About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
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)
Contributor Notes
Michael Hetherington has bachelors degrees from Queen’s University and the University of British Columbia and a masters degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
His published books to date include: The Late Night Caller (Turnstone Press, 2003); The Archive Carpet (Passfield Press, 2012); The Playing Card (Passfield Press, 2013); Halving the Orange (Passfield Press, 2014); and, Hooked (Passfield Press, 2014). His first novel, The Playing Card, won the gold medal for best fiction from the Canada West region – 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards, and was a finalist in the literary fiction category – ForeWord Reviews 2013 Book of the Year Awards. Halving the Orange was a finalist in the same category in the ForeWord Reviews 2014 Awards. In 2015, Hooked was named a Shelf Unbound Notable 100 for 2015.
He has appeared in many events – including on the radio, Pandora’s Collective’s Twisted Poets Literary Salon, LitFest NewWest, and Surrey Libraries’ “Authors Among Us” – promoting his books. Michael’s work – including excerpts from The Late Night Caller and The Archive Carpet – has been published in literary magazines such as: Blood & Aphorisms, Exile, Geist, Lichen, The Malahat Review, Matrix, ON SPEC, and The New Quarterly.
He has a son and daughter and lives in North Vancouver. Visit Michael Hetherington’s website at michaelhetherington.ca.
