Tag Archives: Run for Freedom

09.16.15
by

Meeting Author Angela Kay Austin

Welcoming Author Angela Kay Austin to The Potpourri Parlor

angelakayaustin vhpAngela Kay Austin has always loved expressing herself creatively. An infatuation with music led to years playing several instruments, some better than others. A love for acting put her in front of a camera or two for her thirty seconds on camera before giving way to a degree and career in communications. After completing a second degree in marketing, Angela found herself combining her love for all things creative and worked in promotions and events for many years.

I met the multi-published Angela Kay Austin through Vanilla Heart Publishing, just one of several publishers that produces her terrific books. Angela’s latest offering is Run For Freedom (The American Civil War Series book 1)

Run For Freedom (The American Civil War Series Book 1) by Angela Kay AustinThe choice was to run for freedom or die never having been valued as a human — as a woman. The penalty was the same — death!

Freedom and her brother, Triumph, would fight for their lives and the lives of the ones whom they loved no matter the cost. Escaping bondage meant they must RUN! Run to Moses. Run to the Promised Land.

Watson Brown knew all too well the struggle to survive. The fight to live. He had been given a second chance to do what he had failed to do in life — as a human. What he and his father could not do before the Harpers Ferry Raid.

The runaway slave and her brother were a distraction.

He could afford no interferences with his mission. He nor his family could risk exposure.

The Interview

Angela dedicated this book to her mom who always supported her the whole way going to seminars and more with her.  Her mother used to check out books for Angela before she had her own Memphis Library card.
Angela explained, “So, there was nothing I could do, but dedicate it to her 🙂 Wish she was here to see it happen…” (Angela’s mom passed away earlier this year.)

Q: Please tell us a brief blurb about Run For Freedom.
Angela: RFF is a composite of many different things that interest me: history, love, and unlimited possibilities. I’ve never written historical, paranormal, or new adult. Without really attempting to I ended up crossing genres because of my interest in just following the possibilities.

Q: What kind of research did you do in order to write this tale?
Angela: I read a ton of history books on the American Civil War, weapons, slavery. I listened to a lot of recordings of freed slaves, as well as read some transcripts of freed slaves. I attended seminars on the American Civil War, too. It was all so amazing to learn.

Q: Please tell us a little bit more about your mom. Was she a writer?
Angela: My mother didn’t write, but when I was young she read different magazines and left them lying around. I picked them up. She encouraged me to never stop doing what I enjoyed and she told everyone she knew that her daughter was a writer 🙂 She even attended conferences with me and in my place, if I had conflicts. My mother was an absolutely amazingly selfless and giving woman.

Q: Most school children were raised with “history” lessons about this time in America, what piqued your interest in the subject you wrote about in Run For Freedom?
Angela: I’m from the south. I’ve seen remnants of the hate and segregation that divided my country, and I’ve always wanted to have the opportunity to be a part of the story of change.

Q: Is this your regular genre?
Angela: This is all new to me, and I like it. It crosses many lines: history, paranormal, interracial and new adult.

Q: I notice that this is listed as the first book of a series – do you have ideas about the rest of the series? Anything you want to share?
Angela: I am currently working on the second book, and I have the idea for the third book taking root.  The final book in the series is what I’m developing. Right now I see it as Triumph’s story. (BTW, Triumph was my great-grandfather’s name.)

Q: Is there anything you want to say about Fiona Jayde (Illustrator) and Leonore Elliot (editor)?
Angela: These two have been my right hands with this piece 🙂

Q: Thank you so much for taking the time to join us here today. Is there anything you would like to add?
Angela: I hope that people will check out Run For Freedom. When I received the cover art, the first thing I wanted to do was share it with my mother. I think sharing it with readers around the globe, she will see it and smile!