Reasons you may not want to make a goat your pet…
The pet goat I had as a kid was mean, stinky, and liked to bite. Precious is none of those things, but instead, a love. When I wrote a baby goat into WHO MOVED MY GOAT CHEESE, I wanted to reclaim my memory but make her a better pet for Angie. Even if Dom, Angie’s baby St. Bernard, hates the thing from first glance. I think Dom is a good judge of character, except of course, he usually likes everyone.
I’ve always said, writers are like magpies. We watch the world around us and pick up bits and pieces to throw into our own stew pot that we call a book. Sometimes, we have to change the reality of an idea to a softer, friendlier version of what we’d experienced. That’s why going home to Southwestern Idaho for the setting of the FARM-TO-FORK Mystery series was tricky to pull off. One, I love the rural area where I was born. My father owned a small dairy farm nearby where I’ve planted Angie Turner’s new home. I was born there, my siblings worked and played there, but I only have a few vague memories of that time.
By the time I started building my own memories, we were living in town, in a small house in what I saw as a great neighborhood. But the idea of living in a farmhouse has never really left me. So I built the house that Nona left Angie, including a large barn that used to hold all kinds of farm animals, but now is home to Precious, the goat, and one lone black and white hen, Mabel.
The feel of an Idaho summer night. The smell of freshly baled hay. The joy of walking roads where there’s more fields than houses. And having flood irrigation to water your pastures as well as Angie’s small garden, all those things remind me of home. A home that may not have been as ideal as Angie’s life, but a powerful memory all the same.
I didn’t see fireflies until I was over forty and visiting my soon to be in-laws in a small Illinois town. The sight of those little bugs flashing on and off still makes me giggle. I make time for these small wonders in my life because even if my day wasn’t positive, I can find joy in the insanity of a bug lighting up the night.
People who live near the Snake River canyon that flows near the imaginary River Vista, Idaho, may think they recognize some of the places in this series. But I want to warn you, I’ve taken liberties with the specifics. There may or may not be a farmers market in the little town where I grew up. But the growth of the area, turning into a bedroom community for the larger, capital city of Boise, that’s actually happening.
I guess what I’m saying is take my truth with a grain of salt. I’ve idealized the small rural area where I grew up and I’m really happy with the changes. That’s probably the best part of being an author. You get to write the world anyway you want it. And for WHO MOVED MY GOAT CHEESE, it’s a kinder, softer world than the one I left.
If you decide after reading Angie’s adventures, to get a pet goat, I’m not promising your new addition be as well behaved or loving at Precious. I can only leave you with one final warning, your mileage may vary.
Angie Turner hopes her new farm-to-table restaurant can be a fresh start in her old hometown in rural Idaho. But when a goat dairy farmer is murdered, Angie must turn the tables on a bleating black sheep . . .
With three weeks until opening night for their restaurant, the County Seat, Angie and her best friend and business partner Felicia are scrambling to line up local vendors—from the farmer’s market to the goat dairy farm of Old Man Moss. Fortunately, the cantankerous Moss takes a shine to Angie, as does his kid goat Precious. So when Angie hears the bloodcurdling news of foul play at the dairy farm, she jumps in to mind the man’s livestock and help solve the murder. One thing’s for sure, there’s no whey Angie’s going to let some killer get her goat . . .
Praise for Lynn Cahoon’s Tourist Trap Mysteries
“Murder, dirty politics, pirate lore, and a hot police detective: Guidebook to Murder has it all! A cozy lover’s dream come true.” —Susan McBride, author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries
“Lynn Cahoon has created an absorbing, good fun mystery in Mission to Murder.” —Fresh Fiction
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