Coffee & Convo welcomes Erik Gustafson author of the Horror book Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon.
I’m intrigued by the psychology behind some Horror books which is what draws me to this genre. Tell us a little bit about your book Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon.
I have a Master’s degree in psychology and I hope my writing reflects that. In “Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon”, the main character suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from a horrific fire when he was five. His childhood playmate was also in that fire. The family moves away to get away from all those painful memories but that doesn’t work for my main character. The traumatic memories seem to take on a life of their own in the form of a relentless fire-breathing dragon! This dragon that haunts my main character pretty much ruins his childhood, keeping him embarrassed and afraid of the next attack. He also hears voices calling his name and other paranormal things happen to him. As time goes on, he learns more about what really happened in the fire and realizes that all the hallucinations might be a real haunting and he must go back to confront his past before the dragon finishes him. He sets off on an adventure with his best friend and together they learn about what happened…and confront the ghosts of his past! The ending is intense and will surprise you!
What do you think readers will enjoy most about Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon?
I think readers will like this book because the characters are real people living real lives with some serious problems. You will really get attached to my main character because it’s a horror story on the surface but it’s also a coming of age story and the struggles with conquering your fears and overcoming your past.
People are also saying that the scenes in my book are very vivid and creepy in many places! I think people that read horror books want to get scared!
I read on one of your interviews that you've lived in a tent in the desert in Saudi Arabia. Sounds intriguing, tell us a little bit about your background.
I grew up in Iowa but was in the Air Force for 20 years so I have lived all over the United States and several foreign countries. I have lived in Iceland, Germany and Saudi Arabia! Iceland was my favorite place and I hiked around the island over a two week period where I climbed volcanoes and glaciers, took a boat ride above the Arctic Circle to whale watch, crawled in lava tubes and saw many amazing things. Now I have settled back down in Iowa to be close to family. I lived in a tent while I was in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. They were large 10 man tents with air conditioning, our showers and bathrooms where also in tents. Tent life can get pretty boring but we were occasionally met with scorpions and snakes to keep us entertained! Now, I teach psychology classes at a community college and coordinate services for people with intellectual disabilities so they can live more independent and satisfying lives. I am working hard to be a writer now but for the past 20 years I painted to express myself.
You can connect with me on twitter @eriktiger or check out my paintings and random ramblings on my blog at http://eriktiger.wordpress.com/
Why did you decide to become an Indie author?
I choose to self-publish my book because it seemed both simple and popular. Most people I know read books on one device or another. The idea of getting an agent and then getting published seemed very daunting. Plus I wanted to get my book out there and read quickly! I choose to put my book up on Smashwords and that was a simple process but the real challenge was getting the formatting correct and figuring out how to design a cover that was decent. Then there is the reality about publishing: you have to be popular to get popular. It’s very frustrating and very tough to get people to give my book a try!
Where can we find your book Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon?
You can find my book on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle:
Any future writing plans you wish to share with us?
I am slowly working on my second novel. Right now the working title is “The Second Chimney.” I am about 15k into. Its another horror novel but this takes place in a single father’s house. A house with a serious bat problem! The man spends a great deal of time and energy bat hunting and bat proofing the nooks and crannys…but soon he discovers the house has a problem much worse than the bat problem. It’s going to get pretty intense. I am thinking this one may become a series with the second book moving in the dark fantasy genre. Hopefully it’s ready to go by this fall!
I really appreciate you sharing with us today, Erik. I look forward to that surprise ending in Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon.
I really appreciate you sharing with us today, Erik. I look forward to that surprise ending in Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon.
