Wednesday, January 27, 2016

AND THE WINNER IS . . .


We have a winner of the I AM SARGE autographed book giveaway! Ms. Sherry Rogers of West Virginia won the book this morning! Congratulations to her.

She was very happy (and so am I), saying that she never wins anything! Well, she did this time.

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, and I urge you to try again for the next giveaway, which will be an autographed copy of I AM DACHSHUND. Details to follow soon.


Dachshund BOOKS . . . you gotta love 'em!

Monday, January 25, 2016

MEET MY NEW GRANDDAWG BRUNO!


Shadow my doxie granddawg now has a new doggie brother named Bruno (a boxer), who is 19 months old.

Here are some photos of him:

Getting spoiled by Annika

Enjoying the snow

He thinks he's a lap dog!

Bruno's owner had moved into a small apartment and had to begin working full time, so with a sad heart, she looked for a family to take her beloved Bruno. Our daughter and family met Bruno and fell in love, so now he's getting lots of attention. He's also giving a lot of attention, too, as you can see him trying to be a lap dog on Holly's lap!

He's not a dachshund, but he's very sweet and loving. Shadow and Duke haven't yet warmed to him, (1) he's so much bigger than they are, and when he wants to play, they feel overwhelmed, and (2) Shadow is old and set in his ways! And Duke is used to acting like a "big dawg," but it was a rude awakening for him when he actually met a big dawg face to face!

We'll see how it goes.

Friday, January 22, 2016

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDDAWG SHADOW


With Mama Holly

Today is my granddawg Shadow's 15th birthday! As a black-and-tan mini dachshund, he's done a lot of living in his life: he's been the older brother to three human siblings and now three kitty brothers!

Kitty brothers Piper and Aslan

Sleeping with kitty brother Thor


As most know, he's the inspiration for THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES series, as the books are written from the dachshund's viewpoint and my family members are the characters in Sarge's stories.
Shadow as a pup

I originally began the series as THE SHADOW ADVENTURES, using Shadow's name, but years ago a gentleman threatened my then publisher with a copyright infringement for using the series title. Seems he was planning a TV series entitled THE ADVENTURES OF SHADOW. The publisher didn't need that kind of lawsuit, so we changed the dog's name and the series name to Sarge and THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES: that's why you might see I AM SHADOW, ONE DOG'S STORY of THE SHADOW ADVENTURES still out there in cyberspace, although it has been out of print for some time now.

Our own doxie Duke is good buddies with Shadow, and although Duke is larger, stronger, and younger than Shadow, he still defers to Shadow when there is a question of whose toy it is. Shadow's philosophy is "no matter whose toy it is, all toys are MINE." Period.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHADOW! He might be elderly now, but he's still got some life in him, especially regarding food--a true chow hound extraordinaire.

Dachshunds . . . you gotta love 'em.








Wednesday, January 20, 2016

A CHANCE TO WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF I AM SARGE!


I mentioned yesterday that I would host a new book giveaway since nobody won the Amazon giveaway, so here are the details:

A CHANCE TO WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF I AM SARGE:
Like, comment, and share!

1- To enter for a chance to win this book, go to my Facebook business page at www.facebook.com/mavisdukehintonsbooks. "Like" the page, leave the comment "Sarge" under the contest post, and then share the contest post on Facebook. That's it!

NOTE: If you've already liked my page in the past, then just leave the comment "Sarge" under the contest post, then share the post. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON.

2- This giveaway ends at midnight EST on Wednesday, January 27, 2016. Winner will be announced the following day (Thursday, Jan. 28) on my Facebook page, Mavis Duke Hinton's Books.

3- I will also private message the winner on Facebook, who must private message me on Facebook with their mailing address by Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016, or forfeit the win to someone else from a second random drawing.

4- Contest is open to entrants from all 50 U.S. states and Washington, DC.
My granddawg Shadow, aka Sarge
my inspiration for THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES
Best wishes on winning!


Tuesday, January 19, 2016

WINNER OF BOOK GIVEWAY

Sorry--Amazon says nobody won my book giveaway of I AM SARGE which ended last night at midnight. I am so disappointed, and thanks to all of you who entered.

I will soon launch my own personal book giveaway, with the winner receiving a free AUTOGRAPHED copy of I AM SARGE. Stay tuned, as I will announce details in the near future.

I plan to launch a book giveaway for each of the five books of THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES, one every few weeks, so check back here often, or visit my Facebook business page, Mavis Duke Hinton's Books.

Thank you, and again, I am sorry nobody won.


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

I AM SARGE BOOK GIVEAWAY!


Doxie lovers, here's your chance to begin your journey of reading THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES books!

* * * * * * * * * BOOK GIVEAWAY * * * *  * * * * *

See this #AmazonGiveaway for a chance to win: I Am Sarge (The Dachshund Escapades, Book 1):
 https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/63ff2a07828eeabd 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends Jan 18, 2016 11:59 PM PST, or when all prizes are claimed. See Official Rules http://amzn.to/GArules.



Monday, January 11, 2016

MONDAY, MONDAY . . .


Remember the old song by the Mamas and Papas, Monday, Monday? That was one of my favorites when I was a college student. In fact, I liked just about all of their songs!

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What is the deal with Monday, anyway? Life after a weekend, whether it was spent quietly reading in front of the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate, or a physically-challenging hike, Mondays are hard to deal with.  Part of the reason is simply because of change. We mentally and physically change gears on weekends, whether we work outside the home or not.  Then on Monday, we have to change those gears once again. By Thursday, we are well into our work week and go with the flow. Friday is exciting, and we look forward to it as the last day of our work week before the much-anticipated weekend, where we have plans to do things not normally done on workdays.

People often refer to Monday blues, and there is some scientific data to back that up. Our bodies don't do well after sleeping late on Saturdays, spending the rest of the day running around completing chores or pursuing fun activities. Our family always attends church on Sundays, so we are busy with church activities until noon.
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I am enjoying my retirement from teaching, I must say. Oh, don't get me wrong--I loved teaching, but it was quite challenging physically and mentally, and not appropriate for the older version of myself. I taught high school English, which included AP (Advanced Placement) senior British Literature, Honors English 12, On-Level English 12, and Creative Writing. Some years I taught Speech instead of the Creative Writing, and some years I taught 9th or 11th grade English in lieu of Senior English.

To paraphrase an old adage, "An English teacher's work is never done." I had the usual homework assignments to check, as well as essays, compositions, book reports, and research papers, a hefty load, and I spent a good portion of most weekends either grading papers or going to my classroom to work on lesson plans, grade papers, create tests and worksheets, etc. I am simply not up for that load now!

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I miss the students, I miss decorating my classroom and bulletin boards, and I even miss my study hall students!  But my career now involves writing books, no easy task, but certainly less stressful than teaching high school English . . . most of the time. Writing, contrary to popular opinion, is a lot of hard work, and one has to love it in order to stick with it.  Deadlines loom, editing and proofreading await, and cover creation beckons me. Once I submit my manuscript, then I must check the proof carefully before submitting my book for final publication.
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And that's just the beginning! There's the marketing aspect to publicize that the book is available for sale! I use social media quite a bit for that, as it seems to work for me. I have a Facebook business page, a Twitter account, this blog as well as another one, a website showcasing my books, a Pinterest page, and a monthly newsletter. Those are about as much as this one person can take care of on any given day.

I cannot finish this post without saying that I am so blessed and thankful to God for my many blessings from Him! He makes all things possible for me, and my life has never been the same since I turned it over to Him.

Image result for social media

So, to check out my sites, here they are:

website:  www.MavisDukeHinton.com
Other blog: http://the-dachshund-escapades.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mavisdukehintonsbooks
Twitter: www.twitter.com/writer4dawg
Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/biq2s5
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/mavisdukehinton/my-books/

Friday, January 8, 2016

WARNING: ANKLE BITER!



My doxie Duke doesn't bite our ankles, but he's definitely down there where they are! I've read that dachshunds are great watchdogs because they're so nosy and hear every little noise--I can attest to that. Some days, Duke barks at a piece of dust floating by!

What about your doxie? Does he/she notice every little thing going on inside and outside your home?

Dachshunds--you gotta love 'em.


Tuesday, January 5, 2016

SO--WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON IN 2016?


What are your plans for 2016? Still recovering from the frenetic pace of the holidays, I haven't really had a lot of time to think about the entire new year stretching out before me!

One thing I'm planning is to get my new series, THE ST. SIMONS CHRONICLES, off the ground with Book 1 during the next couple of months. Entitled A DACHSHUND FOR SAVANNAH, this book will be full of humor and good will, doxie shenanigans, life on St. Simons Island, and many interesting and varied characters. Houndsome, Miss Savannah's new doxie pup, will probably take the prize for being the most interesting. That dawg seems to stick his nose into everything! He gets into trouble, but also gets some humans out of trouble.

Stay tuned for updates as I work on Book 1.

Beautiful photos Clark and I took on our recent visit to St. Simons--one of these is sure to grace the cover of Book 1!







Saturday, January 2, 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Wow, I don't know where 2015 went, do you? Meanwhile, since I last posted, my hubby and I celebrated our 45th anniversary, our daughter Bethany celebrated her birthday, we had Christmas, our daughter Holly and hubby celebrated their anniversary . . . whew!

We had a wonderful December! In the mood of "showing" instead of "telling," here are some photos:

Our entire family

Asher loves Star Wars!

Dachshund Books for Dog Lovers!

Dachshund Books for Dog Lovers!
Click on the BOOKS tab at the top of this blog

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