Goodreads asked Frank Racioppi:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Frank Racioppi In October 2017 a series of 250 wildfires spread across the state of California, throughout Napa, Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte, and Solano Counties. They were known as the Northern California Wildfires/Firestorm, North Bay Fires and the Wine Country Fires.
They were the most destructive and costliest fires of the 2017 season, totaling $14.5 billion in damages, including $11 billion in insured losses and $1.5 billion in fire suppression costs. The cost to the US economy as a whole was estimated to be at least $85 billion.
Sadly, the human toll was also high. The fires killed 44 people and hospitalized at least 192 others, making this one of the deadliest wildfire events in the United States during the past century.
Towns and communities were destroyed. Families lost their homes and all their belongings. Many family pets and animals were never recovered.
My book recounts the personal stories of six, of the more than 37,000 animals, who were displaced by the fires.
Four cats: Jellybean, Coco, Khan, and Alana; a golden retriever named Rusty, and a parakeet named Skittles. The novel details their journey…away from home.

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