Meeting with Robert J. Sawyer

I don't read a lot of English novels, but I do have a favorite author.
His name is Robert J. Sawyer.

His novels are often categorized as science fiction, but his stories are much more in-depth than the typical macho-American-killing-ugly-aliens sci-fi.


I e-mailed him to ask him for an interview.  I was working as a freelance writer at the time.

I always want to send the message to children in Japan that "You can try whatever you want."

Most parents in Japan never say "Do what you really like to do for a living."

Instead, they say "Do not make mistakes. Spend long time to think how to avoid making mistakes.", but I know it is not a good way of learning or enjoying your life.

We don't have a "Let them make mistakes and learn" teaching style.
I feel bad for kids in Japan. Most of them are like robots of their parents.


So I decided to start a series of interviews to to share their experiences of becoming successful by doing what they really enjoy doing.

Mr. Sawyer told me that he was happy to do it, so I flew to Toronto.

It was surreal experience.
He invited me to a dinner with his friends a couple of days before the scheduled interview.

When I told him I wanted to check out the Woodbine race track, he said his wife would offer me a ride to the race track.

On the day of the interview, his wife drove me to the race truck and watched and bet on the races together.

Then she drove me to their place in Mississauga for the interview.

I got really nervous because I consider he is the one with the most balanced-intelligence in the world.

My English ability was poor, and he offered me a beer before the interview, so I might have sounded like a little kid, but he answered my questions sincerely.

Although I won't share the details of the interview here because it's currently in Japanese, 
 I liked the fact he did NOT say "You can always make it, if you try hard". Instead, he said "You should at least try, so that you won't regret it later."

Actually, the fact that I visited his place and interviewed him is proof that you *may* be able to do what you want to do.
If you try.

Comments

[Chris Nolan.ca]

Sounds like you had a great trip. You must be very dedicated to travel that far to meet Rob. I guess those of us fans who live in Toronto are spoiled.

As you're a new blogger, may I suggest you include a link or two in your post, such as to Rob's website. The more links, the easier it will be for search engines to get to know your site.