‘Drunken Botanist’ author now writing fiction

NEW YORK (AP) - Best-selling “The Drunken Botanist” author Amy Stewart is now writing novels.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced Thursday that Stewart will write a series of fiction books based on the real life of Constance Kopp, a female deputy sheriff in early 20th-century New Jersey. The first novel, “Girl Waits With a Gun,” is scheduled for 2015.

The publisher says Stewart learned of Kopp while researching “The Drunken Botanist,” a history of the natural sources of alcoholic drinks that came out last year.

Stewart’s other books include “From the Ground Up,” ’’Wicked Bugs” and “Flower Confidential.”