Relationships form between two people all the time based on common interests and romantic language—but what if a girl is more favorable of her boyfriend’s canines than of anything else? This is the case for Bailey Daley.

She has had several boyfriends, who are now all ex-boyfriends. But Daley does have something to remember them by; she has adopted three dogs from three past relationships. If only the boys she dated were as loyal to her as the dogs that she retains from former flings.

Daley, although, is fictional. She is a character in the novel My Boyfriends’ Dogs which was written by Dandi Daley Mackall. 

Mackall is a familiar name at Ashland University, because her husband is Dr. Joe Mackall—a professor of English here at AU. Interestingly enough, both Mackalls have taught at Ashland.

Dandi Daley Mackall tells the story of Daley: the girl who stumbles into a diner one soaking wet evening with her three dogs after ditching yet another relationship. All she wants is a trustworthy and enthusiastic partner, which poses the question: why is it that boys cannot be more like dogs?

Interestingly enough, the inspiration behind Mackall’s story is based on somewhat true accounts. On Monday, Mackall called into the AU morning show “The Early Bird’s Word” on 88.9 WRDL. She detailed her experiences and discussed some exciting news regarding the novel.

“I actually had a friend whose daughter would fall so hard in love with a guy,” Mackall explained. “And then, when she would break up with him, she would keep his dog, because the dog liked her best! And I thought, wouldn’t it be funny to have a gal that did that in a book? So I created Bailey Daley.”

My Boyfriends’ Dogs was published in 2010, and has since then remained a popular romantic and comical novel. However, the excitement of Mackall’s story does not stop in the form of text. Recently, her story has made some television deals and is now in the process of coming out as a full-length film to be seen on the Hallmark Channel on October 18th, later this year.

“It was surreal,” said Mackall. “I had never had a novel that turned into a movie. I write a lot of children’s books, and I used to write Scooby Doo and The Flintstones and stuff like that; but that doesn’t count.”

The star of My Boyfriends’ Dogs is Erika Christensen, who TV fans may know as “Julia Braverman-Graham” from the popular television series Parenthood. Christensen will play Bailey, and Mackall could not be happier about the casting of this role. She even had the opportunity to meet Christensen and the rest of the cast during the last week of filming in Vancouver.

“Erika has lots of depth and expression,” Mackall explained. “As soon as the scene cut she ran over to me and said ‘Am I anything like Bailey?’. She was very sweet.”

Mackall recounted the feeling of seeing her writing turn into something you could visually see.

“It was just so fun to see the characters outside of my head walking around and saying my lines!”

Mackall also shared the general message from both the novel and film. “There is a theme of unconditional love,” she said. “If you can find a guy that can love you like a dog, then you’re in.”

My Boyfriends’ Dogs will air on the Hallmark Channel on October 18th. If you’d like to hear the full interview with Dandi Mackall that aired on WRDL earlier this week, you can listen to it online at wrdlfm.com.