The author wrote fragments of fiction every day for 2500 days between 1995 and 2002. The result is The Archive Carpet, a wild and wonderful ride over lands that are sad, funny, absurd, and scary.

He has selected, revised, and arranged approximately 600 in The Archive Carpet, a weaving together of strands from his personal imaginative archive. The book starts with a prologue of 52 sentences followed by three parts divided into sections. Fanciful titles abound, such as “The Calculus of the Garden’s Edge” and “A Burbling Farther Down in the Pit”.

This is fiction, yet there is a poetic spare quality to the writing. In addition to reading these fragments for their own delight, these short pieces will inspire creative writers and students looking to launch short stories of their own.

Sample pieces:

The Meeting: He went through the door and into his office. In his desk chair sat a woman he did not recognize. She asked him to close the door.

Staying a Little Longer: He almost left her that night, but decided to stay a little longer. But he cried a lot after he went to bed. She rolled over and faced the other way and did nothing to comfort him.

“Hetherington's best fragments suggest grand, complex worlds. ‘Elsbeth was not enjoying the story. But she had no choice, because it was the only story. After a year with no change, she insisted on another story, but the committee denied her request.’

“In other fragments, the suggestiveness is more realistic, and sinister: 'I felt her fingers. They were warm and she didn't wake up. I felt her throat.'" (Winnipeg Free Press)

“Though many of the pieces ... could fit comfortably into a single tweet, the stories don’t feel fractured. They seem to insinuate more, in the way that a really talented artist can sketch a half-moon and suddenly you imagine a cheek. Hetherington has mastered the art of creating potential action in micro-fiction ...” (Broken Pencil Magazine)

Michael Hetherington has BAs from Queen's University and the University of British Columbia, a MA in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and has travelled widely. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and two children.

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