Lindsey Kelk (writing as Elle Kelk) on Hit or Miss, Anxiety & Starting Over
About this episode
Philippa Hall interviews Lindsey Kelk about her new novel 'Hit or Miss' and discusses themes of anxiety, writing, and the bookish community.
Philippa sits down with Lindsey Kelk — writing as Elle Kelk — to talk about her brand new novel Hit or Miss , the first in the Junior Year Abroad series. With over three million books sold, Lindsey is one of the UK's best-loved romance authors, and this conversation is funny, warm, and unexpectedly moving. In this interview, Elle and Philippa discuss: Why Lindsey chose a new pen name for this book — and why it's not exactly a secret What "new adult" fiction actually means (and why genres are, in her words, "all fake") The joy of writing a college romance series set at a fictional UK university — think Oxford meets American campus life Mia and Ethan: two characters running in opposite directions until they collide Anxiety as a central theme — Lindsey opens up about her own late diagnosis at 32, how bad things got, and why she finally asked for help Toxic masculinity and the pressure on men to silently hold everything together Why the bookish community seems disproportionately affected by anxiety ("it turns out, it's all of us") Dealing with bad reviews — especially when you suspect someone hasn't actually read the book Writing in Vegas hotels at 2am, the importance of a bath, and…
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