Book to TV: Kelley Armstrong’s ‘Bitten’ Comes to Syfy

This is exciting news for fans of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series! Syfy has acquired the drama series “Bitten” from Canadian TV channel Space. The series will premiere on Syfy in 2014.

Based on Armstrong’s New York Times best selling series (Bitten is the first book in the series), “Bitten” tells the story of reluctant werewolf Elena Michaels, played by Laura Vandervoort (“Ted,” “Smallville”). As someone who spent much of her childhood in the foster system, Elena craves a “normal” life and thinks she has finally found it with her boyfriend Clayton Danvers (Greyston Holt). But the secret life he has kept from her ends up changing her life forever.

With one bite, Elena is forced to survive within the Pack as a werewolf.

Still craving the normal life she lost, Elena takes refuge in Toronto working as a photographer and dating a new man. Hiding her werewolf existence from her ad-exec boyfriend Phillip McAdams (Paul Greene), Elena is pulled back into her former life when bodies turn up in the backwoods of Stonehaven, the rural mansion that has been home to the Pack for generations.

Caught between two worlds and two loves, Elena returns to Stonehaven out of duty, offering her support to Clay’s surrogate father and leader of the Pack Jeremy Danvers (Greg Bryk). But once back in the fold, Elena realizes that when push comes to shove, she’ll stop at nothing to defend and protect her Pack.

“‘Bitten’ is a fantastic blend of supernatural action, intense thrills, smouldering drama and a tortured love story that artfully adapts characters beloved for more than a decade by millions of readers around the world,” says Chris Regina, Senior Vice President, Programming, Syfy. “It’s an excellent complement to our roster of programming and we cannot wait to share Elena, her Pack and their stories with the Syfy audience.”

Author Kelley Armstrong had this to say about her role in the production: “I read the first couple of scripts—which were great! I visited the sound stages, but not while they were filming. That’s it. Why? Because I wrote the books, and now a fine team of writers is tackling the TV show. I wouldn’t want someone hanging over my shoulder as I work, and I won’t do it to them. Professional courtesy.”

And as for why she’s not taking a bigger role in the production? “It’s not supposed to match my vision. This will be my story as reimagined by others. Also, I know nothing about TV. My passion is for prose, and I’ve grown accustomed to only doing things I really want to do. Yeah, I’m hopelessly spoiled. I have many projects on the go, all of which I adore, and I jealously guard my time for them. So we’ll leave this one to the experts.”

As for me, well, I kind of jumped right into the middle of the series and read Dime Store Magic. I really enjoyed it, and I’ve been meaning to read more of the books in the series, because I really like Kelley Armstrong’s work (I’ve read her Darkest Powers series, her Darkness Rising series, and two of her Nadia Stafford books).

Have you read any books in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series? What do you think about bringing the world of the Otherworld to the small screen? Let us know in the comments below!