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

Home of karengoatkeeper.com

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Without Amazon, 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.

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.

Time still eludes me to get everything adjusted.

setting up garden tubs
My garden tubs began as cattle lick tubs and are a nice size. The first step is to drill drainage holes. Then the tubs are set where they will stay as moving full tubs is very difficult and back breaking. I like the tubs because they come in a variety of styles and colors. These pepper tubs are blue and white.

Do you use Bookshop? What do you think of it? Please drop me a note on the Contact Page and let me know.

Sketches? If I am truthful, I just don’t feel confident enough to sit down and get them done. Silly, I know.

Nubian doe High Reaches Spring with two buck kids
My Nubian doe Spring is devoted to her kids. She likes to teach them to be very wary of anything new.

The Ship 18 draft is now complete at 154 standard pages and 79,000+ words. Now it needs a Beta reader or two and an edit along with sketches to begin each week chapter.

Ship 19 is now in full rewrite. I was trying to do a day of the draft each day, but fell behind as I finished Ship 18.

The writing post didn’t get done yet. I was focused on finishing the draft.

Swamp Milkweed
Swamp Milkweed is a very showy plant and is available from nurseries and in seed catalogs. It does like plenty of moisture and lots of sunshine.

My Writing

Cardua: Snow storms and thunderstorms are new to the Carduans. At their size, those big raindrops are dangerous.

Ship Eighteen is ready to edit.

Ebony Spleenwort fern
Although the leaflets have thumbs like Christmas Fern, this is a more delicate fern with a smooth, dark rachis. It does like growing near rocks and in moist areas, but not in water.

Excuses aside, I do need to sit down and start sketching. This takes time. Writing takes time. Both can pull me in and make time disappear until I find it has truly vanished.

The Carduans are interesting. They can jump over obstacles. Everything is new and strange. What is edible? What is dangerous? Where can they live in relative safety?

Rose Verbena along gravel county road
The rose verbenas aren’t blooming just yet, but the plants are already growing. These are among the earliest wildflowers to bloom and add their bright color to the roadside for months.

General Comments

My chicks moved into their house just in time for cold nights. They are not impressed.

Seedling trays move out on the porch when weather permits. Cabbage and leeks go out at 50 degrees. Tomatoes wait for high 60s.

The garlic patches look wonderful. With the recent 6+ inches of rain, I hope they don’t drown. (Yes, plants can drown!)

Fire is terrifying sight
The Spirit Fox can bring fire to the land and is greatly feared by the rabbits in the warren.

Most of the garden pathways have cardboard on them. A few weeds peak out from the margins. Most get pulled.

The cabbage and leeks are ready to go out after St. Patrick’s day. The pea trellises are up. Potatoes are on the list too.

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.

Resulting Savoy cabbage head
I grow Savoy cabbage because I love the crinkly leaves. This variety has smaller heads, just right for only two people.

I am presently reading “The Devil’s Punchbowl”, “Insectopolis” and “American Psychosis”. There are more picture books, “Thanks to Frances Perkins”, “Code Breaker, Spy Hunter” and “Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination” 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.

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