Classically Trained Soprano | PhD from Harvard
Dr. April Lynn James
SCORE Mentee
The Short Story
About April plus Madison
April Lynn James, PhD is the corporeal half of this Wonderland-inspired enterprise that is fueled, in part, by the whimsical rhymes composed and declaimed by her guardian angel,
Madison Hatta, Sonneteer.
April Lynn James, PhD
Greetings! I’m Dr. April Lynn James, affectionately known as The PhDiva!!! because I am a classically trained soprano with a PhD from Harvard.
I survived my doctoral program by getting away from the computer and engaging in fun activities such as dance, juggling and mime, thereby healing from tendonitis, depression and stress-induced weight gain.
My groundbreaking work on operas composed by women has won awards from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and other foundations. In August 2023, my “delightfully readable” book, The Tenth Muse: How Maria Antonia Advanced the Pastoral Opera debuted at #1. It remains an international best-seller.
During what I call “the Decade of Awfulness” following my doctoral studies, eldercare duties made worse by dysFUNctional family relationships nearly killed my sense of humor and ability to dream. The Tim Burton film, Alice in Wonderland (2010), changed that, taking me down the rabbit hole and restoring my ability to believe in the impossible.
It also led to my guardian angel, Madison Hatta, Sonneteer, springing full-blown into my consciousness. We have published two books of “Madisonnets”, and offer Wonderland-inspired Whimsical Things through our Whimsicali-Tea Shop on Zazzle.
I expand people's horizons with uncommon knowledge so that they become happier and healthier. Book me for speaking today!
Madison Hatta, Sonneteer
I did not create Madison; Madison comes through me. Madison first appeared in my consciousness as a childhood desire for a top hat and lifelong appreciation for English literature. It was during my “opera-preneur” years that I developed a conscious awareness of angelic presences in my life, shortly before Madison’s quite vocal appearance in my inner ear during the Tim Burton Alice and beyond. Madison is the guardian angel of my sense of humor.
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The "Madisonnets" began flowing through me in the summer of 2011. I (plus Madison) now have well over 200 with which to delight the ear, eye, heart, and mind.
Our Indiegogo campaign to fund the publication of Madison Hatta's Book of Unreasonable Rhymes was over 100% successful. Madison’s chapbooks, the Book of Unreasonable Rhymes (2015) and the Book of Unrelenting Rhymes (2016) are available from Philadelphia’s legendary Moonstone Press.
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Listen to a sampling of Madisonnets at the April plus Madison's (A)Musings page.
