Lindsey Kelk (writing as Elle Kelk) on Hit or Miss, Anxiety & Starting Over

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 why airports are the worst
• Her wrestling podcast Tights and Fights — now 10 years old — and whether a wrestling romance might be next
• What she's reading right now: Dungeon Crawler Carl on audio and The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice
• The life-changing biscuit discovery: McVitie's Jaffa Cake Digestives (with a strong recommendation to dunk)

Hit or Miss is out now.

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