Toronto’s Nikki Ray Media Agency has optioned Canadian author Laurie Petrou’s (pictured) novel Stargazer as it builds out its scripted development slate.

Stargazer is Petrou’s fourth book and was published by Verve Books in June. It is a coming-of-age thriller set in the ’90s and follows two women caught in a toxic friendship as one uses the other as a muse to fuel her art.

The novel is now in development as a series, according to Tanya Linton, co-CEO and executive producer at Nikki Ray Media Agency, in a statement.

The prodco has also optioned another two novels to ramp up its scripted development slate, according to a news release.

They include Bitcoin Widow, a memoir by Halifax’s Jennifer Robertson and co-written with journalist Stephen Kimber, which details the $250 million financial scandal behind her bitcoin company Quadriga following her husband’s sudden death; and true crime mystery The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, written by Dean Jobb, also based in Halifax, about the crimes of Scottish-Canadian serial killer Dr. Thomas Neill Cream, who murdered several women across Canada, the U.S., and Britain in the 1800s.

Nikki Ray Media Agency has already produced four scripted features for Corus Entertainment’s W Network in its scripted expansion, which will premiere on the channel in winter 2023 as a four-part film series titled The Love Club.

The prodco is best known for its unscripted lifestyle content, including Home to Win on HGTV Canada, Great Chocolate Showdown and The Big Bake for Food Network Canada, and Fashion Dis for AMI-tv. The company was formed in 2020 by co-CEOs Linton and Mike Sheerin, who formerly led Architect Films. The execs bought back their Architect Films shares from former parentco Kew Media Group after it went into receivership.

Petrou is represented by CookeMcDermid Literary Management.