What comes first, ashes or fire?

I'm delighted to welcome author Bob Freeman to my blog today. I enjoyed and reviewed his novel Shadows over Somerset some time ago (click on the name for my review). And now he's touring the internet with First Born, which, it seems, is first of several books to come. As Bob Freeman will now explain,First Born arises from the ashes... So, over to you Bob, and welcome to my blog.

FROM THE ASHES

by Bob Freeman

A wise doctor does not mutter incantations
over a sore that needs the knife.
Sophocles

Lets cut to the chase: the Liber Monstrorum Chronicles are occult detective tales. What does that mean? The simple definition is that these types of stories adopt the tropes of the traditional detective story and combine them with those found in supernatural horror fiction. This is true of the collection I've called First Born, to be sure. Are some of the stories heavier handed than others? Certainly. Some of the stories you'll find stray into other territories. In fact, the lead tale reads more like a gothic romance, while the second story is all noir.

These Chronicles concern themselves with magic, with unseen forces, and with the men and women who find themselves entangled within a web of supernatural intrigue. There is a vast cast of characters, but at the center is one Landon Connors.

Dr. Landon Ashton Connors is an occult detective, ghost hunter, monster slayer, and ceremonial magician. He was born into a family of magicians who have dedicated their lives to combating the dark and sinister forces that have sought to shape the world in their image.

Connors is the caretaker of Caliburn House (a Second Empire manor in rural Indiana), a keeper of the Liber Monstrorum (a chronicle of his family’s warfare against all manner of dark wizards, ancient cults, ghosts, demons, and monstrosities), and a consultant to various organizations and private individuals who come seeking his expertise in the field of the occult.

I anticipate the Liber Monstrorum Chronicles to be at least four volumes: First Born, Descendant, Born Again, and Afterbirth. I may get to a fifth volume, Afterlife, and even a sixth, Transcendent, at some point, but that’s a ways down the proverbial Lost Highway.

First Born is made up of twelve short stories, two illustrated tales, and one novella. All have been published in one fashion or another in various forms, though many have been reworked here and there. This is the first time they’ve all been gathered under one roof, so to speak.

Here is a list of the stories you’ll find inside:

MOURN NOT THE SLEEPLESS CHILDREN
THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS
THE SOUL CAGES
ASHES TO ASHES
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
NOS GALAN GAEAF
OBSERVANCE
GHOST OF A CHANCE
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
STRANGE MAGICK
WYRDTAILS
THE GRIM BEAST OF IAEGER
THE HOUR OF THE WOLF
A MURDER OF CROWS
A GATHERING OF SHADOWS

The genesis of several of the tales in this collection stem from the novel Descendant, a book that Seventh Star Press will be publishing later this year as the second volume in the Liber Monstrorum Chronicles.

I had originally sold the novel to a UK publisher that went bankrupt before publication. I was, however, pitched an interesting marketing strategy — I was to write five short stories, each released as chapbooks and doled out over the five months preceding Descendant's issuance.

The only chapbook that saw the light of day was Ashes to Ashes. The publisher went up in flames and became naught but ash themselves. But these stories were born from that  misadventure, and now, thanks to Seventh Star Press, they are released back into the wild and surrounded by complimentary tales of the strange and the unusual.


It all starts here with First Born...



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

Author Links: Website: http://OccultDetective.com/
Twitter: @OccultDetective 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorbobfreeman/

About First Born: 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… 

Kindle Version https://www.amazon.com/First-Born-Tales-Liber-Monstrorum-ebook/dp/B07177CQT5/
Amazon Print Version https://www.amazon.com/First-Born-Tales-Liber-Monstrorum/dp/1941706622/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/first-born-bob-freeman/1126752939?ean=9781941706626


Find out more: Follow the tour:
3/12 The Coming Evil https://thecomingevil.blogspot.com/ Author Interview
3/13 MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape http://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