B.D. Tharp » Blog

Stop by & say HI!

BD — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:41:24 +0000

I’m guest blogging at Author Expressions today. My topic – PATIENCE. I can’t get enough of it these days? Can you? What’s your secret? Chocolate? Meditation? Heavy breathing? Sleep? A nice long walk? I doubt there’s any magic method, we all have to find our own, but it can’t hurt to share ideas.

Enjoy the journey…Peace!

Good Reads Book Giveaway

BD — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:39:58 +0000

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Feisty Family Values

by B.D. Tharp

Giveaway ends June 01, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Patience Pill anyone?

BD — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:34:00 +0000

I often wish there was a pill I could take (like a daily vitamin) to improve my patience. I suspect I am not alone. Our lives are so full and fast that we get caught up and want things to happen “now” so we can move on to the next thing on our list of things to do.

Unfortunately, things mostly occur in their own time. You can’t rush the cake to bake. And don’t forget the old cliche “a watched pot never boils”. All true and very frustrating when you are waiting and wanting something to happen.

My eldest grandson graduates from high school this weekend. I remember thinking that when that milestone was over I’d be an adult and my life would really start hopping. Neither are true, really. Every day is a journey through our lives and we can’t make it go faster or slower like an old 8mm movie.

If I live to be 112 I’m middle aged now. Will I ever find patience? Probably not completely. I’ve learned to be patient under certain circumstances:

It takes ~9 months to have a baby
It takes 1-2 years to publish a book
It takes ~12 years to complete our education (K-12)
It takes elephants ~2 years to have a baby, with a lot of kicking and screaming (at least that’s what I’ve heard)
It takes time to cultivate a lasting relationship
It takes 25 minutes to bake fudgy brownies
It takes ~2 weeks for grass to germinate
It may take years for me to learn to speak fluent in French

There’s more, but I can’t think of them right now. The point is we have to work at being patient. It doesn’t come easily, but then nothing worthwhile ever does.

Enjoy the journey, my friends. Peace.

Happy Mother’s Day!

BD — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:11:39 +0000

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers & grandmothers out there. I hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends. I certainly did! Everyone is always so busy, myself included, so it’s nice to take a few minutes to show someone you love them. Sometimes those moments are planned, sometimes they aren’t. It really doesn’t matter – as long as they happen.

Make someone’s day by giving them your undivided attention for a little while. It’ll be fun and very worthwhile.

Marketing & Media

BD — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:20:26 +0000

We writers hear that we are responsible for our own marketing and getting our names and novels into the media. It’s true. It’s hard. And it can be a lot of FUN. As you can see by the Calendar of Events page I’ve been pretty busy. I’ve made some great new friends at libraries, bookstores, women’s clubs, bloggers, other authors, senior centers, professional organizations, etc.

FEISTY FAMILY VALUES appeals to women of all professions, from the busy homemaker/mother, the retired mother/grandmother, to the company CEO. We women ROCK and we READ.

My uncle asked me the other day “why don’t you write westerns?” I told him that although I’ve read all of Louis L’Amours books, I didn’t feel compelled to write a western. I want to write about what we women go through in our lives. He told me I’d probably be rich if I wrote a western.

Maybe so, but my heart is in the stories of my sisters and their relationships, families, fighting cancer, finding love, breaking out and finding our selves. The guys just really don’t get it. And besides, there are 38 million women baby boomers out there and we hope to find stories we can relate to. There are a bunch of us out here writing, too.

What does all this have to do with marketing and media. To be successful we have to market to the audience that we’ve written to. Men probably won’t be very interested in FEISTY FAMILY VALUES, but that’s okay – women 40+ are interested and reading.

How do we reach the media? I’m still working on that one. I’ve been in the paper, magazines, a couple of television stations have interviewed me (a clip for one will be posted soon), but no radio yet. And I send news releases out to all forms of media when my book or I win an award; an speaking event comes up; a book signing has been planned. Not all of the media outlets feel it’s “news” or has room for much more than a one liner. But we authors have to keep trying, because one of these days one of these events is going to hit the right person or group and POW! BANG! ZAP! Your book is NEWS and people can’t wait to find out more. (I was channeling the old Batman series for a moment there.)

Enjoy the journey! -BD