Erik Gustafson's Blog, page 14

Iowa state fair / food on a stick heaven

Spent the day down at the Iowa State fair and it was a treat, as always.



The journey started with a bus ride from the parking garage. You come in this way to save an assload of cash on parking, but you can park on people’s lawns around the gates of you want to be close–everyone within a several block radius is selling a spot of their grass. The bus was a double bus bound together by an accordion.

Through the gates and I was immediately treated to a free bottle of five hour energy. My daughter a...

Top 100 Indie Authors for August + 46 Authors to Watch

Reblogged from Kindle Review - Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review:

It is time again for another of our monthly Top Indie Authors posts. This month, we’ll be considering July sales for August’s ranking.

We’ve added last month’s top 25 with this month’s numbers to the list. Take a look, it might give you some interesting perspective.

Thank you to all of the authors and readers who make these lists possible.If you notice anydiscrepancies in this month’s list, please email us at

Read more… 7,188 m...

Guest Blog with Leigh M. Lane

Check out this big news from Leigh M. Lane. I read her novel “Finding Poe” and absolutely loved it. I am very excited that she has yet another book to read!! You should be too!

The Beautiful Illusion

by Leigh M. Lane

Physical appearances are rarely entirely what they seem, especially in today’s world of Photoshop, airbrush, and cosmetic overhaul. While one might be able to appreciate beauty in its many forms—art, a nice gesture, a pretty face—on a superficial level, that which lies beneath is of...

Elephants are big

Was at the zoo and reminded how very small we all are. Elephants are bigger.

And the octopus is also pretty cool. I had a dream about octopus that live out of the water… In the shadows and fed on people

That’s all I wanted to say

Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon video trailer

I just learned about this awesome website that lets you create free 30 seconds….and it was so simple to do! This is my first attempt and it only took 20 minutes…. check it out and let me know what you think!

Just click here:

FLBD.

RAGBRAI and all the unique people

Yesterday RAGBRAI rolled thought our small town. If by some chance you don’t know what that is, RAGBRAI is an annual bike ride across the state of Iowa. People come from all over the country to participate.

Our town of 4,000 swelled to over 30k as thousands of bikers.

Since the route went directly past our church, we sold slices of pie and water. We also let people cool off in our fellowship hall and use our bathrooms.

Pie and AC bathrooms is a pretty epic treat. It was 102 degrees.

We sold 100...

Free promo results

I just wrapped up a three day giveaway of my novel “Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon” and I am quite pleased with the results.

1. Gave away about 7200 copies

2. I hit number 1 in the kindle horror list for about 18 hours

3. I made it up to number 53 in the overall Kindle store

That is amazing I think! At the same time, its a bit unnerving to see over $21000 in books fly off the shelves into parts unknown.

The best part is its in the hands of a lot of new readers… Now I nervously await the long ra...

#FridayFlash The Darkness at the End of the Tunnel

I just realized I forgot to post my Friday flash fiction here….I hope you enjoy!

The Darkness at the End of the Tunnel

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An owl called from somewhere high above in the shadowy limbs. The girl looked up at the darkness, seeing only a handful of stars through the branches, twinkling like ugly diamonds. The houses were quiet and the windows were black eyes staring at her. She picked up her pace along the leaf-scattered sidewalk, clinging to the straps of her backpack as if they could protect her.

She...

The Tale of Eight Tigers

I wrote this poem a LONG time ago and I thought I would share it with you all. I’ll warn you now, its long but has a great message about my favorite animal.

The Tale of Eight Tigers

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“Its time,”

the huge, sleek, mother tigress whispers,

She looks upon her playful cubs though golden eyes

Her coat thick and black like the darkness

and she stands proudly before her cubs,

one by one she licks foreheads and shoves them off

one by one the black tigers bound away

As Eight brothers vanish in the forest,

The fir...

Promise to Love and Protect (55 words)

Austin Briggs, author of Five Dances of Death, hosts a 55 word flash fiction contest. He runs it each month and awards the winning entry with $55….crafting a tale in so few words is harder than it seems. I submitted an story after much wrestling and mangling. Its about a gorgon home invasion.

Please take a moment to read and vote for my piece, if you are so inclined. Vote here.

Then navigate to rules and give it a try! 55 words and a chance at 55 bucks. There is a theme and a few rules…but go f...