AIFF Journalist question.
Portraying slaves is a very touchy part, since it can trigger a lot of people. Was it intentional to show a variety of characters within slaves?

ANSWER 
Yes, portraying the inhumanity of slavery with slave characters is beyond very touchy… but in my case, downright scary and painful as a fiction writer. Yet, if the character Annie Banjo was going to make sense to me as a main character, and Edward was going to join a secret Abolitionist organization at the very end, well I felt I was obliged… in fact, driven as a storyteller to show why, especially in the fictional account of Act Four, where I describe my made-up story of a Denmark Vesey type brutal revolt at the Louis Fleur Plantation.
In addition, I thought concerning other fictional slave characters; like Annie Banjo and Richard the horseman in being future friends of Edward, that the other slave characters would be easier to imagine interacting with them as in the case of Edward.