Author Interview: Bob Freeman

Today I am interviewing Bob Freeman, author of the new fantasy horror, First Born.

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DJ: Hi Bob! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!

For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Bob Freeman: Thanks for having me. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t sum up easily. The Reader’s Digest version is I’m a husband and father and we live in rural Indiana. I’ve been obsessed with stories since as long as I can remember. The medium has never matter all that much to me. I’ve written comics, short stories, novels, and plays. I’ve been running roleplaying games for forty years. I like spinning yarns around campfires. I’m an author, an artist, a game designer, and a paranormal investigator.

DJ: What is First Born about?

Bob: First Born is a collection of short stories, comic stories, and novellas that all take place before the novel Descendant, a book that should be published later this year by Seventh Star Press. It mostly follows the misadventures of an occult detective named Landon Connors and the investigators who have crossed his path, for good or ill.

DJ: What were some of your influences for First Born?

Bob: Probably the biggest influences stem from my childhood love for the works of Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker and the Norliss Tapes), Dennis Wheatley’s Duc de Richleau stories, and Gene Roddenberry’s Spectre. Katherine Kurtz’ Adept series was another big influence, but really, I’ve immersed myself in the occult detective genre since I was a kid. It’s all in there. If you like a good supernatural mystery, then you’ll be right at home in a Landon Connors tale.

DJ: Could you briefly tell us a little about your main characters? Do they have any cool quirks or habits, or any reason why readers with sympathize with them? (aka What makes them compelling?)

Bob: Landon Connors is intelligent, charming, and dedicated, but he’s got issues. He was born into this life, feels immense guilt over the death of his parents, the weight of responsibilities for the people in his orbit. He smokes and drinks too much, has a weakness for hallucinogens, is not very good with relationships, but is generally a good soul.

DJ: What is the world and setting of First Born like?

Bob: First Born is essentially the world outside your window. It just deals with the parts in the shadows.

DJ: There are many different definitions of horror in genre, so I’m curious, when you write “horror”, how is it that you try to scare your readers? Do you go for gore? Shock? Maybe build up tense moments? Or perhaps it is the unknown?

Bob: I prefer to deal in atmosphere. I will dip my toes into everything you mentioned at times, but it comes down to what best serves the story and the journey that Dr. Connors and his colleagues having taken me on.

DJ: What was your favorite part about writing First Born?

Bob: I love the initial fire of inspiration, when the words are just spilling out and you can scarcely get them all down on paper fast enough, when you’re in that critical moment of creation and you’ve lost control of the reins and the stories just tell themselves.

DJ: What do you think readers will be talking about most once they finish it?

Bob: I suspect it will be different things for different people. Each story is unique and I’d like to think there’s a little something for everybody inside.

DJ: Did you have a particular goal when you began writing First Born? Was there a particular message or meaning you are hoping to get across when readers finish it? Or is there perhaps a certain theme to the story?

Bob: First Born is a prequel. It sets up the events in Descendant. The novel was the genesis of these stories. A publisher who had intended to release the novel (before going bankrupt) commissioned a series of short stories that were meant to be released each month leading up to the novel’s release. That never happened. But now they’re here and let loose into the world.

DJ: Now that First Born is released, what is next for you?

Bob: Descendant should be along later this year. I’m currently writing the follow-up, called Born Again, and I’ve got a sword and sorcery tale I’m working on, plus several rpg products and a youtube channel that we just launched. It’s never a dull moment, I assure you.

DJ: Where can readers find out more about you?

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Bob-Freeman/e/B004FQXYEE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1520734106&sr=8-1
Blog: http://occultdetective.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/occult.detective or
https://www.facebook.com/authorbobfreeman/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/occultdetective
Website: http://occultdetective.com

DJ: Before we go, what is that one thing you’d like readers to know about First Born that we haven’t talked about yet?

Bob: Nothing really. The stories will speak for themselves. Just buckle up and enjoy the ride.

DJ: Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to answer my questions!

Bob: Thanks so much for having me.

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*** First Born is available TODAY!!! ***

Buy the Book: 

Amazon | Barnes & Nobel | Goodreads

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About the Book:

From the arcane sorceries of “The Wickedest Man in the World” to the supernatural exploits of Occult Detective Landon Connors and the harrowing investigations of Agents Wolfe and Crowe,this collection of macabre tales of the black arts treads the dangerous landscape between this world and that populated by angels and demons, gods and devils, ghosts and spirits, and the legendary creatures of our darkest imaginings.

First Born is the beginning of the journey into the Liber Monstrorum, the Chronicles of those Occult Detectives who are the last line of defense against those preternatural forces that threaten to destroy a world that refuses to believe that such things exist…

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About the Author:

Bob Freeman is an author, artist, and paranormal adventurer whose previous novels include Shadows Over Somerset and Keepers of the Dead.

A lifelong student of mythology, folklore, magic, and religion, Freeman has written numerous short stories, articles, and reviews for various online and print publications and is a respected lecturer on the occult and paranormal phenomena.

He lives in rural Indiana with his wife Kim and son Connor.

Mr. Freeman can be found online at OccultDetective.com

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Tour Schedule and Activities

3/12 The Coming Evil https://thecomingevil.blogspot.com/ Author Interview

3/13 MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape https://mylifemybooksmyescape.wordpress.com Author Interview

3/14 Hunting Monsters https://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com/ Guest Post

3/14 Book in the Bag http://bookinthebag.wordpress.com/ Interview

3/15 Morgan Sylvia http://Morgansylvia.wordpress.com/ Top Ten List

3/16 Sheila’s Guests and Reviews http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.com Guest Post

3/17 I Smell Sheep http://www.ismellsheep.com/ Top Ten List

3/18 Jacob Floyd’s Ghosts and Monsters https://jacobfloydsghostsandmonsters.wordpress.com Review and Interview

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