Toadstool, ho!

The book tour for Rollback continues.

Carolyn and I drove from Albany, New York, to Milford, New Hampshire, today. We'd been worried about the weather, but although we got a lot of rain, we didn't run into anything nasty, even as we went through the Berkshires; indeed, we got within 10 km of our destination before we had problems -- having to detour around a flooded section of Highway 101A.

On the way, we stopped for lunch in Bennington, Vermont, at a terrific new pub called Carmody's. As we continued along, it became obvious that we'd be arriving in New Hampshire much earlier than expected, so we pulled over in a small town and I sniffed around for an unsecured wifi connection. Finding one, I sent an email to Lois Ava-Matthews (formerly Lois Powers), who used to work at the Toadstool Bookstore and now runs the dealer's room for Readercon. I emailed her my cell number, and she called a few minutes later. She took us out for a wonderful dinner at Georgio's in Manchester. Then we went to the Toadstool, where I gave a reading and talk about Rollback. The crowd was small, but very appreciative and friendly.

Today was Carolyn's birthday, and Lois had gotten a cake and we all sang "Happy Birthday." And Lois gave me the store's copy of Publishers Weekly with the cover story on SF that begins with an interview with me; I'd only seen the online version and was very happy to get this.

Carolyn and I then drove for another hour, taking a hunk out of the 800 km we have to cover before tomorrow night. We passed the 1,000 km mark on our tour today.

I noted that my digital camera, which I bought on October 28, 2004, took its 10,000th picture this evening -- a number that would have been inconceivable in the days of film. If I threw out the camera now, which cost me Cdn$300, the cost per photo would work out to just three cents -- also a number inconceivable in the days of film.

Speaking of pictures, it's time to get caught up:



Robert J. Sawyer and host Bob Smith at WXXI-AM in Rochester, NY, on Monday, April 16; the hour-long interview on this NPR affiliate was fabulous



It's not all Rollback; here Rob signs a copy of his short-story collection Iterations at Flights of Fantasy in Albany



Sidewalk sign outside The Toadstool Bookshop in Milford, New Hampshire



At Toadstool, Rob signs a book for longtime fan Jeff Lyons while a new fan named Greg looks on



Carolyn Clink, birthday girl!



Carolyn's cake -- yum!



Rob finally got a of the April 2, 2007, issue of Publishers Weekly that interviews him

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site