Toronto writer Claire Ross Dunn is expanding her latest novel, Lost in France, into a book series while working with a production company that has optioned it for television, according to a Toronto Guardian profile.

The novelist, screenwriter and playwright told the publication she is writing the second instalment and planning a story arc spanning 10 books. Lost in France, her second novel, was released by Alcove Press on June 23, 2026.

Dunn has been travelling across Ontario to promote the contemporary fiction and romance novel through bookstore appearances, signings and workshops. A United Kingdom edition is scheduled for May 2027 through Bedford Square Publishers.

The book projects draw on a career that has moved between television, film and theatre. Dunn told Toronto Guardian that developing a continuing novel series gives her an opportunity to use the storytelling and structural skills she developed writing for television.

She is also collaborating with the production company that optioned Lost in France on its development as a television series. The profile does not identify the company.

A career across books, screens and stages

Dunn’s television writing credits include CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Wingin’ It. Her work on Degrassi earned an Alliance for Children and Television Award for Excellence, while Wingin’ It brought a Canadian Screen Award nomination for writing in a children’s or youth program.

She has also written romance films for Hallmark, Lifetime, City TV and Amazon Prime, according to the profile. Alongside screenwriting, she works as a story editor and sometimes takes on producing responsibilities.

Her first novel, At Last Count, published by Invisible Publishing, was named a Globe and Mail Best Book and a Toronto Star summer selection. It was also a finalist for the Rakuten Kobo 2025 Emerging Writer Prize.

For the stage, Dunn has co-written two works with her husband, Kirk Dunn. One is The Knitting Pilgrim, a solo play that Kirk has performed 120 times across six countries.

Their other collaboration, Spycraft, follows a Canadian spy working for Winston Churchill’s spy agency in occupied France during the Second World War.

Dunn said a feature film she co-wrote with Kirk has been optioned by producers in Los Angeles. She is also developing a musical, her first, which remains at an early stage.

Dunn lives east of Toronto’s Don River, near Carrot Common and the independent bookstore Book City. She described balancing several projects as part of freelance work, with their progress dependent on securing funding or interest from publishers, producers, theatres and broadcasters.