Emily Schultz’s second novel, Heaven is Small (House of Anansi Press, has been optioned by the Gemini award-winning Markham Street Films. Although MSF is best-known for producing documentaries, the company has also worked on several dramas, including Canadian author David Bezmozgis’s debut feature, Victoria Day. From the Anansi e-newsletter:

“I’m starting to feel like my character, Gordon Small,” responds Schultz, “a copy-editor who somehow manages to get his opus out into the living world through unlikely means.” She continues, “Markham Street Films is a stellar company, and I trust Judy Holm [producer] and Michael McNamara [director] will bring out the comedy and the tender moments of Heaven is Small.”

This is the second movie deal for Anansi in just over a month: in July, Gil Adamson’s The Outlander was optioned for the big screen.

Author Emily Schultz launched her latest novel, Heaven is Small (House of Anansi Press), at an event last night at Supermarket in Toronto. Schultz entertained the crowd with a reading from her novel, a humourous interview with Brian Francis (author of the CBC Canada Reads-sanctioned Fruit), and a reading from a saucy Harlequin novel. (Photos courtesy of Julie Wilson, House of Anansi Press.)

Emily Schultz kicked off the evening with a reading from Heaven is Small.

Brian Francis listens while Schultz reads a passage from a Harlequin novel. Gordon Small, the recently deceased main character in Schultz’s novel, works at Heaven Book Company, the world’s largest romance publisher. Schultz once worked at Harlequin and used some of her own experiences as fodder for the novel’s fictional company.

Francis’s interview with Schultz revealed that the one tangible item she’d want to have in heaven would be cheese sandwiches. Just plain cheddar is fine, but no Kraft Singles.