Diamondback Books asked W. Bruce Cameron:

I am so excited for your new book from the Dogs with a Purpose series entitled “Ripley: Fire Station Five” to come out this August. Now I would like to ask you a question about it. Why did you choose a border collie as the star dog in the book instead of a Dalmatian? Since Dalmatians are associated with fire rescue purposes. I am not complaining, I’m just asking you a simple question.

W. Bruce Cameron Thanks! I'm excited too. Ripley is rather loosely based on my own experiences working for the fire department in a suburb of Kansas City, many years ago. We didn't have a dog. I do agree we needed one and I love Dalmatians! While I was working on Ripley, I was researching herding dogs for my next novel, My Three Dogs. I fell in love with the idea of how crazy it would make a herding dog to see a bunch of fire fighters racing around to get on the truck! I am sure a Dalmatian would make a fine fire department dog, though.

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