Wyrd Tales for Woeful Times
by Aoife Anastasia

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Could you tell a funny, entertaining, meaningful story with a twist in 500 words? How about in 100 words with just 24 hours to write it? Writing this kind of flash fiction is what kept author Aoife Anastasia occupied and mostly sane through the woeful times of the pandemic lockdowns and a cancer diagnosis. The result is an unpredictable, sometimes fun and sometimes twisted collection of twenty-one stories and two narrative poems that include adult fairy tales, science fiction, horror, comedy, and romance. Each story includes one of Aoife’s quirky drawings, the original writing prompt, and the woe that helped weave each tale. In Wyrd Tales for Woeful Times, among other amazing characters, you will meet a “mature” Dorothy who has been shacking up with Scarecrow for the last few decades, a flatulent Queen Victoria in a bathtub, a murderer of a murderer, a seductive Gaugin in love with Van Gogh, six martyrs, a hoodlum tooth fairy, two hopeless Panda Sexuality consultants, several treasure hunters, and Adam’s Eve: a woman who knows what she wants. This is a collection of weird/wyrd, wonderful, whimsical, wyld stories that cannot be put in a box—except that all were written in a frenetic 24 hours, and all will make you look at the world a little differently than you did before.

www.wyrdtalesforwoefultimes.com

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Anonymous Judge 2314, NYC Midnight: "The style in this story is really something to behold... the opening lines are genius. The entire opening paragraph is a master class in writing." Anonymous Judge 1970, NYC Midnight: "You've managed to tweak the Fairy Tale format into something more, it's rich and deep and one should take time to slow down and savor the way you put the words together. There is much going on that parallels our life on Earth today." Anonymous Judge 2232, NYC Midnight: "The writing was lusciously descriptive and full of imagery." Anonymous Judge 2065, NYC Midnight: "It is impossible to pick a favorite character, as they all are distinct, likable, authentic, and a pleasure to get to know." Anonymous Judge 2240, NYC Midnight: "We feel the horror on different levels due to your attention to detail regarding sight, smell and feeling in a way that calls to mind Lovecraftian inventions " Anonymous Judge 2310, NYC Midnight: "You unwind the drama and the romance like a ball of string but in a slow, teasing way that keeps the reader turning the page." Anonymous Judge 2330, NYC Midnight: "definitely the best poem I've ever read about panda sex."

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Aoife Anastasia is all about storytelling—through performance, literature, music, and art. A first-generation Irish Canadian, Aoife studied Opera Performance at McGill University and ran her own musical theatre/opera company at 25. She then moved to London, England, to study classical theatre at the London Academy of Music and Drama and performed on London’s West End musical stages for the last few decades. During the pandemic, she returned to Canada to shelter with her family, only to learn she had stage-three cancer. Believing that art and imagination can heal, Aoife dove headfirst into writing flash fiction to keep her strong and engaged during the lockdowns and her cancer treatment. Today Aoife splits her time between her hometown Waterloo, Ontario, and a beautiful cottage in the woods by Lake Huron near Goderich, Ontario. Her constant companion is a tiny, black Yorkipoo named Fiacra. In addition to her passion for words and music, Aoife loves travelling, teaching painting online, leading rituals in the Celtic pagan tradition, creating her own tarot and oracle decks, playing ukulele, and spending time in nature. Wyrd Tales for Woeful Times is Aoife’s first book and volume one of more Wyrd Tales to come. For more Wyrd Tales, please visit wyrdtalesforwoefultimes.com.

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Contributors

Author

Aoife Anastasia

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FriesenPress Editions

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