There’s an old saw about writing what you know. Patricia McConnell, the bestselling author of nonfiction books including The Other End of the Leash and For the Love of a Dog, seems to have taken this advice to heart.
Her new novel, Away to Me (Kensington Books), is centered on a character named Maddie McGowan who, like McConnell, just happens to be an animal behaviorist who lives on a farm in Wisconsin and specializes in dogs. It is McConnell’s first foray into fiction and publishes on Feb. 24.
“I just started it as a lark,” McConnell tells Isthmus. “I love writing. I love reading fiction. I love mystery novels.” So when her work as an animal behaviorist abated and she was not ready to retire, she took the plunge. “I had a scene in my mind that turned into the first chapter, and I thought, ‘I’ll just start playing at it,’ and then it got to be more and more interesting and more and more fun and harder and challenging.”…