Category: GKP Writing News

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GKP Writing News

Writing Book Reviews

Writing book reviews is becoming big business. There are numerous websites and people who do reviews professionally.

As an author, I see lots of advice for authors. One mainstay is finding people to review your book so you can use the reviews, if they are favorable, in your book promotions.

Review Guidelines

Supposedly the author is not to pay for book reviews. This might be considered as a way to buy good reviews, deserved or not.

Amazon wants a reviewer to first purchase the book from them in order to leave a review. Since the company makes money from selling books, not reviews, this is understandable. It also makes it hard for anyone else to leave a review.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
Capri Capers is being offered as a free eBook this month at Smashwords with code H2X8G. This is my gift to you. Is it worth a review from you?

Review Considerations

I write book reviews. However, there are genres I am not qualified for writing book reviews as I rarely to never read those genres.

People who read only one genre might be considered good book reviewers for that genre. It also makes it harder for a new author as their book will be compared to all the other books in that genre.

Giving copies of a book to a reviewer can taint the view of a resulting review. As I don’t buy books, but borrow them from the library or pull them off my own shelves, I am limited in which books I can review. My personal stash is old, some going back fifty years and difficult to obtain any more.

Doing Ratings

Goodreads, where I post my reviews, has a five star system for rating a book. It usually suffices.

The biggest drawback in this system for me is that five stars says a book is amazing. Even three stars which should be a so so rating says I liked the book. That leaves me writing book reviews with ratings of mostly four stars.

Another drawback is that it asks for a single rating. A book can be very well written and still be one you did not enjoy, maybe even loathed. My work around is to give a second rating in the comment section.

Review Tyranny

Another big drawback to the rating/review requirement for books is how people are coerced into thinking a book with a lower rating or few reviews isn’t worth their reading time. Any book, no matter how good, has readers who don’t like the book and can lower the rating for the book.

Then there are those who read a book and leave no reviews. The author and the book are at their mercy in today’s marketplace. And the reader let them down.

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GKP Writing News

Wild Capri Capers

We were watching some old Rin Tin Tin movie serials and I wondered if I could write a serial about a goat. Every episode ends with a cliff hanger, so a wild Capri Capers took shape.

Movie Serials

When movies started and were only shown in theaters, the theaters wanted a way to keep people coming back every week. The movie serial was born.

These serials lasted for weeks with a melodrama plot. Each episode was full of action and ended with something dangerous happening leaving the hero or heroine in mortal danger.

The following week the dangerous happening was shown again with changes. Those changes let the hero or heroine survive to continue the plot only to again get into a dangerous situation.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
Begun as a lark and an experiment, Capri Capers was such fun it became a book.

Melodramas

These are simple plays. They normally have three main characters: a hero, a heroine or damsel in distress and a villain. The villain had some dastard scheme to capture the heroine and was foiled by the hero.

My father and his friends made up these plays up every week while he was in high school. They put on the plays for the students during lunch every Friday. My father always played the villain.

Proper protocol had the audience greet the hero with cheers and the villain with hisses and boos. At graduation all the students booed my father in honor of his years playing the villain.

Wild Capri Capers

The original draft of Capri Capers was in true movie serial format. Every chapter ended with a cliff hanger. The next chapter looked at the cliff hanger and solved it before launching the plot into the next cliff hanger.

Every name was chosen like a melodrama name. Dan Janus is after the two faced Roman god. Leroy Rogue and Roscoe Rascal are the villains. Harriet Zeigenhirt’s last name is German for goat.

The final draft changed the cliff hanger repeats into a more familiar novel plot line. However, the cliff hangers are still ending the chapters of a wild Capri Capers tale.

Oh, yes, there is a goat, several goats in the story. Capri is a goat and plays a big part in the story.

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GKP Writing News

Menu Planning

I’m reading a fun book now called “The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown in which a robot is marooned on an island. Being a robot, she doesn’t eat so Brown is saved the problem of menu planning.

On the other hand, my Carduans are alive and do eat. They need to explore their ravine and find foods they find palatable and obtainable.

Plant Menu Planning

Since the Carduans arrive in the ravine in mid February, their plant choices are very limited. Most plants are dormant until the weather warms up. The plantains, chickweed and dandelions I see in my garden are not often seen in the ravines as they are alien plants, although they emigrated here in colonial times.

As the weeks go by, the weather warms and lots of plants start to appear. The action takes place over fifteen six-day weeks, so there is a time frame.

My research covers when different plants appear, grow and bloom. Then the question is whether they are edible. Some like yellow rocket are edible, but bitter. Water cress is edible, but an acquired taste. Spicebush and redbud blooms are tasty, but hard to reach for the Carduans.

Menu planning for squirrel
Although a squirrel would be a good meal for the Carduans, catching one is quite a different matter. Squirrels are bigger than they are and easily climb trees. They are also fierce fighters.

Meat Menu Planning

The Carduans are omnivores, eating both plants and animals. However, the Carduans are limited in what animals they can tackle.

People think of deer or wild turkey. These are far too big for the Carduans to tackle. Even rabbits are bigger than they are.

The most available creatures small enough for the Carduans to tackle are mice, voles, minnows and crawdads, possibly moles, chipmunks and squirrels. Since the permanent camp they establish is near what they call a river and we call a creek, minnows and crawdads are easily found. The others are harder to find.

One other source of food is one most people would avoid: insects. Many insects are edible, the right size and, during warm months, available.

Menu planning for such small characters is challenging. It forces me to think outside the box.

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GKP Writing News

Rainy Weather

Ozark springs are usually filled with rainy weather. After a time, the rain gets to be annoying. However, those days will be lookied back on longingly during hot, dry summer weather.

How Does Rainy Weather Relate to Writing?

Ship Nineteen in the Carduan Chronicles arrives in the Ozark ravine in mid February. Over the next few months, spring arrives with its rainy weather.

Now, for people rain is not a big problem unless there is a flood. What is it like for something as small as a bird? What happens to an insect hit with a big drop of rain?

Occasionally there is mention of such things. Mosquitoes are shoved out of the way by the air wave surrounding the rain drop. Most insects hide under leaves or other coverings for protection.

rain makes finding writing time easier
Spring floods aren’t uncommon in the Ozarks. If you were only four inches tall, how scary would this sight be? And would you consider a creek to be a river?

And the Carduans?

My characters are four inches tall. A thunderstorm downpour could prove deadly to one of them. And, as their home planet is arid, they are not very familiar with rain.

That is part of the story. This group of nine must learn about and learn to survive in this Ozark ravine.

Writing the Story

One of the challenges of writing about these tiny characters is visualizing what the world would be like for them. There are so many times I find I must go back and rewrite a scene as I wrote it for someone my height, not theirs.

Another challenge is the timing of spring events. What types of weather happen during this time? It isn’t only rainy weather. Which plants are blooming? Are they edible?

What animals are moving around? Which will ignore the Carduans? Which will consider them snack food? How can these characters defend themselves? Which animals can they consider food? How do they catch these?

I am now half way through the rewrite for Ship Nineteen. The draft has long left the original behind leaving me to scan the old story and decide which parts to incorporate into the new story. And rainy weather certainly must play a part in the story.

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GKP Writing News

Long Lived Books

Some books are called classics, but really aren’t. Classics are long lived books that speak to readers many years, even centuries after they were written.

An author may dream of writing such a book, but it’s rare to achieve it. And the author will probably never know their book has become a classic.

What Makes a Classic Tale?

The simple answer is: I don’t really know. The things such books seem to have in common are: timeless themes; unforgettable characters; and intriguing plots.

Another thing classics seem to have in common is how well the theme, characters and plot can be molded into new tales. Romeo and Juliet comes to mind.

Shakespeare based his play on a tale he knew from his time. That tale is long forgotten. But his play lives on even though his lines are difficult for modern people to say and understand.

How many other stories, novels, plays and movies can you think of that are rewrites of Romeo and Juliet? West Side Story is an easy one for me.

Why Think About Long Lived Books?

I’ve just finished rereading “Gift From the Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindberg. My copy is a 1975 reissue printed 20 years after the 1955 original with a note by the author at the end.

whelk shell
Using shells such as this whelk, Anne Morrow Lindbergh in “Gift From the Sea” invites the reader to examine her life, to find the perfect shell that gets buried by life.

It’s a series of essays revolving around shells she picked up on a beach during a short vacation. Each shell is linked to a time in a woman’s life.

The idea behind the essays is a chance to re-evaluate your life. Her answer is to try to simplify, admittedly almost an impossibility for women with so many responsibilities. Yet, it sets a goal for a woman to find herself and hold on to what she is in spite of all the distractions and responsibilities. One aspect so many of us have lost is taking time for ourselves, for reflection, for thought, time without interruption by phones, texts, emails, children, friends, family. This may be only a short time each day, but it lets us define who we are for ourselves instead of letting others tell us who they think we are or should be.

Classic?

“Gift From the Sea” may not be a classic tale, but it is one of the long lived books. I would be thrilled to have one of my books be so valued by readers, still speak to readers, 20 years after I wrote it.

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GKP Writing News

Edwina’s Strange World

Edwina’s strange world began in a rather mundane way. I heard about a divorce and its aftermath from a friend.

Although I do base many of my novels on true tales or people I’ve known over the years, I don’t write about them. So this divorce tale was a base to build on and embellish.

Creating Aleta

The plot began revolving around Aleta. Her parents were divorcing. She, as an only child, is lost. Trite.

Then the father remarries. Now Aleta is even more lost as the new wife comes with children and raises foster children. Aleta needs a friend.

cover for "Edwina" by Karen GoatKeeper
This upper middle grade novel may deal with some real issues, but it has a fantasy side along with it. The eBook is free from Smashwords using coupon code RUCH5. You can go to the book page by clicking on the eBook button on the book page.

Enter Edwina

About that time we watched an old movie called “Harvey” starring Jimmy Stewart. The idea of this invisible being was intriguing. I did some research and Edwina’s strange world emerged.

Suddenly there were lots of possibilities. One was that Edwina could influence things around her without being seen. A second was that Aleta would be seen as strange talking to an invisible being.

Was Aleta reverting to being a child? Was she having mental problems?

Siblings and Bullying

Bullying at school is nothing new. Even with all the modern interventions and training for teachers, bullies still flourish. They just become more devious or, now, move online.

Now Edwina and Aleta had enemies to thwart. Of course, they did become a bit unrealistic. However, the premise is sound.

Sibling rivalry is nothing new. Aleta and Megan are set at odds as each was the first in their former lives. Both want to maintain that status.

Somehow these two girls must find a way to co-exist. If they succeed in dragging their parents into it, the new family may be doomed.

Fantasy Fun

Edwina’s strange world is fantasy. In my own world, big, black, red-eyed dogs invisible to all but one don’t exist. That world was fun to visit for a time.

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GKP Writing News

Opal and Agate Picture Books

I enjoy reading picture books and have been reading four a week to do reviews on my Goodreads blog. However, this is making writing my Opal and Agate picture books harder.

There are so many wonderful picture books on the shelves of my library. Some tell stories, fun or scary. Others tell about events or activities. They make me wonder if I can write picture books as good as they are.

Nubian doe kid Opal will star in some animal stories
Nubian doe High Reaches Opal deserves a good picture book series.

Picture Book Goats

A famous goat story is Billy Goats Gruff. It’s a cute story. Dairy goat owners tend to despise the illustrations. These are of caricature goats with shaggy coats, big horns and big goatees.

My library just acquired a beginning reading book about farm goats. It uses photographs of goats. Except almost all of them have horns and the book makes a big deal about horns.

My take is that the author knew nothing about goats, had never owned a goat or talked to many people who owned goats and never been to a goat show.

Yes, goats are usually born with horns. However, dairy goats with the exception of Nigerian Dwarfs have those horns removed. Any horned dairy goat in a show is disqualified.

Novel boring times can use friendly faces like Nubian goats
No horns. No shaggy coats. Nubian goats from my herd. High Reaches Spring is in front.

My Goats?

My goats don’t go to shows. They stay on the farm now. However, I do take their horns off and try to maintain the dairy goat standards for Nubians. These standards were set up to improve the breed to live longer, healthier lives and give more milk.

My goats are getting old now. Violet is fourteen. Drucilla, Opal’s mother, is thirteen. Goats usually live twelve to fifteen years.

The herd still goes out on good days – no rain or snow. They still climb the hills. Yes, they are slower, but they still range widely.

I want my Opal and Agate picture books to show how beautiful Nubian goats can be, no horns, no shaggy coats.

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GKP Writing News

Writing Goat Puzzles

Pencil puzzles are probably not the best use of my time, true. However, these are fun to do now and then. Except none of the regular pencil puzzles are about goats. That started me writing goat puzzles.

My new computer sat on the desk begging to be used. These goat puzzles were a great way to find out new ways of using my computer.

Now What?

There were sixty-four goat puzzles on my computer. It took a lot of time to create all of these. What was I to do with all of these goat puzzles?

Checking around I found I was the only one writing goat puzzles. Evidently people thought horse, dog and cat puzzles were much more interesting. There were books of these kinds of puzzles.

cover for "Goat Games" by Karen GoatKeeper
Learn about goats through interviews with goat owners, pencil puzzles, trivia and more.

Creating a Book

These other puzzle books had more in them than just puzzles. If I was going to have a book, I needed to have other things in the book besides the puzzles.

My goats are all Nubian dairy goats. There are lots of kinds of goats, hundreds of kinds around the world. These are not just dairy goats, but meat goats and fiber goats too. And there were people around my area with some of these goats.

Fifteen kinds of goats have pages in my book. Recipes for meat, milk and cheese were added. And the goat associations got a page.

So There Is a Book

I asked a publisher about my book. It seems goats aren’t as popular as other animals, so my book was rejected. The editor liked the book, but didn’t think enough people would buy one to pay for printing it.

The publisher was right. I self published “Goat Games” and found few people wanted to buy a copy.

But that’s all right. I had a good time writing goat puzzles, met a lot of other goat owners and learned a lot of new things about my goats.

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GKP Writing News

Only Nine Carduans

There may be forty-five soon-to-be Carduans on Ship Eighteen, but they are fourteen weeks away from Cardua. Ship Nineteen has only nine Carduans on board.

Somehow these nine need to find a place to live and make it habitable, find sources of food and water and devise methods of defending themselves from the many predators living on Cardua.

Who Are These Carduans?

Three are ship officers. They know how to fly a space ship and not much else.

Six are young people ranging from ten-year-old Tico to seventeen-year-old Hirs. Their backgrounds vary, but they are young. They do have skills learned from their parents or experiences.

Supplies Are Needed

The advantage Ship Nineteen has is that it was a cargo flight. Those six young people were overflow from the passenger ships ahead of them. There are lots of crates filled with useful things packed on the ship.

The disadvantage is that these people don’t know how to use many of the supplies. There are solar panels and electrical supplies. No one know how to set them up. There are cooking supplies for a restaurant. No one knows how to cook.

Lygo does know about sewing and has lots of supplies originally destined for a shop she was opening with her mother, a seamstress. Tico knows some carpentry and there are lots of supplies originally destined for a furniture shop his carpenter father was going to open.

defensive black snake
If you are only four inches tall, this is a terrifying sight. How can one of my Carduans defend themselves from a snake wanting to eat them?

Finding Their Skills

Only nine Carduans face a new world filled with plants and animals that tower over their mere four inch height. Each must find their skills and find ways to use them as part of a team.

As far as these people know, they are alone. Their former lives are only memories. All of their friends and relations are now memories.

There may be only nine Carduans, but they must overcome their pasts, their griefs, their ignorance and become a group to face this new world. That is the only way they will survive.

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eBook Changes

I have published eBooks through Smashwords for many years. Their automated system did create problems at times, but these were often my mistakes, not theirs. But now eBook changes are coming.

Smashwords has been absorbed into Draft2Digital. My account just switched over and I am still looking it over. My main page is definitely different and I’m having trouble finding things like how to create coupons for free copies.

Now What?

These eBook changes will affect my books. I’m not really sure how much yet. According to the information, those books I have already published will stay the same.

However, new books may be different. Smashwords created many different formats. Draft2Digital may only do epub. I like having the many formats including pdf available. A number of my books look best in pdf.

cover for "Edwina" by Karen GoatKeeper
Only Aleta can see this big black, red-eyed dog, but that doesn’t keep them from getting into trouble. This upper middle grade novel will be the next one with digital copies offered for a month for free.

“Edwina”

I had intended to offer free digital copies of “Edwina” this month. It is another of my upper middle grade novels.

Due to these eBook changes, the offer is put on hold for now. I will find out more about this in the next couple of weeks and hope to make this offer available next month.

In the Meantime

I am deep into a rewrite for Ship Nineteen in “The Carduan Chronicles”. So far I’m on the easy part with mostly editing needed and not a lot of that. Things will change in another fifty pages or less.

There is Life’s Rules to finish. The crazy thing about this is that I know where the plot is going, but can’t seem to get there.

And I do have to consider opening my own book store on my website to offer pdf versions of my books, expecially the science books. That is not something I want to do, having tried that years ago and found it was a real mess to keep up with.

There are so many times lately when I wish the world would stop changing. It ignores me. The eBook changes are coming, indeed, they are here. Like it or not.