Actress Katherine Heigl (that's "Hi-gull," as she pointed out at the Emmy Awards this past Sunday when an announcer botched her name) has optioned the film rights to "Lost & Found," a novel by Jacqueline Sheehan that was released earlier this year.

Sheehan is a psychologist and essayist, and her earlier work includes a novel based on the life of abolitionist and former slave Sojourner Truth. The author's website describes "Lost & Found" as "a heart-wrenching exploration of one woman’s stunning loss" when her "veterinarian husband dies at a stunningly young age," as well as "a stunning, shattering work that gently probes the human psyche." Prepare to be stunned, obviously. Anyway, the heroine gets a dog, which, as responses to tragedy go, represents a nice change from Jodie Foster's approach in The Brave One.

Heigl won an Emmy this past Sunday for her role as Dr. Izzy Stevens on Grey's Anatomy, and critics raved about her performance in Knocked Up. Her producing partner is her mother, Nancy Heigl.