It’s cover reveal day for The Beast Keepers by Julie Fudge Smith. We love how this intricate cover turned out, and we can’t wait for the release of The Beastkeepers on August 1, 2023!
The Beast Keepers is the story of Jonathan F. St. Roche, a young veterinarian who takes a job in the rural Ohio town of Carrollton. He soon discovers it is a safe haven for a menagerie of mythical creatures (including a pregnant pegasus, a flying monkey with a sprained wing, a centaur with Cushing’s disease, and a unicorn with a sweet tooth) who rely on him for their medical care and shelter from the outside world. When a deadly basilisk threatens the town, Jonathan, along with his new friends wrestle with balancing the dangerous creature’s needs against the risk to the community.
Julie Smith is a writer and an extensively credentialed Certified Professional Dog Trainer living in Granville, Ohio. The idea for The Beast Keepers was born from a visit to the vet:
Several years ago while my flat-coated retriever, Mr. Bingley, and I waited at the holistic vet for a chiropractic adjustment, I studied the poster showing the acupuncture points for dogs. I wondered if animals such as turtles, frogs, snakes, porcupines, etc., had acupuncture points as well.
While the vet worked on Bingley, I asked him whether he learned acupuncture for animals besides dogs, cats, horses, etc. He replied that there were classes for “other” animals. Although I think he probably meant animals such as goats or sheep, there was something about the way he said “other” that caused me to think:
“You meant griffins? Centaurs? Fauns?” Showing a modicum of restraint, I did not ask that aloud. I did, however, spend the remainder of the day contemplating how you would treat medical issues in mythological animals. If a griffin had a lung infection, would you be treating bird lungs or mammalian lungs? Can centaurs get gout, and if so, how would it manifest? Can unicorns get laminitis?
Thus was born the idea of The Beast Keepers, an adult literary novel with a twist.
Learn more about Julie Smith on her website here.
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