Author Patti Davis releases young adult novel

The 1983 Reagan Family Christmas portrait by the White House residence Christmas tree: (from left to right) Patti Davis, Paul Grilley, Nancy Reagan, President Reagan, Doria Reagan, Ron Reagan.

Patti Davis has recently self-published a young adult novel

After a successful writing career that included publishing eight books by some of the largest publishing houses in the U.S., New York Times best-selling author Patti Davis found herself searching for a publisher for her first novel. Despite her earlier successes, no publisher was willing to take a chance on her book “Till Human Voices Wake Us.” The novel represented a departure from her previous work which was composed primarily of biographical works of her famous family. Davis is the daughter of President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan.

“I don’t think the subject matter had anything to do with it,” said Davis. “There were several publishers that praised the work but didn’t make an offer. They just felt that Ronald Reagan’s daughter should be writing about the Reagans.”

“Till Human Voices Wake Us” is a well-written gripping novel of a woman whose life is shattered by the tragic death of her son. Faced with the scorn of her husband, whose demeanor toward her becomes icy-cold, Isabelle finds love in the most unlikely of places, her sister-in-law. The novel is a romantic tale of a lesbian relationship, a theme that would appear contrary to the conservative values espoused by her father. But as Davis points out, the Gipper was more tolerant than most Americans realize.

“My father was very tolerant,” said Davis. “I had two aunts that babysat us when our parents took a Hawaiian vacation. We called them ‘aunt and aunt.’ They stayed in our parents’ bedroom. He explained to us that sometimes two men fall in love and sometimes two women fall in love. He wouldn’t want the government getting involved in people’s personal lives like the courts are doing now with same sex marriages.”

Her idea for her book came about serendipitously while taking a walk on the beach in Malibu. Davis overheard two women talking about two women they knew that fell in love with one another and simultaneously divorced their husbands. This gave Davis the central idea for the book. But, it was another meeting that brought the plot together.

“I met a woman who lost a son to drowning,” said Davis. “He had gone through a screen door at their home and fell in the pool and drowned. They always kept the screen door locked and I remember her saying ‘I don’t know if I left the door unlocked.’ She was left with a lot of doubts. I am grateful that my father was a lifeguard before he broke into the movies. He taught us to swim while we were toddlers.”

Rejection from publishers is nothing new to even the most successful authors. Every author including Stephen King and Anne Rice have experienced the bitter disappointment of a rejection letter. The publishing industry is in a state of transitioning and many authors are adapting to those changes. Davis was no exception. She chose to do what many authors including Mark Twain have done. She decided to self-publish her book and has been pleased with the results.

“I heard of Amazon self-publishing and decided ‘what have I got to lose?’ The timing was good because the subject of gay marriage had been in the news but that was purely coincidental,” Davis said.

The book has received rave reviews from readers and the success of “Till Human Voices Wake Us” spurred Davis to take a chance on another novel and venture into a genre she has never written before—young adult.

“The Blue Hour” was published in October of 2013 to rave reviews on Amazon. The book is intended for readers of age 9 and up but makes an excellent read for adults as well.

“It’s a ghost story that embraces the themes of bullying and forgiveness,” said Davis. “It also involves time travel. A boy named Joshua, goes back in time to see a boy that was bullied. He reaches out to the spirit that no one in town wanted to talk about.”

The theme is poignant at a time when bullying is frequently the topic on the nightly news. Too often the results of bullying are tragic.

Davis has written extensively about Alzheimer’s disease which took her father’s life after a long battle that lasted a decade. In “The Long Goodbye,” Davis describes losing her father to the illness, saying goodbye in stages, helpless against the onslaught of a disease that steals what is most precious—a person’s memory. “Alzheimer’s,” she writes, “snips away at the threads, a slow unraveling, a steady retreat; as a witness all you can do is watch, cry, and whisper a soft stream of goodbyes.”

Since her father’s death she has worked to raise public awareness of the disease in hopes that one day Alzheimer’s will be cured and the disease will be relegated to the pages of history. She runs a support group intended for the family and caregivers of the patient. After years of working with the families of patients, occasionally Davis is still surprised at the toll and the extent of the disease.

“At the support group we have only the family and caregivers there. We never have the patient there because that would be awkward for the patient to hear how difficult it has been for their families,’ related Davis. “Recently, we had a couple who were both in their 80s that came to the group. I was a little uncomfortable thinking one of them was the patient. So, I approached them and found out that neither of them had Alzheimer’s. They were there for their daughter who was in her 50s and had just been diagnosed with the disease. It was heart-breaking.”

Davis said there has been a lot of research done on the disease but no cure is in the foreseeable future but it is not for a lack of trying on the part of researchers. Still she is hopeful for a cure.

As for her famous mother, Davis reports the former first lady is doing as well as can be expected for a woman of 92-years-of-age. Nancy Reagan lives in quiet retirement now on the ranch she shared with the president.

Davis’ books are available on Amazon.com. For more information about “The Blue Hour” follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Hour-Patti-Davis/dp/1492144479/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385477156&sr=1-3&keywords=the+blue+hour.