Tag: writing novels

Very Unusual Book

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date February 13, 2026

The St. Louis Post dispatch Sunday has a page of book reviews. I took a page to my library and asked about one of them not realizing it was a very unusual book.

“Bunns Rabbit” by Alan Barillaro sounded like a typical middle grade quest book. Cute, relaxing, easy reading, reminiscent of “Watership Down”. The library bought a copy and I checked it out.

Cottontail rabbits tend to have shorter ears as this cottontail shows. Yet, the domestic breeds developed from European rabbits have ears of many lengths. This is an important aspect in “Bunns Rabbit”.

Big Surprise

When I opened the book, I thought it was the beginning of a graphic novel. Each page was one picture with comments in bubbles.

It is not a graphic novel.

Bunns Rabbit rescues and makes friends with a hummingbird which breaks a taboo of her rabbit warren.

The first chapter looked like the beginning of a picture book. These pages were big pictures with text.

It is not a picture book for middle graders.

As the first hundred pages flew by, I found this very unusual book blended graphic novel with picture book with illustrated book. The illustrations remind me of a softer version of those from Peter Rabbit.

Bunns Rabbit is searching for the Fox Spirit. In the book the fox is a red fox, but only gray ones live around me.

No Surprise

The short review I originally read was right. It is a middle grade fantasy quest book Bunns Rabbit is a young rabbit born into a warren of very conservative rabbits. She has short ears when the norm is longer ears.

The warren elders plan to banish Bunns and her family. Her only hope is to seek the Spirit Fox to get a wish so she can rescue her family. Along the way she meets many other animals who also have problems needing solutions.

Worth Reading

Many adults seem to feel reading books for younger ages beneath them. They are missing out on some lovely books. “Bunns Rabbit” is one of them.

The story is simple, cute and aimed for middle grade readers. That doesn’t make the questions it raises any the less valid or the solutions less important to consider.

Besides, this very unusual book has such wonderful illustrations.

Tags illustrated book, picture book, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Creating Carduans

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date January 30, 2026

When the idea for the Carduan Chronicles first occurred to me, all I knew was that a space ship would appear during an ice storm, land in an Ozark ravine and leave the occupants trying to survive. The next task was creating Carduans.

Carduan Ship 19 appeared during an ice storm which forced it to land. On the way down, it had to maneuver between trees in the ravine.

How Big?

There were several considerations. I went hiking through a number of Ozark ravines trying to spot places a space ship could land. A flat area was not a problem as bluff rocks stick out in many places. However, they are small.

Ravines have trees growing in them. The ship had to be small enough to avoid them.

The final size of the space ship was thirty inches long, eighteen inches wide and high. These Carduans had to fit inside. Four inches tall worked.

Creating Carduans depended on them being small. They must blend in to avoid unwanted attention.

Physical Appearance

I now had a height for creating Carduans. They had heads, arms, legs, feet and hands. Obviously, these were small and fingers would be very slender. There would be three fingers so the Carduans would count in threes and sixes.

Of course, the Carduans could just be tiny people with a few minor changes. That didn’t suit me. How would they be different?

Many creatures on Earth have blue blood. It is not based on iron which is what makes our blood red. If the Carduans had blue blood, they would be blue.

An interesting article about chickens showed up. It seems chickens have retina cells sensitive to five different color wavelengths. Insects often see in ultraviolet.

Setting Up Arkosa

The Carduans come from the planet Arkosa. I picture this planet as dry, hot, bathed in ultraviolet light. Plants would have fall colors as the pigments for these colors can deal with ultraviolet light for photosynthesis.

Seeing ultraviolet would be an advantage. Having a third eyelid to counter intense glare or shield from dust would be another advantage.

My Carduans

So, in creating Carduans, I had to consider the setting and the origins of these creatures. This was for Ship Nineteen. But, the same creatures are also on Ship Eighteen.

Tags Carduan Chronicles, novel writing, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Creating Characters

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date January 16, 2026

Some novels begin with a plot. Others begin with a character. But all novels require creating characters.

Where do these fictional characters come from? How does a writer find these characters?

cover for "Broken Promises" by Karen GoatKeeper — This is the only novel I have written that uses a person I once knew. He is in the book the way he was when I knew him. He is now deceased.

Asking For Trouble

Even some famous authors like Hemmingway got into trouble by using their friends, acquaintances and enemies as characters in their novels. If they were lucky, they just had to find new friends. Unlucky writers ended up being sued.

Having written this, I do base my characters on people I know, have read about or seen. But, I don’t use the people exactly. Instead I look at some trait or traits these people have and build a character around them, one that is not the original person.

cover of "Old Promises" Hazel Whitmore #2 by Karen GoatKeeper — When I was doing a practical teaching course, I noticed a student who was extremely shy. Who was she? I never found out. Yet, she became the model for Hazel’s friend in this book.

Creating Characters Exercise

Next time you are out and about, look at the people around you. These people are strangers. You know nothing about them, really.

Pick out one. What do you think this person is like? Do they work? Invent a personality for this person. How would this person fit into a story or novel?

cover for "Dora's Story" by Karen GoatKeeper — Names were a big challenge in “Dora’s Story” as there were goat shows and every exhibitor and goat needed a name.

What’s In a Name?

I hate finding names for my characters most of the time. Now and then a character just has a name, but this isn’t usually the case.

Usually, the name search takes time and persistence. There are online lists. Books, telephone books, old school annuals are all places to look.

Several factors need consideration. One is the time frame of the novel. Names change in popularity or even existence over the years. Nova is not a possibility for an eighteenth century novel.

Plus, the name needs to be one the writer is comfortable with. I tend to like two and three syllable names. There’s no real reason, but I am happier with characters with names of these lengths.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper — As this was a fun novel, the names had to be fun. Roscoe Rascal, Dan Janus, even Harriet Zeigenhert which is German for goat.

Names Can Change

No matter how detailed a writer is creating characters, things including names can change as the plot evolves. New traits will emerge in the characters. They will become like people you know well.

A great compliment was paid me talking with a woman about Life’s Rules. I was describing Stephanie, my main character. The woman thought she was a real person, someone she wanted to meet.

Creating characters is important for a writer and compliments like this one make the effort worth while.

Tags novel writing, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Novel Writing Time

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date December 19, 2025

December brings the end of a calendar year. Perhaps January starts off that year you plan to use for novel writing.

You know. That idea you’ve kicked around for years saying someday you will write a novel or a memoir – something.

phot idea for novel writing time — When I began writing “Dora’s Story”, the entire premise of the book unrolled for me in a short time of thinking about telling the story of a girl and her goat. But the link between goats and their owners was nothing new. I saw it at the Phelps County Fair getting pictures for “Goat Games”. This is a young Oberhasli doe with her proud owner.

Bad Reason for Novel Writing

You’re tired of your day job. Writing can make you a fortune. All you need to do is write that best seller.

Over a million new books are published every year. The chances of a debut novel becoming that gold mine are so slim it would take a microscope to see them.

Dora's Story novel writing time introduced Emily and Dora — As I developed the plot, Dora’s Story became a novel in six parts. The first one introduced Emily and Dora.

Good Reason for Novel Writing

There is that idea you can’t ignore. It’s a plot or a character or a wish to tell your family who you are and where you came from.

This thing is there when you wake up, whenever you stop during the day and puts you to sleep at night. It’s begging you to write it.

As Dora moves from owner to owner and Emily searches for her, years go by. This brought in another aspect of novel writing: time passage. Finally, Dora ends up with Shawn.

Getting Ready

First, you will need a time to write. It can be the half hour before you go to bed or when you get up. Perhaps it is while you eat lunch.

Different people are most awake and ready to write at different times. Find that time for yourself and try to write then. If nothing else, write down notes so you can use them for writing later.

Second, you will need a place to write. This doesn’t need to be fancy or a whole room. It can be just enough room for your notebook or your laptop.

One essential thing in this place is being able to turn off the email, the phone, the interruptions for that bit of time. Once you start novel writing, you want to finish the thought you are working on and interruptions will make it fly out the window often to never return.

I could see how much Barbara Rissler loved her Nubians as I visited her while writing Goat Games. In Dora’s Story, Emily searches for several years and her love for Dora keeps her going. In the end, she must make hard decisions about Dora.

Most Importantly

This novel writing is for you, no one else. Yes, readers matter once the novel is done, but the writing is for you.

And expect that first draft to stink. That’s what rewriting fixes.

Tags novel writing, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Timing in Writing

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date November 29, 2025

Timing is so important in a novel. I forgot that when I wrote about Ship 18. Now I have done the math and must change most of the plot.

Originally

The premise was of a space ship dropping out of a worm tunnel somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. The ship must cross much of the solar system to get to Earth which they call Cardua.

Of course crossing over the Sun would be the most exciting time of the novel and I gave it big play. But it had no basis other than my imagination.

Doing the Math

I had looked up the planetary distances, orbits, sizes etc. before beginning. Looking them up doesn’t mean I paid much attention to them, although I should have.

Finally, I sat down and did the math. I knew the size of the ship (30 inches long) and figured a speed (5 million miles a day). Starting at Earth, I calculated where the ship would be each 6 day week (The Carduans have three fingers and count by sixes.).

My guess work was so far off, it was ludicrous. Since timing is everything in this novel, I had to redo everything according to the calculated journey.

Big Solar System

When I taught science, I took a class outside to a long sidewalk. We marked out distances to the planets on it. I guess I forgot just how big the solar system is.

My Ship 18, on its fictional journey, would spend most of the 15 weeks getting from its original position to Earth’s orbit, although Earth would still be on the other side of the Sun. Anyone who has ever been on a long journey riding along knows how boring this can be.

And now all the exciting events in the first draft are relegated to the last few weeks. Instead, I have eleven weeks of boredom to fill up. But, timing is everything in this novel.

Tags writing novels

GKP Writing News

Memorable Books

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date November 22, 2025

Are there books you remember years, maybe decades after you read them? These are memorable books indeed.

So many books today are just fluff: read them today and forget them tonight. I read many of these. They are a great way to close out the day, settle the mind down ready to drift off to sleep.

What Makes Memorable Books Memorable?

The book speaks to you, means something on a deep level. It can be a philosophy of life or a way of looking at your own life.

Any book can do this. One silly bit of fluff I read helped me realize being short was only the obstacle of being vertically challenged. It didn’t mean I was not a worthwhile person. At the time I read this, I needed that change of view.

Other books can reach out to huge numbers of readers with deep themes. Harry Potter does this. Under the fluff of magic is the value of friendship and loyalty, the putting of others before your own life, if necessary.

My little bit of fluff is from a book long forgotten and rightly so. Perhaps Harry Potter will vanish over time too, but the themes will remain important. Other books like “The Three Musketeers” have these themes.

Themes in Writing

Memorable books often have an underlying theme in them. It is woven into the characters and the plot, becoming part of the story.

A more obvious way is through allegory. “A Rustle In the Grass” and “Watership Down” are two of these. On the surface these books are fun stories to read. Under the surface are the social themes that sometimes don’t become obvious to the reader until after the book is read.

That is the important part of writing books or stories with a theme: they are part of the story. Preaching never really gets a theme across as it is shoving the author’s ideas in your face.

How many memorable books have you read? My answer is: not enough.

Tags book marketing, novel writing, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Indie Book Disaster

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date November 7, 2025

Books by indie authors – those who self publish – often get ignored or thought of as not as good as a ‘regular’ book. I recently came across an indie book disaster that reinforces those opinions.

Self Publishing Responsibilities

A traditionally published book has a team of people working with the author. Many self published authors like me have no such team. That leaves me responsible for writing the best possible book myself.

Writing the book is only the first step. It is an important step, but only the beginning. The other steps include spelling, grammar, editing the book, the cover, the summary, the publicity. The list seems overwhelming.

Writing the Book

A novel needs a plot, relatable characters and setting, pacing, timing. The indie book disaster I came across had none of these. There were attempts, but it never seemed to figure out what the book was really about.

This novel does have research and work behind it. When I think of Stephanie Taylor, the main character in Life’s Rules, she is a real person to me with an extensive history. Much of what I know about her will not show up in the novel, it influences how she acts and behaves in the novel

Every character in the indie book disaster had this extensive history dumped into the novel. Sometimes this was repeated more than once.

That highlights another problem. Repeating the same information or the same words over and over until the reader starts counting them.

Why Read an Indie Book Disaster?

Reading good books is important for an author. Reading not good books is too. These remind me about why I do so many drafts looking for the problems, trying to work them out.

One thing I don’t want to do is publish an indie book disaster.

Tags book marketing, novel writing, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Finding Plot Holes

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date March 14, 2025

Finding plot holes is such a mess. A main character in Life’s rules has a birthday including family party. Except it never happened. Oops.

This is where a good plot outline would help, I suppose. Or maybe not. Sarah’s birthday wasn’t really part of the plot originally.

Finding Plot Holes

I write from a list of bullet points. These are a rough idea of what the plot looks like, but doesn’t really add any details.

None of these points is definite. Some get ignored. Others get added as the plot takes shape in the rough draft.

In Life’s Rules, there are several subplots. Some of these are being eliminated. Others are being expanded on. Keeping track of them is complicated especially as spring brings so many other activities fragmenting my writing time.

My method to keep track of them and find problems is to make an outline as I rewrite the rough draft. It’s not a formal outline, just a list of day events as the novel unfolds in days.

Another Outline

There are many characters in Life’s Rules. Some are families. Parents, spouses, children, grandchildren all need names and an outline of relationships.

Each also needs a few details about each character. The ages, grades and interests of the grandchildren are important.

I didn’t do this outline once. One of the characters changed names over the course of the novel. Catching this mistake luckily happened before the final draft.

After Finding Plot Holes

Once a plot hole is spotted, the rewrite begins. Since this particular hole is a major problem, the rewrite is like writing a new rough draft at this point until the other events can be placed on new days.

The frustrating part of this is how I keep rambling on with text full of goings on. Each has a bearing on the main plot, but one goal of this rewrite was to cut the word count, not add to it.

So, I now get to do another rewrite after finishing this one to try again to shorten this massive story.

Tags novel revising, plotting plots, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Writing Demons

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date January 3, 2025

No, I haven’t decided to try writing a horror story. My writing demons aren’t part of a story. Instead, they do their best to destroy my stories.

Most writers have these naysayers lying in wait in their heads. They wait until the writer is tired or having plot problems or is trying to rewrite a draft. Then they pounce.

Writing Demons

Your story is lame. It’s rubbish. No one in their right mind would want to read this garbage.

This story is boring. Writing is a waste of time. The methods are endless, but all have the goal of making a writer give up.

Coping With Demons

Nothing gets rid of these naysayers. Their roots go back too far.

Coping begins with taking care to get enough sleep as these demons feed on fatigue. Not forgetting to eat healthy foods on time so the stomach doesn’t invite them in helps too.

Having a good friend or two to admire a story helps. This is true even if you know the friend would say the story is good regardless.

Another method is to tell the naysayers to go away. You know they are lying to you and choose to ignore them.

The Final Strategy

The writing demons will visit whenever they think your defenses are down. Beating them can be hard.

Stubbornness and persistence are the last and most effective strategies. The writer must just ignore the demons, sit down and write.

If the words that day aren’t that great, so what? Rewriting and editing will fix that.

The book is aching to get finished. There is only one way to finish it: keep writing.

Life’s Rules

I’ve started rewriting this novel. The demons are lurking.

So far the lines include: the novel is too long; there isn’t enough action; there is too much backstory put into the first chapter.

The first is true and rewrite should trim several thousand words. Maybe there isn’t enough action, but this isn’t an action novel. This is a novel about a woman getting old, being dissatisfied with her life and trying to change.

And that’s another way to cope with the writing demons. Listen to and evaluate what they are saying. Some of it may improve the story.

Tags picture book, procrastination reasons, writing novels

GKP Writing News

Setting Writing Deadlines

Post author By Karen GoatKeeper
Post date December 27, 2024

This year has been very disappointing for my writing. No new books were finished. This isn’t because I didn’t have books to work on – there are six of them. Perhaps setting writing deadlines will get some of these finished.

Word Counts Won’t Work

Out of the six books, three have rough drafts mostly done, two are picture books with the text done leaving only one needing a draft written. Rewriting isn’t new writing with word counts. Setting writing deadlines will entail chapters, not words.

Even more, setting writing deadlines can be publishing times. I want to finish Life’s Rules by mid March for personal reasons. It needs rewriting, translations, ruthless cutting as it is far too long. It will be the primary focus now.

Once this book is done, I will return to “The Carduan Chronicles”. March is a good time to get back to Ship Nineteen as all the spring plants will be growing. Which are edible? Which would be easy for the crew to find and use? The draft may be written, but it needs a lot of setting work included in the rewrite.

“The Carduan Chronicles: Ship Eighteen” only needs the rewrite done. Even the current draft is close to final. The rewrite will be mostly an edit.

Several more chemistry teaching units are written. Some of the investigations need redoing. The stories aren’t written yet. Writing takes so much time.

Setting Writing Deadlines

I would like the first two books of “The Carduan Chronicles” ready to publish this fall. They do have one problem: the third book. It is little more than a list of bullet points right now.

There are other writing projects to slip into any free moment. There are two website posts to write every week. Goodreads gets at least four picture book reviews every week. There should be three book reviews every two weeks to reach my goal of 70 books read over the year. And there is a book review for my local public library every month.

If I want to stress out, I can add illustrations for the two picture books and chemistry teaching units. There is the picture book writing workshop planned for the summer.

The New Year will be busy.

Tags making time for writing, novel writing, picture book, writing novels