Like I said before, kids were okay from a distance, but I didn't think they'd ever replace hamsters.

We're retail for pets and their parents. Pets are bona fide members of families. Our pets are our kids and our passion.

Occasionally, a dog will be presented as some training method for having a baby. "My girlfriend and I got a dog. We are going to see if we can handle that before we have kids." This is a little like testing the waters of being a vegetarian by having lettuce on your burger. Okay, maybe that metaphor doesn't make sense, but neither does using a dog as a training method for having a baby.

I see kids and pets as similars. With both of them, you give without expecting something monetary in return or having to deal with the 'what can you do for me' attitude, ... They just want someone to care and love them. That is all.

I wasn't always a writer. When I went to college and majored in fine arts, I was a painter. Then I was a stay-at-home mom.

'Plum's are probably the funniest, but all the books have their own degree of humor. But if you're hooked into 'Ranger,' you're reading it for the romance.