Gail MacMillan of Bathurst, New Brunswick, loves dogs, loves writing, and loves love: her latest romance novel is "A Wolf in Winter" (2005). With 13 books to her credit, the Queen's University graduate has also written about dogs--"The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever" (with Alison Strang, 1996), "A Breed Apart" (1998), and "Biography of a Beagle" (2001, Borealis)--and the history of New Brunswick. MacMillan has also had magazine articles and short stories published in the U.S. and Canada.

Biography of a Beagle is a tribute to Brandy, a swashbuckling little canine rake that saw life as one grand opportunity for adventure and ´fear´ as the only true obscene four-letter word. As Charles Schultz once wrote, "Happiness is a warm Beagle."

Biography of A Beagle is the winner of the 2001 Dog Writers Association of America Writing Competition best book of fiction award.