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

Home of karengoatkeeper.com

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 am looking into hooking them directly to PayPal.

Yearling Nubian doe High Reaches Silk's Drucilla — Even at a year old, Nubian doe Drucilla shows the old fashioned Nubian body type.

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

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.

How many books are for research — Many books on my bookshelves are in the category of research. These two are for my plant identification. Other shelves have books about livestock and gardening.

Summer has arrived. It changes my schedule making writing more difficult. So far we are getting almost everything done.

Today I am adding links from the website to my book reviews and picture book reviews on Goodreads. Find the links down below about reviews.

This Saturday’s Substack post is about creating the map for “Capri Capers”. Maps can be very important in a book.

taking goat kid pictures is challenging — Four Nubian goat kids were racing around. Sometimes I had to zoom in, sometimes zoom out to catch them. The challenge was focusing the camera and waiting for the kid to do some stunt while trying to not notice another kid you wish you were focused on. This Nubian doe is leaping.

My Writing

I thought, after redoing the photographs, going over “Exploring the Ozark Hills” wouldn’t take long. I was wrong.

I have added pictures and names of new plants. That will change the indexes. This will be a lengthy process.

MO University Cold Water Stream Project organizing to catch fish — Fish live in water of certain temperatures. The Missouri University team needed to find out what kinds of fish lived in the stretch of a cold water stream and note how many of each kind to help build a profile of such a stream.

Well, I missed the Life’s Rules deadline. Trying to do writing in the afternoon in the heat is not working well. I have a new fan.

Writing News may get a makeover as I am doing so much on writing on Substack. This week is about those piles of books waiting to be read on my shelves. What about your stacks?

A clear viewing box helps when looking at fish. The top one is a mottled sculpin and can get several inches long. It is a fearsome predator. The bottom fish is a small yellow sunfish. These are a popular fishing catch, if it lives in deep water and gets much larger.

General Comments

Humidity is back with the heat and sun since the clouds have moved on. Garden work, indeed any outside work, is done before noon or after five.

The squash vines are running rampant. The sugar pie pumpkins keep trying to invade the tomatoes. The winter squash tries to invade the okra.

I will start pulling onions this weekend. Fireworks are not popular with goats, cats and chickens.

The first step in pulling the onions is finding them under the sugar pie vines. Perhaps I can find someplace else for onions next year as they don’t get done early enough..

Pictures of goat kids has a new challenge. Two of the kids now like to go out with the herd.

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.

Black Snake Eating an Egg — Snakes are amazing. The egg was bigger than this four-foot black snake’s head, but it managed to swallow it.

I am presently reading “Firestorm” by Nevada Barr and “The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray . There are more picture books, “The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph” and “Iktomi and the Berries” 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.

Sibling Cuddle Time — Nubian doe Spring goes out to graze all afternoon. Her twins curl up together and sleep. At least, that’s the plan. It works until they get hungry again.

Finding My Substack

I am posting on this site every Saturday. The posts are about things I learned as I wrote my books.

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.

What does this Nubian doe kid see? Could it be you checking out my website?

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.

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?
How Many Books on Your List?
Every year Goodreads asks you to sign up for their reading challenge. How many books do you plan to read… Read more: How Many Books on Your List?
Cold Water Stream Project
When a University of Missouri team stopped by asking to do research on our creek, I had to rethink it.… Read more: Cold Water Stream Project
Taking Goat Kid Pictures
Plant pictures are fairly easy to take. Unless the wind is blowing, the plants stay put. Taking goat kid pictures… Read more: Taking Goat Kid Pictures
No Writer Is Perfect
The Carduan Chronicles have been a work in progress for years. The draft for Ship Eighteen was written and rewritten… Read more: No Writer Is Perfect