I live in a high-rise apartment building, so I just have two cats. They’re both pound kitties. One of them, Dick, is an evil, foot-biting cat. When I write a tiger morph, I’m always imagining Dick. – K. A. Applegate
One of my first paid gigs was writing psychology quizzes for ‘YM,’ a monthly teen magazine like ‘Seventeen.’ – K. A. Applegate
I think we have a real obligation when we do have animals in captivity to understand their needs and to care for them as well as we can. – K. A. Applegate
I grew up with a menagerie of dogs, cats, gerbils – not to mention three younger siblings. – K. A. Applegate
When I was a child, going to a circus with wild animal acts was a rite of passage. These days, it’s an act of complicit cruelty. – K. A. Applegate
When we have financial struggles, kids are so much more aware of things than we want them to be. – K. A. Applegate
I really love writing, but I am very easily distracted: my two cats fighting, a rainbow, a TV show… I have to use every trick to keep myself at the computer. – K. A. Applegate
I hate to witness animals in captivity – or see circus elephants paraded down the streets. When animals are caged, it’s a loss of what they are. – K. A. Applegate
That penetrating gaze, that intelligence; it’s hard not to be anthropomorphic when you’re looking at a great ape – at any primate – but especially with gorillas. They’re just so magnificent. – K. A. Applegate
I think all writers write from the time they’re really young, and you just start asking the question, ‘What if?’ – K. A. Applegate
Gorillas may seem terrifying because of their bodies, but they are really magnificent and very gentle. – K. A. Applegate
Stan is a rescue Chihuahua mix. He was the role model for Bob, the dog in ‘Ivan.’ The drawings in the book look precisely like Stan. – K. A. Applegate
I think having imaginary friends is an amazing coping mechanism. It’s pretty wonderful, and it makes a lot of sense to me. – K. A. Applegate
It occurred to me that a food drive would be a natural way to talk to kids about hunger, which so many of them simply aren’t aware of. – K. A. Applegate
At the end of the day, I’d love to see children stop begging their parents to go to the circus. That’s what would make me most happy. – K. A. Applegate
I was writing at a really young age, but it took me a long time to be brave enough to become a published writer, or to try to become a published writer. It’s a very public way to fail. And I was kind of scared, so I started out as a ghost writer, and I wrote for other series, like Disney ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Sweet Valley’ and books like that. – K. A. Applegate
I was sure I wanted to grow up to be either a veterinarian or a writer. In fact, I worked for a vet during high school, doing everything from cleaning cages to assisting in surgery. – K. A. Applegate
I tend to write short, brief snippets – I lean toward the chamber music end as opposed to the symphony end of things. – K. A. Applegate
I think younger readers connect so readily to animal characters because they share a certain vulnerability, particularly when it comes to adult humans, who can be a rather unpredictable lot. – K. A. Applegate
I grew up in an affluent suburban world and never worried about money until I’d grown up and found wonderfully original ways to screw up my life. – K. A. Applegate
One of the reasons I love writing for middle graders, besides their voracious appetite for books, is their deep concern for fairness and morality. – K. A. Applegate
I’ve got to believe I’m the first person to win the Newbery who has written a Harlequin romance! – K. A. Applegate
I think most writers will say that at the start of each book they think, ‘I’m not sure I can do this.’ But eventually, you reach a magical point where the story suddenly becomes real to you, and you become totally invested in it. – K. A. Applegate
