I did art of a very different kind: I was (and still am) a creative director for projects in the high tech field. I started in the tech industry in its infancy and have lived around the Silicon Valley all my life. My clients have included large companies like McAfee and SAP and I’ve truly enjoyed the startups I’ve worked for too. I create everything from print to web to mobile to video with a very cool and diverse team of freelancers.

I have always been passionate about cats. My best friend growing up was a cat I had for 18 years—from when I was 5 years old to 23 years old!! He followed me to school and stopped at the edge of campus. He came when I whistled. He was a bit like a dog, but with all the fantastic qualities of a cat, too. I adore cats so much that I’ve had a lot of fun learning all I can to make their lives better, including a lot about nutrition, building furniture and catios and more.

I watched an amazing production of Nature on PBS called “A Sloth Named Velcro” a few years ago and fell head over heels in love with those animals. Oh they are just lovable!! Because I’m just as passionate about helping wildlife as I am about helping shelter animals, I decided that while a cat represented the domestic animal in my tales, a sloth should represent the wildlife. We need to do all we can so that people, domesticated animals and wildlife all live and thrive on this planet.

Nope! My grey kitty purrs a ton and she has a coat like Purrball, but for some reason, Purrball seems to resemble more my tuxedo kitty (she’s black and white but has a body and face a lot like Purrball’s) and last, my boy kitty has incredible smarts as Purrball does. I bet, like Purrball, he’d find his way back from miles and miles away if he had to (and hopefully he never does)!

Oh heck no! Sloths MUST remain in the wild and should never be considered pets. In fact, I feel this way about every wild creature. They have no interest in being our buddies and they thrive in their native environments. It is truly interesting how much dogs and cats love to be with humans and that adaptation happened thousands (yes thousands of years ago). We ought to have no interest in spending thousands of years domesticating other animals and instead should work to protect them and enjoy our canine and feline friends at home.

I have a list of great organizations to support on my “Save Purrballs & Burrballs” page. And if you shop online here, proceeds go to help both. Visit the Save Purrballs & Burrballs and our shop to learn more (and thank you for asking!).

I’m a big fan of reading. My incredible niece and nephew love it too and they may even read more than me on a daily basis! But not all kids are so fortunate. And it isn’t just for the fun of reading as children, but as adults, reading is imperative for success. I’ve been a supporter of Project Amigo for many years because I’ve seen with my own two eyes how it supports reading in youngsters and it has helped many of them grow up to be doctors, lawyers and more!

Chris Van Dusen rocked my world with “If I Built A Car,” which I bought for my nephew. I was always inventing things in my head as a child: from recipes for soup to what my sister and I dubbed “Supersonic Feet” (we put plastic sandwich bags on our feet and ran around the house and slid as far as we could :D) I had to read Van Dusen’s “If I Built A House” next and boy was I hooked. He has such a beautiful way with words and his visuals keep me on every page forever looking at every detail and enjoying his beautiful play with color. “If I Were Another Author-Illustrator” … I’d love to be him! Enjoy his many books and see what I mean.

Yes, I do! Please submit a request on the contact form and I will promptly reply with my availability.

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