We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Barbara A Poole. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Barbara below.
Hi Barbara, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I was raised in a home that believed in God, honesty, caring, loving. Trusting, being trustworthy. These values stayed with me throughout my life.
Today I am a wife, mother of three. A grandmother. of five and a great grandmother of two. I continue to teach the values. I have learned while I was growing up to my beautiful family I am very proud of..
This month November 2023 my husband, Terry and I celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary. I have so much to be thankful for.. I feel blessed..
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I write children’s stories from my heart. True stories. Before I retired from Mesa superior court, my husband Terry and myself were looking for a new puppy. Terry had been retired for sometime with his best friend our sheltie dog Brittany who was 12 years of age, Britany would not be with us much longer. Terry will be heartbroken and lonely without her.
We found a beautiful little pug puppy in a pet store in Tempe Arizona. The pug was already six months old, A very small pug with very large eyes. I had seen the pug earlier in the week, she was very expensive. On the day Terry and I went to look at her together there was not a price on her small glass case. We are curious and asked has the puppy been sold, we were told no, not sold, she was being sent back. We asked where ? They would not tell us, We asked, what price she would be for us to take her home. They told us $500..00.
We happily brought her home with us, it was Memorial Day. We were so very happy. We named our new puppy Liberty, knowing we had liberated the small puppy, and given her freedom from the filthy little glass case we found her in.
Little did we know how true this would be.
Within days of Liberty being home with us, she was a very sick puppy. Her eyes full of pus and swollen. The vet told us we had a puppy that had been born in a puppy mill with ingrown eyelashes that had been painfully scratching the surface of her eyes while in the pet store. We were in shock, and so very sad, We learnt inbreeding causes terrible health problems for puppies, ingrown eyelashes are very common. Surgery was difficult. Weeks of recovery. Eyes sewn closed, much medication.
Liberty has suffered a hole-in-one eye.. An Elongated Soft Pallet Syndrome, severe arthritis.and more. So many vet visits, so many prescriptions. Thousands of dollars.
Liberty was our baby. I know she was given to us by God to share her journey for me to educate the kids for a better world for animals in the future.
Liberty loved life, We brought two more pug puppies into our home to help is care for Liberty who was blind all of her life. Sister pugs Ebony Rose 🌹 and Pippa our diva..
I have written 10 published beautifully Illustrated children’s books, sharing liberty‘s journey with the world. “The Diaries of Liberty the Pug” series.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I am at an age (78) when I look back on my life and realize every passage that I have experienced, the good and the bad have been an education. Yes, I do feel older and wiser, but still have much to learn.
When I started out writing Liberty’s journey, I had no idea, or experience of writing, or publishing books.
Three publishers over the years. Each publisher an eye opener.
My first publisher produced beautiful books but no help to me as far as advertising and selling my books. I had to commit to buying hundreds of books personally before they published them.
My second publisher, after being with them for one year went bankrupt the day before releasing my books. I have sued them and will enjoy a small settlement spread out over the next 20 years. (I’m determined to live that long)
My third publishers, I was with the longest, five years. They published five of my ten books. They asked me to write a screenplay, and promised me they would help my stories become an animated movie. I paid, I signed the contract, It took me almost 2 years to write a screenplay. By then, my publishers had many changes within the company. Covid was with us. My publishers disappeared..
Now I’m out a large sum of money once again.
My advice for folks who want to become an author is beware.
I am still learning every day. Before becoming an author, I was overly trusting of people. Today I ask many more questions.
I stay positive, I believe in me. I will not give up. Liberty will forever more be the voice for the voiceless and loved throughout eternity.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I have Ten books published “The Diaries of Liberty the Pug” series for kids Ten books beautifully illustrated from actual photographs that I have taken in the lives of three pugs, family, many friends, many animals.
I have written a Screenplay “ Loving Liberty” hoping for an animated movie for children. A movie to reach the hearts of families. Liberty a small blind pug can make a difference, will make a difference, does make a difference. As she shares her life with her sisters, sharing adventures, caring, educating, loving, sharing.
With 100+ short stories. I would love to see a television series. Every short story educates, entertains, finds its way into a child’s heart promoting love for pets..
I am having a storyboard made to send out to those who can help me get an animated movie made.
Movie directors.
Agents to help me get my screenplay to directors.
Teachers to read my books to kids.
Theater group for children, to act out in Liberty’s stories.
Educate the children today for a kinder world tomorrow
I dream of Liberty becoming a household name where children remember Liberty. learning love and caring for their pets.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thediariesoflibertythepug.com
- Instagram: barb_a_poole
- Facebook: Barb A. Poole
- Linkedin: Barbara Poole
- Twitter: @threepugmum
- Youtube: @barbarapoole8027
- Other: TikTok. @barbarapoole
Image Credits
Copyright Barb A. Poole
