April Michelle Davis and her book, A Princess in Disguise, were featured on June 14, 2017, on Diane Burton’s blog Meet the Author Thursday.

Excerpt:

“How long does it take you to write A Princess in Disguise?

“I began thinking about this storyline before there was even a story to write. I grew up with both my parents. After school, I enjoyed watching the Disney cartoons. As I watched Aladdin, I soon realized that the mother of Jasmine was not included in the movie nor in the cartoons, and I began to wonder why or where she was. This realization had me search storylines for the whereabouts of mothers. The mere mention of a character’s mother got my attention. Yet, I eventually set aside these ideas.

“When I was in high school, I thought that my ideas could be turned into an interesting story so I began expanding on them. I wrote from my heart until I could write no more, yet the book was not finished. I let my peers read my manuscript hoping that their aspirations for me would drive me forward, yet I set my manuscript aside.

“As a grown woman, I joined a book club where I meant another writer, a writer who inspired me to finish my book by the energy that she expressed through writing and the bond of our same love of writing. I finally finished my book and then the editing began. We edited the book and even had agents request and review the manuscript. Again, I set it aside.

“Then in 2012, my writing partner was murdered, and I could not bear to look at my princess manuscript. In 2014, I met a man who could help me publish my manuscript and who pushed me to do it in honor of my writing partner, and I began editing the book again. Iguana Press initiated a crowdfund to see if there was interest in the story and gain initial funds for the book’s production. Midway through the crowdfunding, the campaign suddenly came to a halt as the sale of the crowdfund site fell through and all campaigns were suddenly ended. Though the remaining days of my campaign was held at another site, the momentum that had been building had ceased.

“Upon completion of the campaign, the formal editing process began—with myself in the writer’s seat. With my mother as my assistant in helping to review the manuscript, we pushed the book publishing company’s editors to their limits because I would not settle for less.

“My book A Princess in Disguise is about a princess on a quest. On the night of her sixteenth birthday and before her father has the chance to force her to marry a complete stranger, Princess Margaret sneaks away from the riches and safety of the palace. Torn between her fate and freedom, Princess Margaret desperately goes looking for her mother as the answer. In a quest of soul searching and physical hardships, the twist of events may take the readers by surprise, instilling a piece of the story in their hearts.

“Today, I acknowledge SaraJane in my book as the lady who inspired me, my dear book club friend. A Princess in Disguise is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and through other book outlets. Or a signed copy can be ordered directly from me at aprilmichelledavis.com.”

April Michelle Davis and the main male character Huntley in her young adult book A Princess in Disguise were the headliners at the Short Pump Town Center Crazy 8 on July 29, 2017. The more April Michelle introduces her young audience to her book, the more she sees that the interest of her potential male readers has been increasing. April Michelle is pleased that her book is reaching both girls and boys through the adventures that Huntley and Princess Margaret experience together and the special message the April Michelle has written within the pages of A Princess in Disguise for all young adults to embrace and live by as the golden rule is realized in today’s culture.

April Michelle Davis and her middle-grade book A Princess in Disguise held a second book signing at the Barnes & Noble, Short Pump Town Center, in Richmond, Virginia, on May 20, 2017. April Michelle was delighted to greet and meet the public, sign copies of her book, answer questions about the book and the publishing  process, and to introduce her website for princesses and readers of her book.

April Michelle had prepared a unique gift for all those who stopped by her table: coloring sheets that April Michelle designed herself using the illustrations from her book with a quote from the book that described the illustration. You can request your copy of A Princess in Disguise autographed by April Michelle along with a set of her coloring sheets.

April Michelle Davis and her middle-grade book A Princess in Disguise were featured at the Barnes & Noble, Short Pump Town Center, in Richmond, Virginia, on April 22, 2017. April Michelle was available to greet, sign copies of her book, answer questions about her book and the publishing  process, and introduce her website geared toward princesses and readers of her book.

April Michelle also had available for all those who stopped by her table coloring sheets that she designed using the illustrations and quotes from her book. You can get your copy of A Princess in Disguise autographed by April Michelle and a set of the coloring pages by requesting both from April Michelle Davis.

 

April Michelle Davis wrote her book A Princess in Disguise because of her fascination with princesses. She wrote this fiction book using descriptions of many 1700 and 1800 places and things.

In August 2017, Geri Walton asked April Michelle to guest blog on the boats of this era because Princess Margaret and Huntley, the main female and male characters of A Princess in Disguise, sailed on a boat during many of their adventures and Princess Margaret’s father, the king, owned a fleet of ships.

The boats built in the 1700s and 1800s traveled slower because they depended on the wind to move them, and their lifespans were shorter than those of today partly because of bug infestation, which helped to weaken the wood of the hauls. The wheel to steer the boat was an important component because it determined the direction the boat would move, which also meant it would require crewmen to man it at all times, day and night, to keep the boat on course.

The variety of the food on the boats was limited, and some items were in short supply because of lack of funds or food contamination, yet what was available was still consumed by the crewmen and livestock so oftentimes the crewmen became ill and required medical treatment. Yet, medical treatment onboard the boats was simple and ports could be miles in the distance. The lifestyle of the crewmen on the boats was not very desirable, and the wages they earned were minimal compared to the hard labor that was performed to earn them.

April Michelle Davis’s young adult book A Princess in Disguise was reviewed by Kathleen Lance of One Stop Fiction. And this review led to A Princess in Disguisereceiving an award: The One Stop Fiction Book Award!

Lance’s interpretations were very similar to April Michelle’s, just expressed in different words, such as how Lance described the relationship between Princess Margaret and the emotion love.

Lance wrote, “Readers will appreciate [Margaret’s] courage in abandoning an arranged marriage to seek love. At first this is the love of her mother who disappeared when Margaret was just a baby. But, as Margaret comes to discover, love can include love for one’s country and people, love for a man, and love for the woman who, though not her mother, was always there for her. This important lesson if given through Margaret’s adventures on Huntley’s ship and through her increasing awareness of the world around her. Ms. Davis has given readers a lesson without actually teaching.”

Lance truly understands April Michelle’s special messages that are intertwined in the pages of her book A Princess in Disguise. Through growth and maturity, Margaret experiences the many facets of love and comes to rely on this as an inner strength to make her final destiny decision that will drive her forward.

April Michelle Davis was selected as the local author from the northern Virginia area to have a portion of her young adult book A Princess in Disguise read to an audience of elementary school age children and their parents. The event, Reading ROCKS the Red Carpet, hosted by the faculty of Marshall Elementary School, was held at the Barnes & Noble in Manassas, Virginia, on September 15, 2017.

Local celebrities were invited to read stories to the children, and April Michelle was the featured local author. April Michelle grew up in Fairfax County, attending school, elementary through college, before April Michelle married her prince and moved to the Richmond area.

In April Michelle‘s book A Princess in Disguise, the main female character, Princess Margaret, journeyed throughout her father’s and uncle’s lands, living among their people, only to rediscover that to be true to herself she must be true to the people she would someday rule over.

April Michelle Davis and A Princess in Disguise were highlighted for NEA’s Read Across America in The Bridge, Messiah College Alumni Magazine. “April Michelle is a ’01 English graduate who relies on the education she received at Messiah College in her profession as an author when writing her recently published young adult book A Princess in Disguise.”

April Michelle Davis taught her course Macros 101 through the Pen Institute March 6 through March 27, 2017. Have you ever made a list of the repetitive tasks that you do on a recurring basis? Your list may consist of a few items to several items based on the project. April Michelle’s course Macros 101 teaches you how to put these lists into a macro where with one touch of a button all the tasks are done, and you can spend your time focused on writing and not formatting.

April Michelle Davis spoke on the topic of Working with an Editor: The Editorial Process at the Agile Writer Conference on January 28. April Michelle , a professional freelance editor, shared from personal experiences as well as voicing what other editors and authors have told her about what can be done to stimulate the editor/author relationship and make it smooth and efficient while enhancing the end product. April Michelle has a wealth of knowledge and tips from her fifteen years as an editor that she considers as a privilege to pay forward and  in hopes to generate this same attitude in the industry.