Good Tales For Bad Dreams by V.M. Sawh
- Lilly
- Jul 9, 2015
- 4 min read
Welcome to Good Tales For Bad Dreams, a short-fiction series of re-imagined fairy tales. Each story is set in a different time and place. Some will be familiar, others will not. So, strip bare your assumptions, open your mind and see these tales told like never before.
Cinders (Good Tales For Bad Dreams #1)
As a slave in the bawdy Black House, Rella longs to escape the whips and chains of her existence. She is chosen for a dangerous mission and offered a chance at freedom. There is only one condition: first she must assassinate the Prince. Quote: "Death by god or death by man... but never as a sister of the Black House!" (Suggested for Mature Readers) "Cinders" has a follow-up story called "Anastasia" which adds a little more to background to the Sisters of The Black House.
My Thoughts
Every fairytale ending you ever heard, washed away in one foul swoop! Cinders re-writes any previous fairytale ending you ever had with such a deadly beauty that has you turning pages at an almost breakneck pace! V.M SAWH has such a vivid imagination, and yet he manages to give you his vision in as short a story as possible! This man needs to keep writing!
Anastasia (Good Tales For Bad Dreams #2)
The plot to fool the Russian Royal Family had many casualties, none more so than the would-be Anastasia. Fleeing across the seas with her fate in her hands, this is story of Anna, a Sister of the Black House and Stepsister to the girl who would be Cinderella.
My Thoughts
What a tangled web we weave, when we practice to device! And what a tangled web that is the story of Anna! We get glimpses of the story, what is happening, what has and what will happen. A beautiful short story that could easily be the trailer to a bigger more in depth story! My only complaint is just that...it's just the trailer to a as yet (I assume) unwritten full story! I want more I tell you! :)
Hontas (Good Tales For Bad Dream #3)
In this rip-roaring Wild West adventure, intrepid bounty hunters Pocahontas and John embark on a dangerous mission to stop a train run by a sadistic, slave-driving madman.
“How many?” John was panting. His adrenaline kicked in at the sound of the shot. “One.” “There’ll be more. That car’ll empty out quick.” That was bad. They’d be outnumbered by at least a dozen. “Did you do it?” John shifted, scouting the opposite side of the train with a glance. “Not enough,” he pulled his own silver Colt and unslung his rifle. “This is more than a six bullet situation.”
My Thoughts
Oh my word! What a journey! So much action is such a short book. Written so beautifully you can't help but be there as you read. It felt a little disjointed at the beginning, but that was the literary choice of the author to begin with a dramatic scene before bouncing back in time to then bring you back to where we start and then slipping past to finish the story. There's no fairytale ending here, but I don't want to give away any spoilers, so, I don't think I should say anything beyond "this is well worth the read!"
About the author
V.M. Sawh didn't always know he was going to be a writer, but from the age of six he's been putting pen to paper, creating serialized fiction. Hailing from the humid jungles of South America, Sawh crossed oceans to arrive on Canada's snow-covered shores at age nine. He continued writing, creating serialized fiction year after year until he challenged himself to write a novel. His first trilogy of novels was completed by age sixteen, but despite encouragement from his Writer's Craft professor, never published, as the publishing industry was as intimidating then as it is today. He continued writing poetry and fiction for the next decade and a half until an open call for fairy-tale submissions changed everything.
V.M. Sawh resides in a small town north of Toronto, with his beloved wife and two cats. He continues to spin fairy-tales that will haunt your dreams.
Here are some interesting fact:
i) As part of the launch for "Cinders", I was featured in the January 2014 issue of the Toronto Sun newspaper.
ii) Announced as winner of the Ontario Writer's Conference Story Starters Contest
iii) "Cinders" and "Hontas" have made it to #1 on Amazon's Hot New Releases List.
iv) "Anastasia" has over 1.5K reads on Wattpad, Toronto's free story-sharing website.
v) Completed my first trilogy of novels by age 16.
vi) Decided to publish "Cinders" after a face-to-face meeting with Guillermo Del Toro (Director of Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Pacific Rim & Crimson Peak)
Connect with V.M. Sawh today!
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