1: From “The Savage Curtain”: (about 1/3 of the way into the episode):

UHURA: Excuse me, Captain Kirk.

KIRK: Yes, Lieutenant.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: What a charming Negress — oh, forgive me, my dear! I know in my time some used that term as a description of property.

UHURA: But why should I object to that term, sir? In our century, we’ve learned not to fear words.

KIRK: May I present our communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura?

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The foolishness of my century had me apologizing where no offense was given.

UHURA: We’ve each learned to be delighted with what we are.

====

Clip 2: From “Whom Gods Destroy” (almost 1/2 way into the episode):

“LORD” GARTH (insane megalomaniac): Galaxies surround us, limitless vistas! And yet the Federation would have us grub away like some ants on some somewhat larger than usual anthill. But I am not an insect! I am Master of the Universe, and I must claim my domain.

KIRK: I agree there was a time when war was necessary, and you were our greatest warrior. I studied your victory at Axanar when I was a cadet. It’s still required reading.

“LORD” GARTH: As well it should be.

KIRK: Very well. But my first visit to Axanar was as a new-fledged cadet on a peace mission.

“LORD” GARTH (contemptuous): Peace mission? Politicians and weaklings!

KIRK (stirringly): They were humanitarians and statesmen, and they had a dream — a dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars, a dream that made Mr. Spock and me brothers.

“LORD” GARTH (incensed, sneering): Mr. Spock, do you consider Captain Kirk and yourself brothers?

SPOCK (measured): Captain Kirk speaks somewhat figuratively, and with undue emotion. However, what he says is logical, and I do, in fact, agree with it.

Of course, Don Halifax, the main character in my latest novel, Rollback, is a huge Star Trek fan …

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 and SF writer Robert J. Sawyer (and Afsan in the background …)

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 do I like this one so much?

1) It is updated very frequently — much more so than its competitors these days

2) It liberally includes links to the original sources, something some of its competitors don’t do enough of

3) It updates stories — and consolidates those updates regularly, so you can easily find them, again, something most of the competition never bothers to do.

4) It’s got a clean, simple, easy-to-read layout. ‘Nuff said. :)

SFScope is the only SF&F news site I check every day now.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site

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 on Amazon.com during 2007. (Ranked according to customer orders through October. Only books published for the first time in 2007 are eligible.)”

Yup, that’s right: Amazon.com has at last dispensed with any distinction between qualitative and quantitative “best.” The #1 best SF&F book of the year is, perforce, the #1 bestselling SF&F book of the year (Tolkien’s The Children of Hurin, Amazon claims, which, incidentally, is a lie; the latest Harry Potter way outsold that, even at Amazon).

Ah, well. Nice to know that we have a simple, mathematical definition of “best” now. Makes life so much easier …

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site