Short story collection a refreshing change for novelist

THE UNIVERSE AND OTHER STORIES by Christian-Eric Falardeau
ISBN 1-55369-732-4

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE UNIVERSE AND OTHER STORIES is a collection of short stories written over a 10-year period, from 1991's 'The Maid's Dress', to its tenth-anniversary counterpart, 'Classified Ads'. Varying in both length and style, each of these entertaining stories brings to the collection its own little universe and insights.

"The diversity and style of the writings is what makes this collection unique," says Montréal-based author Christian-Eric Falardeau. "There are some detective stories - Sherlock Holmes and my own detective creation - cartoons, textual 'images', a false scientific report written in the manner of engineering requirement specifications and even a few poems and songs."

Although Falardeau is essentially a novel writer, he concocts ideas for short stories, later transcribing them in his idle moments. "The main story, 'The Universe', is drawn from my engineering background. At the time I was writing a lot of software specifications and I was not enjoying it too much. To vent, I wrote the 'specifications' for the universe, feeling it was, at least, something to write about!"

Falardeau says that 'The Maid's Dress' was his first piece of 'serious' writing, marking a major milestone in his life. "That was the 'unblocking' that I had been hoping to achieve for many years. After that, I was able to start writing on a more regular basis."

'The Pilgrim' is a story built using brief textual images. After confirming that he could communicate his messages by using 'non-constructed' pieces of text, Falardeau's confidence increased, allowing him to take some liberty in his other novels.

Christian-Eric Falardeau was born in 1968, on a little farm near the village of Beaudry, now part of Rouyn-Noranda, in Abitibi-Temiscamingue (north-west of Quebec). He was raised amidst cows and some of them might have influenced several of his characters. He has two brothers and three sisters.

In 1990, he graduated from Sherbrooke University with a degree in computer science, embarked on a career as a programmer analyst and, later on, became a software development manager. He retired from the industry in March 2002.

Falardeau has published several books with Trafford in both French and English, including Le faux écrivain, Saint-Jolivet de Pendleton, its English counterpart Saint-Jolivet of Pendleton, Paul III de Montréal and its counterpart Paul III of Montreal. Soon to be released are both the English and French versions of Caroline. Falardeau currently has an interview posted at http://www.pageonelit.com/.

The Universe and Other Stories
by Christian-Eric Falardeau
217 pages; paperback; $15.95 US ($23.95 CDN)
published by Trafford Publishing
ISBN 1-55369-732-4