Through Frankie’s Eyes

Through Frankie’s Eyes Awarded Indie Excellence Finalist!

Posted by Barbara Techel

Through Frankie's Eyes w award stickerReceived wonderful news today that Through Frankie’s Eyes was awarded Indie Excellence Finalist from The National Indie Excellence Book Awards for the category of Inspiration!  In their email to me and others they had this to say:

Never in the history of our contest have we had such a difficult time arriving at the choices for Winners and Finalists in each category.  Not only did we receive an unprecedented number of entries, but the quality and sophistication of the books submitted were at a whole new level of excellence. You are awesome!

Because they also had an unprecedented number of entries they couldn’t personally contact each person who won, so we were notified to check the listing today. I was a nervous wreck!  LOL.  But alas, I saw my cover and was happy to be among those chosen as a finalist.  A big congratulations to all the winners, as well as other finalists.

I must say, it is quite fun to see a gold award sticker on my book! Hot diggity dog!… and my heart whispers, “Thank you, Frankie.”  Read official press release here.

Meet Sophie & Abby– Dachshund in Wheelchair With Special Mom– My Interview on their Blog

Posted by Barbara Techel

img_4584It is such a sweet honor to share with you Abby and her Dachshund on wheels, Sophie. Can you believe how much Sophie looks like Frankie?

On Abby’s blog today over at, Our Dachshund Sophie, she shares an interview she did with me as part of my continued Joyful Paws Jaunt blog tour for Through Frankie’s Eyes.

I discovered Abby and Sophie a few months ago– but for the life of me I can’t seem to remember how I came across them.  It is likely synchronicity, no doubt!  I feel like Abby and I are kindred spirits for our love and devotion to wheelchair dogs as well as giving hope to others who may be facing their dog diagnosed with IVDD. It was destined that we “meet” and how blessed I feel everyday for blogs and Facebook that I get to learn more about people like Abby and her wheelie dog, Sophie.

Abby asked me some wonderful questions about Frankie’s therapy dog work, how children responded to her, and why I decided to get another disabled Dachshund. So please stop on over at her blog today– you just might want to also stay in touch via her blog or Facebook too. She always has wonderful posts and beautiful photos.  Abby has a heart of gold and I’m so glad to have a wheelie dachshund friend in her!

Welcoming the Familiar. Joie’s School Appearance Debut.

Posted by Barbara Techel

joie and me april 2013Joie and I will be making our first school appearance on May 10th. Well, I guess I should say it is actually Joie’s first appearance at a school as I’ve done these quite a few times.

I’m working on updating my presentation which will now be a mix of Frankie’s story and will include Joie’s as well.  I think there will be some wonderful teaching moments. I had John take this photo above as I needed a new one to send to school’s when they book a visit with us.

When Frankie passed away I really didn’t think I’d ever be doing school visits again. But I’m happy to give it a try with Joie and see if she  is up for it. While I don’t know if I will do as many as I did with Frankie, I am excited about integrating this into my schedule and doing some during the school year again.   I’m hoping the visit and presentation goes well, so I can also look into us visiting classrooms via Skype as well.

Though my life feels like a whole new chapter -a whole new book, really, since Frankie has been gone–It also feels familiar with going back to some of the things I did before.

I welcome the familiar, but am also excited to continue to move forward with new adventures.

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Tomorrow for my continued Joyful Paws Jaunt Blog Tour I’ll be sharing my guest post on Mad About Dachshunds. If you love Dachshunds you really need to check out their website and Facebook page.  Stop on by my blot post tomorrow and leave a comment so your name can be entered to win a e-book copy of Through Frankie’s Eyes.