Explore Jackie Duty’s Latest Book DASH The Dashshund Updates
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GRAFTON - Local author Jackie Duty will give away prizes, baskets and 100 free books at a reading in Grafton this weekend.
From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, 2025, community members can stop by Grove Memorial Park for a free “party in the park,” Duty said. Every kid in attendance will receive a free copy of “Dash the Dachshund.” A Disney princess and local screenprinter will also be in attendance. Parents can enter to win basket items and tickets to Worldwide Technology’s upcoming Father’s Day drag race.
“You can hang out all day in Grafton,” Duty said. “Bring the kiddos to the park in the morning, do the Sip, Sample and Stroll — that’s going to be so much fun — and then the Blues Festival. There’s something for everybody in Grafton this weekend. Bring the kiddos, get a free book, win some fun prizes, and let’s go party in the park.”
Duty explained that she has published four books in the past ten years, but “Dash the Dachshund” is her first children’s book. She began writing it in 2007 when she was pregnant with her youngest son.
During a recent conversation with her publisher, she was convinced to finish the book. This will be the first in a series of ten books that center around Dash.
Duty plans to go on a book tour this summer, where she will be giving away 5,000 free books to kids across the region. She thanked the local businesses that have sponsored the free books, making it possible for her to do this. She encourages any business to reach out if they want to learn more about how to help her give away free books.
“Dash the Dachshund” was inspired by Duty’s memory of her friend’s dachshunds when she was growing up. She remembers watching the dachshunds run, but they could never keep up with the bigger dogs in the neighborhood. As Duty began writing the book, she felt similarly behind.
“I would think about how fast I was running and trying to keep up and feeling like I could never win. I could never keep up,” Duty shared. “It’s kind of morbid, but when you look at a tombstone and you see the date of the birth and the date of the death, but the dash. What are you doing with the dash? That resonated with me. What am I doing right now to have an impact on the lives of people beyond my time here?...Here’s Dash, feeling bad because he’s not designed to win that race. But maybe he’s just running the wrong race.”
As Duty prepares for the second “Dash the Dachshund” book release in September and her book tour throughout the summer, she hopes to share her book with many Riverbend residents. She thanked the businesses who have supported her mission so far to give away 5,000 books to local kids.
She encourages people to come out on May 10 to Grove Memorial Park in Grafton for the mini festival, which will also give people the opportunity to meet Dash himself. Duty said her dachshund is “beautiful, sweet and so snuggly” and eager to meet kids and serve as the mascot of the “Dash the Dachshund” books.
She added that she is happy to help anyone who is interested in writing or publishing to learn more. She hopes that by sharing her book and giving away free copies to kids, she can inspire more future authors to publish their own books.
“How many kids come up and say they want to write their own book, too? If we can launch that, how many authors can we get to publish their own book by the end of the year?” she said. “I’d love to see a kid just sit down with a notebook and pen and just watch them create. That is so beautiful because it’s so pure. It’s just really seeing what they can build. We launch artists, we launch authors, and you just never know what that can inspire in the future.”
You can order your copy of “Dash the Dachshund” online.
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