A first-time fiction writer publishes a collection of short stories meant to be positive.

A brand new short story collection from a local writer keeps things brief and upbeat.

Evan Pellervo is the author. He moved to Monterey County in 2022 to live  temporarily in a cottage. Raised in San Francisco, he studied in Missouri and spent some time in New York and in the desert.

He became an amateur writer at age 9 or 10, composing stories about, for example, “ghost monkeys.”

“I was inspired by The Lord of the Rings and fantasy,” Pellervo recalls. In high school, he moved on to Updike, Salinger, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

Pellervo has been supporting himself from writing, although his work has been along the lines of technical pieces about, say, the energy industry for one of his clients. Preparing to debut in fiction, he took literary workshops.

Short Happy Stories is the result.

“This collection was my attempt to bring readers happiness,” he says. He wanted to write short stories accessible to people with hectic lives. In other words, all of us. There are 50 stories in the collection.

In addition to little philosophical stories, where, like Aesop, he uses animals to give moral lessons, there are also essays in which Pellervo simply shares his thoughts with readers. In these, he speculates on such subjects as winter and spiritual matters. All stories vary in size, from the few paragraphs that make up “A Cloud” to “Little Adjustments,” which plays out over several pages.

In “Very Little Mouse,” Pellervo introduces a boy, Leo, who notices a baby mouse in danger. He rescues it; the story ends with Leo worrying about his little friend he left on the grass in a safe space. The charm of the story lies in its gentleness. The tone is a bit different than in children’s stories, more poetic and philosophical.

In “Now Here,” Pellervo paints a detailed analysis of a desert, a place that looks monotonous before one discovers its animals, its pebbles, even its human garbage.

Pellervo is a young author who already has a distinct voice and will likely continue to develop as a writer. He is already planning a second volume.

Both the book and the author will be available at the Holiday Author Event at River House Books in Carmel.

THE HOLIDAY AUTHOR EVENT takes place 11am-4pm (Pellervo presents at 12:30pm) Sunday, Dec. 8. River House Books, 208 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel. Free. 626-2665.