One Degree of Freedom: The Stories Behind the Novel with Taryn R. Hutchison

Author Taryn R. Hutchison shares the exciting stories behind her book One Degree of Freedom, a riveting Young Adult Novel set in Communist Romania. 

To me, a mark of an excellent novel is that you completely forget you are reading. One Degree of Freedom was such a novel—with nuanced, engaging characters, intricately described setting, and exciting plot, I was entranced from page one. Late 1980s Communist Romania was a fascinating backdrop for the story of Adriana, a fifteen-year-old engineering student who finds a window to the world outside her oppressive regime through reading banned books, an activity which sends her headlong into an adventure filled with intrigue and family secrets. 

Taryn R. Hutchison wanted to be a writer since she was a child growing up in a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore--with its 75 people, three million chickens, and her two imaginary friends. She put that on hold to pursue other things she loved, living abroad and visiting a host of countries on every continent except Antarctica. When she returned to the States, she married her favorite person and moved near San Francisco, where she began to pursue that long-ago dream. She wrote her first book, We Wait You, a memoir from her years as a missionary in Eastern Europe. Now she’s come full circle—minus the imaginary friends—to live in another sleepy town, this time in western North Carolina. Taryn holds a master's degree in writing and tutors writing at a small university. She has had several short stories, essays, and articles published. She is an Amy Writing award recipient and a member of Redbud Writers Guild. Currently, she’s working on two sequels to One Degree of Freedom, along with a non-fiction book—a true story of a prisoner, unfairly condemned and recently released. Visit her at www.tarynhutchison.com.