Publishing Books by Karen GoatKeeper and Dr. Richard E. Rintz

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For now all of Dr. Rintz’ botany books, Exploring the Ozark Hills, My Ozark Hills, The Pumpkin Project, Love of Goats, Waiting for Fairies, The Little Spider (listed by a bookseller), City Water Project and Goat Games must be requested through my Contact Page. Payment arrangements are through PayPal.

Books published through Kindle (Amazon) are still available through Amazon. This includes all of my novels and Ducks Love Hats. The eBooks are still available as well.

I have an author event coming up on May 9, 2026. This will have many authors and is at the Big Rock Candy Mountain camp next to Montauk State Park.

New England asters building a world — There are half a dozen lovely asters that bloom in the fall. As I put together pictures for “Exploring the Ozark Hills”, I chose this one as I built my world for the book.

With only three weeks until this event, I am trying to get everything prepared. One task is to be sure I have books to sell.

Trying to milk earlier is not going well. There are so many little things like tending to seedlings to delay my trip to the barn.

pineapple weed lawn mowing obstacle — Pineapple weed may be non native, however, it is a pretty flower. It grows along the edge of the driveway and the lawn mower somehow misses many of them.

This event begins at nine. It is an hour’s drive away. It would be nice to get there a little early. (Not a prayer.) The alarm goes off at 5:30. Milking is by six.

If it rains, I stay home. Books don’t do well in the rain, canopy or not. and I am still tracking down a canopy to borrow.

The Ship Eighteen draft is a whopping 174 pages, 94,000 words. I do still need Beta readers. Most authors have a writing group to turn to or an online group. I miss mine.

lost cud emergency donor Nubian doe High Reaches Lydia — Pictures taken in a dark barn are difficult. Of course, Nubian doe Lydia was in the darkest corner happily chewing her cud and waiting for breakfast. Little did she know I was in search of a cud.

My Writing

Cardua: Ship Nineteen draft has changed a lot. The ship has moved to a more permanent location. Spring is beginning and they are exploring.

Not much seems to be happening. It’s routine with events. Is it boring? I’m not sure. Lucra is so accident prone.

Savoy Cabbage in raised bed — Savoy cabbage gets too big for a tub container, but is fine in this long raised bed. The mesh is some voile I found on sale. It isn’t real sturdy, but works well to keep cabbage moths off and is light enough to rest over the plants.

A book needs about 50,000 words. The garden essays fall far short and the topic list is no help. Now what? Rewrite time, I suppose.

I do have someone to read these. She is a fellow gardener.

chicks love greens in their yard — Warm weather arrived. The chicks feathered out. I opened the chick house door so the chicks could get outside to bask, eat greens and stretch their wings.

General Comments

Those little chicks are half grown now. They are also out of the fences.

The rest of the chickens have moved into the chick house. I put the same food and water in it, but the chickens think it is better.

A new roost is in the chicken house. Now I get to convince all the chickens that did roost on the nest boxes they are moving.

Seedling trays are proliferating as those with more than one plant get repotted. Tomato seedlings are eager to move to the garden. Too early.

Plants are up and blooming all over the hills and ravines. Walking time is never long enough.

I have several writing deadlines. My 2026 goals are to finish Life’s Rules, Ship 18, Ship 19, the gardening essays and two Opal and Agate picture books. Is this doable? At least, I will try.

cover for "My Ozark Home" by Karen GoatKeeper — Perhaps I need to sit down and relax looking at pictures of my home area for a little time. Too much stress isn’t good for me or anyone else.

I am presently reading “The Silence of the Library”, “The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes” and “Homegrown Herbs”. There are more picture books, “Poems for Children” and “The Rainbow Fish” this week.

You can keep up with my reading and reviews on Goodreads. As I finish each book, I take the time to write a review on Goodreads. Picture book reviews are on my Goodreads blog. It would be nice if those reading my books would do the same.

Finding My Picture Book Reviews

My picture book reviews are on my Goodreads blog. This seemed the only way to do them. Usually there are three new ones on Tuesdays and Fridays.

I am very hesitant to add any outside links to my website. So you can find me on Goodreads under Karen GoatKeeper.

Morel mushroom hunters take note to get out looking when the mayapples bloom.

About GKP Books

I normally sell books through Kindle and Smashwords as their sites are secure. Some books are only available through me for the time being. Please use the Contact GKP page.

Some eBooks (notably “Pumpkin Project and “Exploring the Ozark Hills”) are too large or complicated for the other sites. These are available as PDFs from me. Please use the Contact Me page.

All of the links should be working. If you find one has decided to go on vacation, you can contact me through the Contact Page.

Thank you for Stopping By

Keep checking back as the topics on the two posts change every week, weather permitting. Impassable roads can delay things.

Nubian buck Kingpin is now a teenage goat and totally girl crazy. He is big enough for the girls to notice.

Lawn Mowing
Spring is a busy time of year. Everything suddenly needs attention. And you find you are walking through ankle high… Read more: Lawn Mowing
Building a World
Any writing endeavor leaves an author building a world. This is true for nonfiction as well as fiction. It is… Read more: Building a World
Garden Tub Greens
Spring is here in the Ozarks. It could still frost, but days are warm. It’s time to start those garden… Read more: Garden Tub Greens
Photographic Illustrations
My first illustrated books used photographic illustrations. This seemed the easy way to do them. Reality set in quickly. Types… Read more: Photographic Illustrations
Do You Read?
“Reading Is Fundamental” goes one slogan for one program. Accelerated Reading is another program. These are aimed to get young… Read more: Do You Read?