Locus, the trade paper of the science fiction field, reviews most of the short fiction in the major markets, and this week, Lois Tilton had a brief but positive note about "Umbrella Men"...

"A story of family and of human ties. The plot avoids predictable routes, and the characters are very appealing, especially the nascent SF writer João."

Tilton can be a tough reviewer — color me chuffed.

Cover of the Jan/Feb F&SF

Here's a first peek at the cover art for the next issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction with my story, "Umbrella Men" on the cover, and ZOMG what a beautiful painting by Mark Evans.

At the heart of "Umbrella Men" is a librarian from Brooklyn and his family, who are in possession of what may be a mystical umbrella that dates back to the dawn of history. Evans did an amazing job capturing the light and shadow, the mystery and magic. (Yes, I'll admit, I got him to sign a print for me.)

You can see more of Evans' work at his web site, http://cloudmover.net/

Today's New York Times features a video interview with Errol Morris who coined the term "Umbrella Man" for the figure near the grassy knoll on November 22, 1963. "And then," he sez, "There's this other level where everything is really weird."

Of course, he doesn't know about this (or this).

Writer Ben Yagoda, in a post on Slate yesterday, ruminates on the origin of the term "bumbershoot" and ends up talking about one of the 20th century's iconic umbrellas:

"The year before, at the Munich Conference, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was invariably depicted holding a (furled) umbrella, in the manner of a saint and his icon. The imagery suggested a weaponlike thing that was not and would not be used as a weapon, hence its aptness and its stickiness."

Oooh, so close. The January issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction will have the real story...

Or...is this the real story?

There is nothing quite like seeing your story teased in a magazine to make your head spin, and the current issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction has a little squib about my upcoming short, "Umbrella Men."

And there is nothing that brings you back to earth faster than a good proofreader. Just finished and sent off the edits, and boy, am I sloppy with commas. Sigh. It's always a humbling experience, and I'm deeply grateful for those sharp editorial eyes.

No matter how many stories I write, I will never, ever, lose my sense of wonder at the process. There's a large measure of slack-jawed amazement that I get to have this much fun, and it's coupled with a deep sense of how much I owe all the people who helped me get here: my parents, my teachers, the friends who put up with a million amateur words, and my amazing workshop colleagues who keep me from making (more) dumb mistakes. And of course, Karen, always my first reader.

Story should be out in January. Sure, you can pick up a copy of F&SF at the bookstore, but why not buy a subscription? Like your texts digital? You can get a sub on your Kindle. That's how I read it, and it works great.

My short story, "Umbrella Men" just sold to Fantasy & Science Fiction. Big thanks to my Gibraltar Point writing workshop colleagues Michael, Laurie, Becky, Liz, Dave, Janis, Steve, Rob, and Peter.

And, of course, to Jack, who gave me the first line, and Karen, always my first reader.

Editorial note: WOOT!

Yesterday was the first time in a week anybody in our house felt like human beings — we've all had this "7-day" virus that's been going around —so it was great to get out of the house with Jack to see Tron Legacy.

Top-line review: wicked awesome. What struck me most was the way the film did not "talk down" on the technical stuff, either IRL or on the Grid. You probably know the plot: genius game designer Kevin Flynn vanishes into the cyberspace of his creation; years later, his son Sam follows him in, action ensues. There's a sequence where Sam is attempting to hack into his dad's system, and instead of the typical Hollywood "computer screens" you see in movies, you get a fairly reasonable series of unix command lines and output. There's a brilliant beat where Sam contemplates a critical dialog box, and his facial expression as he makes a selection is spot-on. It's a small moment, but it is deeply authentic.

And the intertextual references inside the Grid are delightful and complex. In addition to the War Games throwaway line, there are visual homages to The Matrix, Bladerunner, and The Fifth Element. Oh, and Shakespeare. Maybe it's just because I'm a total Tempest fanboy, but I found it hard not to read Kevin Flynn as Prospero and Quorra as comprising Miranda and Ariel. You can also read the film in interesting ways against Metropolis, which was, after all, the first significant movie featuring artificial life (leaving aside, for a moment, the 1920 Golem.) Without spoilers, anyone watching both films will find thematic similarities in the characters and the resolution.

It's energizing to see good sf on the screen. On the home front, I recently put the finishing touches on "Umbrella Men," a 9,000-word sf story which will go out for submission shortly, and I've spent the last couple of days working on a companion web site. This is the first project where I've seen the opportunity to create an "artifactual fiction" component, and it's been a lot of fun. I'll post links as soon as I sell this puppy.

And whilst on the topic of science fiction, I got my schedule for Arisia, which is the awesome sf convention in Boston coming up in January. It's the only con that I try to do every year, and it's a really great mix of print, media, gaming, anime, and general weird fun. They put me on every panel that I asked for, so I've got 8 slots over three days, including a discussion of the 50th anniversary of Stranger in a Strange Land, a James Cameron retrospective, and one on the future of school.(There just might be a few folks in Boston passionate about education... :)

I'll post the full schedule after the holidays.