Main menuSkip to contentJOURNALBARBARABOOKSFREE Stuff!AUTHOR VISITSVirtual Author VisitBook Clubs & Writers GroupsSOULCOLLAGE®PRAISEVIDEOSPRESSCONTACTNATIONAL WALK ‘N ROLL DOG DAY & THE FRANKIE WHEELCHAIR FUNDPooch Smooches Shares “Wisdom Found in the Pause” and Thought-Provoking InterviewPosted on October 12, 2016  by  Barbara TechelMe & Joie when I first brought Joie home in the fall of 2012.Today I invite you to visit my friend, Jackie Bouchard’s blog, Pooch Smooches, where she interviews me about my new book. You will want to check out Jackie’s books too, if you don’t already know about them. They are among my top ten favorite books about dogs!Here’s a sneak peek at the interview…PS: It’s no spoiler to warn blog readers that Joie dies during the telling of your story – after all, you mention it on page 1. What made you decide to do that?BT: Thank you for asking this question. I struggled with whether or not I should state that up front at the beginning of writing this book. Mainly, because so often I’ve read or heard people comment that they won’t read a book where a dog has died – that it is just too painful.While I truly understand that pain, I’ve come to see transition in death and transition during trials in our life that there are gifts within these times of pain and difficulty. Meaning, that if we only focus on the sadness of death or a change in our life, we tend to miss out on the new blessings it often brings, too.Click here to read rest of the interview…plus read Jackie’s final note “about books where the dog dies…”Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.Posted in Uncategorized| Tagged "wisdom found in the pause, author interview, barbara techel, books about dogs, dachshunds, dogs, human animal bond, inspiration, jackie bouchard, new books for 2016, pets, spirituality, women's issuesLeave a commentHow I Stopped Comparing My Dog Joie, to My Deceased Dog, FrankiePosted on October 11, 2016  by  Barbara TechelJOIELast week in celebration of the release of my new book, Wisdom Found in the Pause – Joie’s Gift I did my first ever live event on Facebook. I was quite nervous, but afterwards I received such wonderful feedback from many – it made it all very well worth it and I’m so glad I  took the plunge. If you didn’t have a chance to watch live, you can view the recording here.But one question I got, which I think is important to expand on is this one from viewer, Sharon: “How did you resolve your issue of comparing Joie to Frankie?”I do write about this in Wisdom Found in the Pause, but what I came to understand is that I had so closely tied my identity to Frankie and all my work with her, that when she died, I felt like I had lost my sense of purpose.  And we all know how so many of us search a for what seems a good long time to find our purpose – and many that feel they never