When Canadian television writer Jana Sinyor was still in the struggling phase of her career and years away from creating the CBC drama Being Erica, she fainted after her first project, Dark Oracle, was finally greenlighted. Sinyor’s over-wrought reaction was  perhaps understandable.

Erin Karpluk and Jana Sinyor

Having worked so hard  to break into the industry, she was absolutely floored when YTV, the children’s channel, accepted Dark Oracle, which follows the adventures of 15-year-old twins whose fu­ture is divined in a comic book

“I had to be revived,” she  said,  her eyes beaming as she recalled the embarrassing moment that set her on the road to success.

Dark Oracle, co-developed with Heather Conkie, ran from 2004 to 2006 and went on to win an International Em­my for best children’s and youth pro­gram. But after it was suddenly dropped, Sinyor moved on stoically and quickly.

“I was neith­er disappointed nor an­gry,” she said in an interview the other morning at the Future Bakery and Cafe in mid-town Toronto. “Dark Oracle was a ‘high-concept’ show, which is hard to sustain.”

Sinyor, who had previously freelan­ced as a writer for Degrassi: The Next Generation, bounced back by developing Being Erica, which is about a 30-something woman who discovers that her therapist can send her back in time and change her reality.

Nominated for 10 Gemini Awards after its debut year in 2009, Being Erica  is now broadcast on the Soap Net cable network in the United States, as well as  in Australia, Asia, Latin America and, she thinks, Israel.

 To the best of her knowledge, the core audience consists mainly of women in their 20s and 30s. But teens and mid­dle-aged viewers, some of whom are men, are also part of the demographics.

She believes that Being Erica has mass appeal because the average viewer can identify with the main character.

Now 33, Sinyor conceived Being Erica – which blends fantasy with reality – as a kids’ program. But since CBC was in the market for something different, she was only too pleased to adjust the script.

As she put it, “I wanted to make the jump from teen to adult drama.”

There was another reason for her interest in adapting Being Erica.

“I have a huge interest in magic and fan­tasy, and I like playing around with time travel.”

Erica Strange, the central character, is portrayed by Erin Karpluk. To some de­gree, she is modeled after Sinyor, who was born in Ottawa, the daughter of Albert, an Egyptian-born medical equipment manufacturer, and Lynda, a teacher and computer programmer.

“You put bits and pieces of yourself  and familiar experiences into a character,” explained Sinyor, the co-executive producer. “Erica’s my age, is Jewish like me and lives in Toronto. But aside from these similarities, we’re not alike at all.”

Karpluk, who is of Ukrainian des­cent, was cast at the 11th hour.  

“We saw many actors, but it was clear she was exactly who we were look­ing for. Erin has a talent for physical comedy, and she’s just so appealing, attractive, funny and accessible.”

But Karpluk had to be coached to be Jewish.

“She knew nothing about Jews, but she’s been great,” noted Sinyor, say­ing she had to learn  how to pro­perly pronounce a word like Yom Kip­pur.

Sinyor, who describes herself as a sec­ular Jew, has embroidered Jewish motifs into the show.

“We’ve done epi­sodes on circumcision, Yom Kippur and a bat mitzvah,” she said.

To Sinyor, these forays into Judaism are “not forced” but natural. After all, Erica is supposed to be the daughter of a Re­form rabbi.

She and her co-producer, Aaron Mar­tin, whom she met on the set of Degrassi and who joined Being Erica after the pilot, have written several of the scripts.

But overall, she regards herself as its general manager, concerning herself with every aspect from casting and script development to ward­robe.

Currently, she and Martin are in the midst of developing season three of Being Erica.

“I’m optimistic it will go ahead,” said Sinyor

Curiously enough, she never even aspired to be a writer.

“Actually, I didn’t have a plan,” she admitted.

Taking religious studies at Mc­Gill University, she  majored in the New Testament and took a course in rabbinics.

“I was al­ready familiar with Judaism, but Christianity was foreign to me.”

After her graduation in 1998, she toil­ed in a call centre for a year, but was miserable.

“I became very depressed.”

In retrospect, this dead-end job was not entirely in vain. “Erica also worked in a call centre,” she said.

One night, at 4 a.m., she compiled a life-changing list of her strengths, desires and weaknesses.

With this in hand, Sinyor took a screen writing course at Ryerson. While there, she whipped up a script for a short film.

Then she enrolled at the Canadian Film Centre, which offers advanced trai­n­ing in film, TV and new media.

“It was extremely useful, but I couldn’t find a job after graduating.”

So she began writing what would be Dark Oracle, her breakthrough show.

Sinyor has a busy life outside television. She and her husband, David Sin­ger, an entrepreneur, have two children, Jada, 5, and Max, 3.

She has no trouble juggling a career and motherhood.

“I don’t have a nine to five job. I have a lot of flexibility. So I’m at home when Jada and Max get back from school.”

As for the future, she hopes that Being Erica will go from strength to strength, and that her next project will also appeal to an identical demographic. “I don’t know what it will be, but it will be an adult drama,” she said.