There are cat people and dog people…and then there are goat people. Despite having and loving both cats and dogs, I’m afraid I’m in the last camp. Which is why Amber has a very unconventional sidekick in the upcoming Verdant Magic.

And since my favorite goat is a mini-Nubian…well, Thea turned into a Mini-Nubian as well. At least I shortened my goat’s name from Artemesia to the more manageable Thea, although I changed very little else about her loving personality in the process.

It just seemed to make sense to add ever-voracious goats into a world that’s been overrun by sentient vines. But I did change a few facts for the sake of streamlined plotting.

The astute reader will notice that Amber is an ovo lacto vegetarian…which seems to contradict her unwillingness to harm any living thing. After all, we dairy goatkeepers end up having to slaughter bucklings for meat all the time in exchange for that delicious milk.

Don’t despair — that’s not a plot hole. As an earth mage, Amber is quite capable of determining the sex of her goat’s unborn babies with a twitch of her magical fingers. So they all turned into girls to be sold as high-class milkers.

If you want to read more about the unmagical side of goatkeeping, you can find out far more than you’ll ever want to know on my homesteading blog. If not, stay tuned for adorable goat antics in Verdant Magic, coming your way very soon!