Robert J. Sawyer has been called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by the Ottawa Citizen. He is the only writer in history to win the top science fiction awards in the United States, Japan, France and Spain. He has also won the Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, as well as seven Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards, or "Auroras." He has received six nominations for the Hugo, science fiction's international readers' choice award. His award-winning Web site has been called "the best author's page on the Internet"; it contains over 900,000 words of short stories, sample chapters, articles, interviews and reviews.

Sawyer is past president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the world's oldest and largest association of science-fiction professionals. He was the first non-American ever to hold that post.

The author was gracious enough to consent to an interview, the questions of which range from religion to this year's Hugo Awards, as well as allowing a few glimpses at his personal life.First off, let me thank you for doing this, Mr. Sawyer. It's very nice of you to agree to an interview with a 14-year-old geek.

Sawyer: My pleasure. I'm sort of the numerically dyslexic version of you, anyway. You're a 14-year-old geek; I'm a 41-year old geek.I know you've heard this one a million times, but how did you become a writer?

Sawyer: I don't think people become writers; rather, they're born writers. Writing fiction has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. My mother still has one of the very first stories I wrote, "Bobby Bug," when I was six. When other kids were out playing street hockey, I was home writing stories. I just can't imagine not writing; it's as much a part of me as eating and breathing are. That said, I became a professional writer through the time-honored method: I wrote short stories, and sent them to magazines. I sent my first story out when I was 17, and it was quite rightly rejected. But rather than being discouraged by the rejection, I was energized by it, and resolved to try even harder. I made my first sale two years later, when I was 19.How long did it take you to write your first novel?

Sawyer: I started my first novel, Golden Fleece, in 1983, when I was 23. I poked at it for several years, while making my living writing nonfiction—newspaper and magazine articles, corporate newsletters and so on. But in 1988, I said to my wife, Carolyn, this novel is never going to get finished if I don't clear some time and concentrate on nothing but it. With her blessing, I did just that, and finished the novel in about six months.As a freshman, I have to ask you this: What were you like in high school?

Sawyer: As geeks go, I was pretty popular. I've always had a good sense of humor. I wasn't exactly the class clown, but I was quick with one-liners, and didn't mind if they were at the teacher's expense. From the time I was 15, I just about always had a girlfriend, which was quite wonderful. I got good grades, but was bored by most classroom stuff. I really put a lot more into extracurricular activities: I was president of the student council, editor of the school newspaper, founder of the school science-fiction club and, in my last year of high school, the official voice of my school, reading the morning announcements over the P.A. system. I ended up as valedictorian.Your newest novel, Calculating God, was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Expectations were high for you to win, but Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire took the award. What did you think about this?

Sawyer: The truth? I was pissed off. I'd lost Hugos five times prior to this, and although I was always disappointed, this was the only time I've been angry. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a great book—no question—but it isn't science fiction.

Yes, the Hugos are a popular award, voted on by readers, but this year, in all the categories, not just best novel, it seemed many people voted without really looking at or considering the nominees that they weren't already familiar with. An example: the single best book on writing science fiction to be published in the last 10 years came out last year. It was Mike Resnick's Putting It Together: Turning Sow's Ear Drafts Into Silk Purse Stories. And it came in dead last for the Hugo. Why? Because, I'm convinced, most voters never sought it out and looked at it.To dig a little deeper, what did you think of the Hugo Awards this year?

Sawyer: This year, for only the second time ever, the Hugos used online voting.

It used to be all voters got their ballots in the mail, and used these printed documents as reference while tracking down and reading the nominated works. But online voting encourages snap judgments: "Harry Potter? I loved it. George Martin—hey, my friend read that and said it was good. Nalo Hopkinson—never heard of her. Ian Macleod, ditto. And what's this God thing? Sounds like a religious tract; better not vote for that." And, of course, for most people, being online at the Worldcon site means their phone line is tied up; their kids can't use the computer; they can't surf over to some other site they want to visit; and so on. Everything about Web voting encourages you to get it over with, and log off, as fast as possible—and that is antithetical to thoughtful evaluation.

I'm all in favor of using the Web to distribute Adobe Acrobat PDF versions of the ballots, and of accepting faxed ballots (indeed, a 1-800 fax number for ballots would be something a Worldcon could easily afford, I should think). But I do believe there's a real chance that what happened this year was a direct result of snap, online voting.

The goal of the Hugo administrators, in my humble opinion, should be to encourage thoughtful voting, not as much voting as possible. Instead, they seem to be interested in quantity of votes over quality of votes.Do you think that the Harry Potter phenomenon is good or bad for science fiction and fantasy?

Sawyer: Despite my grousing related to the Hugo, the Harry Potter phenomenon is fabulous for science fiction. Five years ago, I was truly concerned that the final generation of readers was already in its teen-age years, that the kids coming up behind them simply weren't reading for pleasure. They were doing computer games, online chats, watching DVDs and so on—none of which were around when I was kid—but they weren't reading. Well, J.K. Rowling proved that if you give them something good, kids love to read still. If only 1 percent of the young people who read the Harry Potter books grow up to read adult science fiction and fantasy, it will be a huge influx of readers into the field.You directly manage your Web site, www.sfwriter.com, which is the largest Web site maintained by any author in the science-fiction genre. Does this ever get in the way of your writing?

Sawyer: No, not really. My site is huge—but that's also because it's old; Reuters says it's widely believed to be the first science-fiction author site. It went online in June 1995, when the World Wide Web was just getting rolling. I spend maybe a day a month on it, and over a period of six years that's added up to a lot of time, but it never gets in the way of my writing.

And the benefits of having the site have been fabulous. A couple of years ago, a major U.S. electronics firm was looking for a science-fiction writer to do a short story they could use to promote a new product. Well, they did a Web search, found my site and paid me $20,000 for a 4,000 word short story—that's five dollars a word; SF magazines normally pay five cents a word. That compensated me for every bit of time I've put into the Web site, and more.In Calculating God, you delved deep into the questions of evolution vs. creation. Have you ever been influenced by religion?

Sawyer: I'm intrigued by religion, but I don't believe in a personal god. Still, I suppose I am influenced to some degree by my Unitarian upbringing. "Unitarians" are as opposed to "Trinitarians"; they are Christians who do not believe Christ was divine, but nonetheless feel his moral teachings are worth following—they're Christians in the sense that someone who follows Newton's teachings is a Newtonian.

I was president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America a few years ago, and, like both of my successors, came under vicious attacks from a few people. Some of my friends asked me why I didn't defend myself against the attacks, and the answer really is that I believe in the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount.

I'm not normally given to quoting scripture, but a great Canadian professor of English, Northrop Frye, said no one can be an educated reader without knowing The Bible, and I am familiar with it. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ said, "Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Robert Silverberg, one of the greatest SF writers of all time, and a predecessor of mine as president of SFWA, said to me, "What will get you through this is Christian forgiveness." Well, that's ironic, because Bob's a Jew—but that just illustrates the point that you don't have to think Jesus divine to believe his philosophy is worth embracing.Describe your average day.

Sawyer: I get up around 9 a.m., and make my way to my computer. I do my e-mail, and check a few SF-news Web sites, which takes about half an hour. Then I shower, get dressed and go back to my office. I try to write 2,000 words each day, which sometimes takes only a short while, and other times takes 12 hours. I also try to get at least an hour or two of reading in each day. My wife, Carolyn, works for me full-time as my salaried assistant, and she and I don't usually eat breakfast, but we do have lunch together. I try to get business wrapped up by 4 or 5 p.m., and we often go out to see friends in the evening. We usually get to bed by 1 a.m.Has your family always supported your career?

Sawyer: My parents are both economists, and so they very much believe in fiscal planning. I think neither of them thought I was wise in pursuing a career in the arts, and it took them a while to come around. But they do seem to be very proud of what I've accomplished.What do you do for fun?

Sawyer: Collect fossils, stargaze, play trivia games, just hang out with friends.Are there plans to have any of your novels adapted for film?

Sawyer: A film of my novel Illegal Alien is currently in development. The producer on board is David Coatsworth, who was executive producer of Arnold Schwarzenneger's The Sixth Day.What do you read in your leisure time?

Sawyer: Some science fiction—I just finished Barry Malzberg's Galaxies yesterday. Some mystery fiction; Eric Wright is my favorite mystery author. Lots of science nonfiction, which I find endlessly fascinating.Do you travel a lot to promote your books?

Sawyer: Oh, yes, I'm away from home for a couple of months out of every year, and a good part of that is promoting my books at science-fiction conventions, in bookstores, and so on. In the last year, I've been to Tokyo, Vancouver, Calgary, Boston and lots of other places promoting my books.Are you a fan of any Web sites?

Sawyer: I like Locus Online,SF Site and my brother-in-law's poetry site, www.poetrymachine.com.