Mavis Duke Hinton, Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With a degree in English and Secondary Education,
MAVIS DUKE HINTON taught for 23 years in her career,
setting aside her full-time profession to realize her dream
of writing and publishing a novel. She taught all levels of English and related subjects, including AP British Literature, creative writing, speech, and journalism, as well as college grammar and composition. Over the years, other pursuits have included
editor and writer (notably for the North Carolina State
Budget and Liberty University), office administrator,
and police officer.
Raised in a military family, she has lived in France and Germany, beginning her schooling in a French parochial school and becoming fluent in French in the process. While living in Europe, the family experienced medieval castles in Germany, the World's Fair in Belgium, the Tulip Festival in Holland, and a bull fight in Spain. On camping trips across Europe, they enjoyed sharing meals with friendly Europeans along the way.
Although born in North Carolina, she has also lived in seven other U.S. states, with Alaska her favorite of all. Its northern lights and rugged mountains, abundant wildlife and natural beauty, even the 50-degrees-below-zero cold--were enjoyable experiences not found elsewhere.
She became a Christian at age 28, and her Christian worldview influences all areas of her life, including her writing.
As an educator, Mrs. Hinton has presented workshops at Christian education conferences on creating and utilizing videos of student-composed skits and interviews with literary characters and authors--complete with period costumes and scenery. In her English classroom, students loved watching their own video productions while reinforcing their learning. Her motto: "Learning English should be fun."
A Bible teacher for many years, teaching preschool children to adult women, she has also spoken to Christian women's groups as well. A wife, mother of two married daughters and three grandchildren, she has been married to Clark (a retired science teacher) since 1970.
With seven books published, her only nonfiction book is entitled DACHSHUNDS, LAUGHS, AND RANTS:Humor and Encouragement for Trying Times, and is available in e-book as well as paperback. This little book is composed of short pieces on a variety of topics--something for everyone. In keeping with her passion for doxies, there's a section about this beloved breed in the book, highlighting the dachshunds she has loved over the years.
She taught English online for the final five years of her career, with students from across the USA and several foreign countries. Her courses consisted of literature and poetry, essays and compositions, research reports, and varied skills: critical thinking, grammar, reading comprehension, poetic elements, as well as study and vocabulary skills.
The Hintons now live in Georgia to be closer to their grandchildren, and Mrs. Hinton devotes much of her time to marketing her books. Other pursuits include church activities, reading, traveling, cooking, stimulating conversation, and spending time with family (which includes her grandawgs Sunny the doxie and Bruno the boxer) and friends. She delights in being a grandmother.
Author as a police officer, age 24
My doxie Duke (RIP, 06/28/07 ~ 07/28/17)
top left: "What are you eating?"
top right: "Gimme a treat!"
above: the day we brought him home at eight weeks of age!
A Word
from Shadow
from Shadow
Hello!
I am Shadow the dachshund, a.k.a. Sarge. I decided a few years ago to take on a pen name. Oh, I'll always be Shadow, because I'm a real dog, not just a figment of anyone's imagination! My family will always call me Shadow, since that is my AKC registered name--and I happen to like it.
However, since a number of writers use pen names for various reasons, and after thinking it over, I decided to do that as well, and have been using my pen name SARGE for a few years now. For instance, did you know that the British author George Eliot (1819 - 1880) who wrote SILAS MARNER used a pen name instead of her real name, Mary Ann Evans? Women just did not get the chance to publish much back then, so she used a man's name when sending her work to publishers. Smart, huh? And, we all know the famous late actor, John Wayne (one of my favorites, by the way). Well, that was his stage name, but he was born Marion Robert Morrison! And the list goes on.
But I digress. People have all sorts of reasons for adopting pen names or stage names--and MY reason is this: my favorite person in the entire world has always been Papa Duke, a real person in my family and a main character in my books. I wanted a way to honor him even more, and the name SARGE, which is short for SERGEANT (the rank which Papa Duke had while serving in the U.S. Army for over 22 years) just seemed like a brilliant way for me to do that. So, you'll know me as Sarge in my books, but I'll always be Shadow in person.
My book series is entitled THE DACHSHUND ESCAPADES (updated from THE SHADOW ADVENTURES). After all, I'm trying to reach dog lovers, especially doxie lovers, to let them know that my books are written by a dachshund!
My first book, I AM SHADOW . . . ONE DOG'S STORY, is still out there, but the second edition of it is I AM SARGE.
I am thrilled to utilize my pen name in honor of Papa.
Your doxie with moxie,
Shadow, a.k.a. "Sarge"
*RIP SHADOW*
(2001 - 2017)
Gone, but never forgotten
