Category: GKP Writing News

eBook Changes

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date April 5, 2024

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.

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.

Tags book marketing, publishing eBooks

GKP Writing News

Animal Stories

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date March 22, 2024

Animal stories seem to be very popular with young children. They did stay popular with older children too, as I remember.

My favorites were horse stories. I read lots of them, fiction and nonfiction, until my mother started limiting how many I could check out. Then I moved to nature stories and still read many of both.

“Clarence: The Life of a Sparrow”

I picked up this little book years ago. It lived on my book shelf for years as I read others instead. It finally rose to the top of my reading list and I wish I had read it sooner.

Clare Kipps, the author, found Clarence as a hatchling on her door step. He had no feathers. His eyes were still closed. She fed the little mite some warm milk and went to bed thinking he wouldn’t make it through the night.

This common house sparrow was her companion for twelve years. He showed behaviors not seen in wild sparrows. She writes of his accomplishments and adventures, the devotion between them evident on every page.

Fact and fiction mix in this book of short stories and tongue twisters based on my fifty years living with goats.

My Goats

When I started writing books, I started with a book about goats, “Goat Games”, and have written about my goats in several other books. Most of the books are novels, but the actions and adventures are based on things my goats have done over the years.

The last and more serious book about goats was “For Love of Goats”. Goats have been part of my life for fifty years now. The things in this little book are based on my relationships with goats. The memoir pieces are actual happenings.

Nubian doe High Reaches Opal will be one star of the series Opal and Agate: Partners in Adventure. This is a planned series of picture books about Nubian goat kids exploring their world and getting into trouble, something kids are good at.

Picture Books and Animal Stories

I’ve been reading several picture books a week. Animal stories abound on the shelves. Two recent ones are “Togo” about the dog sleds taking serum to cure diptheria from Anchorage to Nome and “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!” about a gardener trying to outwit some hungry bunnies.

The first of my Opal and Agate: Partners in Adventure series is half written and I am beginning to do sketches for it. Much as I enjoy writing novels, it is relaxing to again be remembering my goats.

Why Are Animal Stories so Appealing?

Perhaps these stories help us remember our relationship to the Earth and the animals that become important parts of our lives.

Tags picture book, picture book illustrating, writing picture books

GKP Writing News

Living Two Lives

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date March 15, 2024

When I read about other writers, I find out many of them spend many hours a day writing. This seems to be the mark of a serious writer. It leaves me living two lives.

I love writing and am trying to be serious about it. Each day finds me at the computer writing something. Today it’s posts for the website. This evening I hope to add to the novel.

However, I have another life away from the computer. It involves goats, chickens, gardening and housework (phooey).

This little Nubian doe kid is one of the latest additions to one of my lives.

Are They Separate?

Ostensibly these two lives are separate. In reality, they are not.

As I milk or wash dishes or shovel dirt, I plot my novel. This doesn’t always work out well as I’m not paying attention to what I’m doing.

When I am in town, my novel fills my mind. I miss stops I am supposed to make. Things get forgotten when I go shopping.

One difficulty with this is remembering the good plot points that occur to me once I get a chance to sit down at the computer. Generally I do remember enough to write a scene or two.

Another difficulty with this is trying to stay where I am in the novel plot. At the moment the plot is ending the setting up section and entering a phase setting up the climax of the book. It is much more interesting to think about the coming climax than the present plot steps.

Once I read advice to go ahead and write this interesting scene. In this case, that will not work as not all of the stage is set. I would have to totally rewrite the scene later on making major changes.

One of my activities is going out with my camera to photograph wild plants like this wild plum.

Finding the Balance

I will not give up either of my two lives. Living two lives is complicated and frustrating at times.

One method I’ve found is to set up times for each life. They do overlap some, but, like those who must balance work and home, it is possible.

Tags balancing work and home

GKP Writing News

County Fairs

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date March 8, 2024

When I first moved to the country, county fairs were important events. Actually, I remember going to the fairs in southern California when I was young.

Off to Pasadena

Late August was the time for the California State Fair in Pasadena. Later it became the Los Angeles County Fair. It meant a long ride over the hills to spend the day wandering around.

This was a big event with lots of big barns filled with horticultural exhibits, machinery, livestock, vendor booths. The goat barn was a favorite stop.

My 4-H Goat Project was a hit with the Carroll County Fair, Berryville, AR, the year we had a goat cart pulled by two young wethers in the parade.

Rural County Fairs

My small town in northwest Arkansas had a fair in August. It wasn’t a big affair, but did have barns for poultry, cattle and pigs. The fair book included goats and sheep, but no one brought any.

I had a 4-H goat project. We wanted to bring goats to the fair. So I got permission and set up half of the hog barn for the goats.

We borrowed a pair of pigmy goats for the few days. One had her kids and was the hit of the fair.

We had five breeds of dairy goats there. And a goat breeder came to judge a small show for us.

“Mistaken Promises”

Because of my past associations with county fairs and my local area in Missouri still held them, one fit into my novel as Hazel could show off her Buff Orpington pullets. It also was a good place for the final showdown in the novel.

Times have changed. The main participants in my area are the 4-H and FFA members now. Livestock now centers around cattle, hogs and meat goats.

My memories of county fairs make me wish people still loved participating in them. It seems people are too busy now to enjoy such simple things, especially ones that take months of preparation with only ribbons to show for their efforts.

Tags Mistaken Promises by Karen GoatKeeper, real events in writing

GKP Writing News

Writing “Mistaken Promises”

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date March 1, 2024

Writing “Mistaken Promises” was like writing an epilogue for “Old Promises.” Epilogues and prologues are usually discouraged in writing advice. This is because they are often used as ways to put in lots of world building and backstory rather than as part of the story. Used well, these can both open up the story and close the story, things I’ve done.

Writing an Epilogue

When I wrote “Capri Capers” there were lots of story lines not really completed, only hints of what the endings would be. However, the plot itself was over, so stringing it along would drag the ending out, not make it better. The same was true for “Hopes, Dreams and Reality”.

For these novels, I added a single chapter called Epilogue. This completed those story lines, endings that happened much later than the original story. It gave closure to the story for the various characters.

As I write “The Carduan Chronicles”, I’ve used a Prologue to set up having two space ships involved in the story. The original Ship Nineteen is stranded in an ice storm in an Ozark ravine. Ship Eighteen is stranded in space in a race against starvation and running out of fuel as they attempt to reach the Ozark ravine. Their link is through Sola and her son Tico.

“Mistaken Promises” Was Different

As I finished writing “Old Promises”, the novel didn’t feel done. There had to be fall out from the big mess at the end. Too much fall out to just add a chapter called Epilogue.

So, writing “Mistaken Promises” dealt with that fall out. Basically I was writing the epilogue to “Old Promises” when I wrote this novel. As I wrote it, it became more than an epilogue.

Hazel was finding new ways to adjust to living in a rural community. She joins the 4-H, raises some Buff Orpington chickens, competes in the county fair. She starts to leave many of her city ways and ideas behind.

Lucy, too, is branching out. She is learning to be more out going. As a teenager, she is seeking out her own identity.

I enjoyed writing “Mistaken Promises” and seeing how my characters were adjusting and moving on with their lives. Perhaps, someday, I will want to return to Crooked Creek and see where these people have gone.

Tags novel writing, writing epilogues

GKP Writing News

Choosing Self Publishing

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date February 23, 2024

Lately I’ve been reading the magazine “Writers’ Digest” with its many hints and interviews for authors and wishful authors. Some always seem to be about choosing self publishing.

Common Reason

The reason I see most often for choosing self publishing is keeping control of the book. Traditional publishers can change the title which may or may not be for the best, assign the cover design to an illustrator who may or may not be able to read the book before designing it and determine royalties and other payments for the book among other things.

This is not my reason.

Problems With Self Publishing

Although serious authors do the necessary work, when an author self publishes, no one insists the book be carefully edited. There are editors for hire, but they charge for their services. As this is how they make a living, it is understandable.

Those on a strict budget may skip hiring an editor and do it themselves. Sometimes this works out well, if the author has a strong English grammar grasp. Other times the resulting book is a disaster for readers even if the story is good.

Marketing is another problem. Traditional publishers do have more contacts and do put out new books to places a self published author may have difficulty getting to. They may place ads for the book. However, they do insist that the author do a lot of the marketing such as social media on their own.

cover for "Goat Games" by Karen GoatKeeper — Although this book began as a lot of pencil puzzles about goats, it grew with goat trivia, breed pages, information pages and lots of photographs of goats.

Why Do I Self Publish?

When I wrote my first book, “Goat Games”, I dreamed of being published. I researched publishers and found one where I thought my book would fit. A comparable title, although about horses, had additional material in it, so I enlarged my book to include much more about goats than the many pencil puzzles I started with.

I thought the book was ready, so I queried the publisher. The editor wrote back she liked my book, but wouldn’t accept it. My book was for a niche market, with, in her opinion, no big market and wouldn’t be a viable addition for their company.

Many of my first novels had a lot of goat information in them. They would all fit into this niche market. So I found choosing self publishing was the only way to get my books printed.

Now there is another reason. Time. I am old enough to not want to spend possibly years getting a book published.

Marketing and cover design do sometimes make me wish.

Tags novel editing, novel publishing, novel writing

GKP Writing News

How Many Drafts?

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date February 16, 2024

When I wrote “Broken Promises” the first time, it was a disaster now long erased. The second draft became the novel. How many drafts did it take? Two or three, I think.

“Old Promises” also took one draft. Then I rewrote and edited for two or three more drafts to finish the novel.

Both of these were rewritten again to add the recipes Hazel used in the book.

cover of "Old Promises" Hazel Whitmore #2 by Karen GoatKeeper — This novel took only a few drafts before I decided it was ready to publish. Even so, I reread it and noticed a few more things I might change, if I redo the novel.

Life’s Rules

This novel is different. The first rewrite happened even before the rough draft was written. In fact, I’ve never completed the rough draft.

This last is not really true. I’ve completed the draft in my head. That’s not really the same as I add lots of details, dialogue and more when I write down what’s in my head.

How many drafts so far? I’m on the third rewrite now. It seems I needed to draw some maps and rewrite some of the draft.

The problem with rewriting a partial draft so many times is that part of the novel gets set, edited and polished while the rest is still in need of many things. I tend to focus on actions, plot and dialogue in my first drafts.

The characters are in my head. The settings are in my head. I can see them, hear them, feel them.

A reader can’t see inside my head. That means yet another draft adding descriptions of characters and settings. Those things I can see need to be visible to the reader through my words.

The Carduan Chronicles

How many drafts does this one make for the Carduan Chronicles? I’ve lost count. At least this draft has straightened out two major problems.

Ship Eighteen is journeying to Cardua. With this draft the journey has some semblance of timing. And my missing six passengers are now included in the draft.

This part of the novel will need one more rewrite to add details about the characters. My problem now is that I don’t really see my characters yet.

Ship Nineteen needs to be rewritten as well. How many drafts for it? I don’t know. But I will have a better timeline and know what some of the problems are for tackling this draft in April.

Both Life’s Rules and The Carduan Chronicles: Arrival should be done this year.

Tags draft rewriting, novel editing, novel writing

GKP Writing News

Upper Middle Grade Writing

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date February 13, 2024

When I wrote “Old Promises”, I was writing for an upper middle grade reader. Over several years I found writing upper middle grade novels and science books was what I was comfortable with.

What Is Upper Middle Grade?

In school years this would be sixth to eighth grades. In age this covers ten to fourteen.

The main characters are in that age range. The plots are more complicated than in children’s novels, but not as adult as young adult is.

This was why I enjoyed writing upper middle grade novels. Although I touched on young adult themes, it was not edgy or specific or filled with teenage angst. These things didn’t interest me then or now.

Writing Series

“Old Promises” was the second novel about Hazel Whitmore. As I wrote it, I considered writing a series. All the possibilities are there.

Hazel is the namesake of another Hazel in the past. I based this on an old photograph of a lovely woman I know nothing about. Who was this woman?

Who is this woman? I don’t know. Someone probably died and this picture was hauled to the dump and thrown away. I remember my mother spending months identifying people and places in her mother’s pictures after my Grandmother died. They were our history, where our family came from. Something so many young and not so young people don’t seem to care about any more. That is a shame. We kept this picture as she looks like such a nice person, someone we would want to know. When I wrote “Old Promises”, she became the model for Hazel’s Great Aunt Hazel for whom she was named.

Crooked Creek lends itself to several ideas as well. Although the name is probably for a nearby creek that meanders, it could pertain to some less than honest inhabitants.

Then there is Hanging Rock. One interpretation is the bluff overhanging the creek at the edge of the school yard. Another hints at an unsavory past.

And there is Linda. But she is more part of the end of the trilogy than this second novel.

Series Problems

The biggest drawback to writing a series for me is being locked into a certain cast of characters, a certain place, a particular genre. Plots must revolve around these. Extensive notes must be kept so character names stay the same, setting names stay the same, plots don’t repeat.

I’m not that organized. There is one further consideration.

Writing upper middle grade novels is not where I want to be now. A number of things have changed in my life over the last few years. These have changed the focus of my writing as well.

Will I revisit Hazel? I don’t know. At present I am immersed in Life’s Rules and The Carduan Chronicles and plan to stay there for now.

Tags Hazel Whitmore trilogy, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Writing “Old Promises”

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date February 2, 2024

When I wrote “Broken Promises”, I intended to move Hazel Whitmore from the city to the country. It took an entire book to accomplish this. So I ended up writing “Old Promises”.

The Setting

Although I’ve seen every contiguous state and lived in several of them, I’ve lived in the rural Missouri Ozarks for thirty years. Following the dictum ‘write what you know’, I moved Hazel to the Missouri Ozarks. This covers a lot of territory.

Crooked Creek is a fictitious town modeled on two or three towns I’ve lived near. The residents are drawn from people I’ve known in these towns, although only one is true to the person.

The land Hazel moves to is modeled after a place we looked at when we moved here. It wasn’t suitable for our life style, but works well for Hazel’s.

My imagination dreamed up the house. I’ve been in buildings filled with dust and dirt along with cobwebs. These were a bit exaggerated for the novel.

The setting was essential for writing “Old Promises”, even needing a bit of a map.

City to Country

There are so many adjustments for someone moving from the city, if they want to be part of the country life for real. Some of them are a big shock.

For me, seeing the horizon was amazing as smog hid it near Los Angeles. And my father’s place was flooded in three days after I got there, something I’d only seen on TV.

Hazel’s world is a bit different. Her new house is hidden behind a hill so there is no cell service. Internet service is slow once her mother can afford to have it put in. Town is miles away.

Hazel’s school is a small kindergarten to eighth grade. The students have known each other all their lives. She is not only new, but a stranger, a foreigner and resented by relatives she has never met or known of before.

Sink or Swim

Although the plot revolves around an old family feud, the real story is Hazel trying to understand and adjust to a way of life undreamed of by those living in cities. In some ways, that way of life will never be understood by the city transplant. That is something I understand even after thirty years living in the Ozarks and helped me in writing “Old Promises”.

Tags "Old Promises" by Karen GoatKeeper, creating novel settings

GKP Writing News

Breaking New Ground

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date January 26, 2024

There are times when writing what you know about just isn’t enough. When that happens, an author is left breaking new ground.

Unfortunately, research is never as good as experience. That lack of experience often shows up to anyone who has that experience.

Being Outdated

I grew up near Los Angeles learning to drive on the freeways and across the city. Yet, I would not try to write about the modern experience because what I remember is not what exists now.

That came home to me the last time I visited people and places in my home town. I had only been gone ten years, yet I almost needed a map to find the old neighborhood. The houses were still there, some remodeled, but the people weren’t. It was not home.

The same problem is coming up in Life’s Rules. Part of the action is based on things I remember from long ago. Except those things have changed a lot. That leaves me breaking new ground as I reach out to people to see how my memories and the new realities mesh.

cover of "For Love of Goats" by Karen GoatKeeper — These are Nubian dairy goats. They have long legs, Roman noses and long, pendulous ears. Boers have long ears too, but not the same and they are shorter and stouter. Other dairy goat breeds have upright ears or, in the case of LaManchas, very short ears. Their body shapes differ as well. Someone unfamiliar with goats will not know these differences and will probably not find them by doing research.

Research Isn’t Enough

When I was working on “For Love of Goats”, I knew every story needed an illustration. I also knew finding an illustrator was not going to be easy, not because there aren’t lots of good illustrators out there, but because few of those illustrators knew about goats.

Serious goat owners usually cringe at the “Billy Goats Gruff” caricatures. This is what many people think goats are like. They aren’t.

There are hundreds of goat breeds around the world as I found out doing research for “Goat Games”. Every breed is different both in looks and personality. So I did my own illustrations to make sure Alpines and Saanens have the correct ears, Nigerian Dwarfs have the correct stature. Nubians look friendly and beautiful (Yes, I’m biased.)

Don’t think this breaking new ground research doesn’t affect writing. We read a big name coffee table book on John Deere tractors. The author had obviously never owned or driven such a tractor.

We are very familiar with the local milkweeds. Some of the books we’ve read about them have obvious errors in them due to the authors knowing only what they looked up.

Breaking New Ground

There are many times experience isn’t enough. But research can only take an author wo far. Not realizing its limitations can really hurt a manuscript.

Tags novel researching, writing novels