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

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Site News

For now all of Dr. Rintz’s 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. It is working as far as I know. 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.

The Buy Print buttons now link you to the Contact GKP page. I will hook them directly to PayPal as I now know how. Like with everything here, it takes time.

Death Angel mushroom definitely not for dinner — Take note of the envelope around the base of the stalk and the tissue ring around the stalk. The top tissue may still be covering the gills. This is an amanita mushroom and Very Poisonous! You can touch it, but Do Not Eat It!

One of Dr. Rintz’s books is now a pdf. It will be listed soon. This is “Discovering the Floral Biology of Ceropegia.” It will be $25.00. For now, please contact me.

The number of picture book reviews moved over is slowly growing. They can be accessed here.

Dragonflies are usually flying around. Even when they are resting, they are nearly impossible to get close to. My zoom pictures are often out of focus slightly, but not this time.

Missouri politics is heating up. It’s not what I normally put on my site. However! Conservation sites and state parks are wonderful public places. They need money to keep these open to everyone. Please vote yes on Proposition 1 this August.

Also in August: There is the proposal to eliminate the income tax and go to a sales tax: Proposition 5. Unless you are rich, this is moving you from a tax with deductions and exemptions to one without these. I can’t afford a minimum 13% sales (income) tax. Can you?

Then there is Proposition 4. We increased Medicaid using an initiative. Now they want to change the rules so we can’t do things they won’t. Vote No! on this one too.

Today I will start adding the PayPal buttons. Once I’ve done one or two, it should get easier.

Those I get done will be noted here. There are thirteen to do.

This Saturday’s Substack post is discusses writing a science activity book and centers on “The Pumpkin Project”.

losing found plants included Spring Lady's Tresses — A number of orchids grow in Dent County. I came across several of these Spring Lady’s Tresses growing over a foot tall in an old pasture at Brown Conservation Area. I thought I remembered where they were, but found only lespedeza when I went back for seed pictures.

My Writing

It took 30 or 40 hours, but the first of Dr. Rintz’s books is now a pdf. He doesn’t set his books up like I do, unfortunately.

I am procrastinating. Instead of finishing novels and picture books, I am redoing “The Pumpkin Project”. All are needed. Time sharing?

I am taking lots of garden pictures so I can get back to work on the gardening essays. One thing about Kombucha squash: It is truly a monster!

watching tadpoles grow up begins with eggs — All of those tan squiggles are tadpoles growing in their eggs. The eggs were laid a couple of nights ago. The tadpoles will break out of their eggs in a couple more days.

Writing three posts a week takes one whole day, if I know what I plan to write about. Organizing the pictures takes more time.

That should leave me three days to write novels and draw picture books. At least I finally have a good plan for the picture books.

onions finally mature — By the time the onions were ready to dig, the pumpkin vines were growing over them. It made finding all of the onions challenging as I was trying to not crush the vines.

General Comments

Goats have bookmarked my days for fifty plus years. Now I am counting down the days until Kingpin and the kids leave. Only seven expensive pets will still live in the barn.

They don’t tell you about this aspect of growing old. Piece by piece your life goes away. It’s hard.

A groundhog has decided my tomatoes are tasty. The traps are set.

Finding half eaten tomatoes is not good. Finding holes dug under fencing is really not good. And the Asian fruit trees need protection soon.

Summer squash fritters are very tasty. Tomatoes now grace every meal. It’s time to start putting food away for the winter.

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.

at fourteen, Nubian doe Drucilla is old — In the past four years, Nubian doe Drucilla as gradually lost weight. Her frame is still strong, but she no longer looks filled out. Notice how her tail is now hanging downwards showing her social status has declined.

I am presently reading “American Notes” by Rudyard Kipling, “Chicken Culprit” and “Jazz Funeral”. There are more picture books, “Spy Guy” and “The Carrot Seed” 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. Regular book reviews are on this Goodreads page (I lost it?!). Picture book reviews are on my new Goodreads page. Many reviews remain on the blog as I transfer only a few each week. It would be nice if those reading my books would do the same.

The goat kids are getting big and love to graze. However, they still love to run and jump. This old stump is so inviting.

Finding My Substack

This week’s post is about a writer’s approach to writing: Pantsing or Plotting?. The book under discussion is “Dora’s Story“.

This is under karengoatkeeper. As the site gets more organized, I will add a link to it.

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.

Nubian doe High Reaches Rose is very demanding.

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.

Mushrooms Are for Dinner
This has been a dry year so not many mushrooms have come up. A few years ago there was lots… Read more: Mushrooms Are for Dinner
Losing Found Plants
Going hiking to take pictures of plants doesn’t seem like writing – unless the goal, farfetched as it might seem,… Read more: Losing Found Plants
Watching Tadpoles Grow Up
One of the fun things to do in my garden is watching tadpoles grow up. Four rain barrels attract grey… Read more: Watching Tadpoles Grow Up
Succession Planting in My Garden
I read gardening articles and books. I talk to other gardeners. Many of them mention succession planting. What Is Succession… Read more: Succession Planting in My Garden
How Long Do Goats Live?
I hear this question from many people. How long do goats live? It must matter to them, although I wonder… Read more: How Long Do Goats Live?