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.

Losing found plants includes this Stalked Wild Petunia — Three wild petunias grow in Dent County. The hairy one is common and blooms later than the other two. This is the stalked wild petunia and likes cool, moist areas like ravines. I found several plants in bloom. Now I need seed pod pictures. Where did I find them?

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.

Watching tadpoles grow up begins Gray tree frog — Late afternoon finds this gray tree frog sitting on the edge of a rain barrel waiting for his part in the evening chorus.

Extra items on the ‘to do’ list have derailed some of my writing time. One thing added are walks to get plant pictures. So far I have five new plants this season!

Picture book reviews on Goodreads has a link. The second site is being difficult. I’ll keep trying. Find the links down below about reviews.

This Saturday’s Substack post is discusses backstory and novel planning and centers on “Dora’s Story”.

Pumpkins are the second crop — The Colorado sweet onions are planted in the fall and mature late the next spring, like garlic. The garlic matured and got dug. The onions were still growing. I put in the sugar pie pumpkin seeds thinking the onions would mature about the time these started growing.

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.

The next book to tackle is “The Pumpkin Project”.

ten year old Nubian doe Drucilla — Dairy goats are in their prime years from five to eight. Although Drucilla is now ten, she still has that strong, healthy look. Even with her heavy build, her shoulders are strong.

Maybe I will have time to return to Life’s Rules. I hope so. I really, really want to get it done this year.

Perhaps I will focus on my writing projects in Writing News. That might make sure I have some progress to report?

Nubian goat kids heading for the barn — Now and again the Nubian goat kids race into the barn looking for the herd. The adults have gone out to pasture for the day. Tall grass, nearly as tall as an adult, gets kids lost quickly and makes finding them very difficult. After a time, the kids stay in the barn to sleep.

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 love in the barn.

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

Rabbits are cute. So are raccoons. I wish they would both stay out of my garden.

The first tomatoes are in the house. That’s a great reason for growing cherry tomatoes. They get ripe fast. Then they flood the kitchen.

Summer squash is moving in too. The summer menu has lots of squash, leeks, tomatoes and eggs on it.

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.

Cold Water Stream fish — Cold water stream fish can be very colorful, especially during mating seasons. The top fish is a stoneroller. The bottom one is an orange throat darter.

I am presently reading “American Notes” by Rudyard Kipling, “The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, “Jazz Funeral” and “Tiny Dragon” by B.D. Welch. There are more picture books, “Babies in the Bayou” and “Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs” 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.

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.

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.

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?
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?