Lindsey Kelk – I Heart Rom Coms

Women’s fiction author Lindsey’s Kelk has made her name with her I Heart romance series featuring the adventures of Angela, a British magazine editor who moves to New York – but she’s just as happy writing stand alone rom coms.  The most recent of those – One In A Million – is described as “Bridget Jones meets My Fair Lady for the social media set” – and has been warmly endorsed by stars like Marian Keyes. Six things you’ll learn about Lindsey from this Joys of Binge Reading episode: How a cynic found herself writing Rom Coms Why she’s co-hosting two podcasts – on wrestling – and makeup How a Yorkshire lass ended up in LA Career building tips from a career in publishing The fiction queen who’s acted as role model and mentor Why Christmas is a precious destination Where to find Lindsey Kelk:  Website:  https://lindseykelk.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/lindseykelk/  Twitter: @Lindseykelk Facebook: @LindseyKelk What follows is a “near as” transcript of our conversation, not word for word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions. Lindsey Kelk Rom Com best seller Jenny: But now, here’s Lindsey. .  Hello there Lindsey and welcome to the show, it’s great to have you with us.   Lindsey: Hello there Jenny, it’s wonderful to be here. Jenny: Beginning at the beginning – was there a “Once Upon a Time” moment when you decided you wanted to write fiction?  And if so what was the catalyst for it? Lindsey:   You know I don’t think there was, I don’t know if it’s very common, although I know among some of my writer friends it is, but I ever since I’ve been very very young I’ve always wanted to write. My Mum taught me to read when I was very young, so I was reading from before I got to school, and so when I got to school my teachers didn’t have to teach me to read so they said to me ‘Why don’t you write yourself a story?’ so I’ve been writing stories since I was tiny, it’s always something I’ve always done. As far as doing it professionally, that’s something I did assume I would never be I would be able to do, because of the way teachers, mentors and others and others crush any thoughts about writing for a living, so it was only when I was an editorial assistant at Harper Collins, in the children’s team, working with film and licensed tie in books – because that was the only job in I could get in publishing. I’d thought ‘well if I can’t make books myself, at least I can be close to the books that are being made. And I was sat there after a couple of years thinking ‘Well all these books ARE getting published,’ so if I am not at least trying I shouldn’t feel good about myself, I should at least be trying. It wasn’t really a “light bulb” moment, it was more a question of ‘well my boss turned down Twilight,’ or some book that we thought was going to do really incredibly did very badly, so why not try? Once I saw the inside of publishing and saw you never could really tell what would do well, then it seemed like I should at least try. Jenny: Did your boss really turn down Twilight? Lindsey: Yeah. . . . Well it was the publisher in the fiction department.. But a lot of people did, she turned down a lot of books, and she signed lots that did really well. That’s how it is in publishing. People outside tend to think that if a book sells really well everyone wanted it, but that’s often just not the case. We were working with John Green after he’d done Looking for Alaska and his second book An Abundance of Katherines just didn’t do that well, so who could have forseen the success of The Fault in Our Stars? It’s a fascinating industry to be part of but a really long answer to your question . . . its the “overnight success” that takes 20 years. I heart New York – first in the series Jenny: You’ve made your name with the I Heart series of contemporary romances featuring Angela, a British magazine editor who moves to New York – and a lot of that resembles your own story doesn’t it? Tell us a little about your own transition from London to New York . . . Lindsey: Angela actually moved to the states before I did – most people quite reasonably assume imagine I wrote it from my experience, actually I wrote the book and I Heart New York was published about six weeks before I moved to the states, so I did that slightly creepy thing where you wrote it and then it happened. As I say I was working for Harper Collins and a role came up in the New York office, so I basically begged and sulked and stamped my feet until they gave me the job.. so I transferred to New York for my job. I worked as an editor at Harper Collins for the first year in the States before I went to full time writing. Jenny: And so did Harper Collins also publish I Heart New York? Lindsey: Yes they did. It was another chain of slightly weird coincidences. I didn’t take it to them originally when I decided to try and get it published, I sent it out to agents, because I knew how unpopular it was for an employee in a publishing company to try and get their own book published. It was sniffed at and frowned on, I couldn’t speak for now but at that time it just wasn’t the thing to do. It was more a case of ‘Oh every editor thinks they have a book and I really don’t want to deal with it.’ And I was a pretty junior member of staff in another department, I didn’t know anyone in fiction, or woman’s fiction, so I got pretty far down the road with one agent – I mean I got rejected by more than 20 – I started working with one, but she hated the book and wanted me to write something else – so I had a friend who was working in the fiction department and I asked her if she could help me find an agent that would be right for me or at least give me constructive feedback. That friend bless her, I owe her everything, said she’d do it and then decided she’d show it to Lynne Drew an editor in women’s fiction who is now my editor, because she didn’t really want to do it herself. And Lynne Drew read it and loved it and she invited me up for a coffee and a chat and by the end of it said ‘Hey let’s do this together with Harper Collins;’ and that was it. So I traveled all over town looking for representation and ended up working with the team one floor underneath me in the office. Jenny: And how long did you have it out with agents? Lindsey: It was more than a year. I sent it out in February 2007 – twelve years ago now – and I signed with them April 2008. .. I was about to give up when my friend suggested looking internally. So it was a year between it going out and getting signed. I heart Hollywood – #2 in series Jenny: Well that’s a very heartening story for other writers listening because now you’re published in 25 languages, you’ve sold more than a million books – and you seem to be doing a very nice tandem act between the I Heart series and stand-alone romantic comedies…  Lindsey: Yes! There wasn’t really a plan to sit down a write romance novels. I was just writing for my own pleasure and that’s what came out. I wasn’t in a very good place. I was in a rubbish relationship, bored at work, in tons of debt, living in London, and not very happy, so I’d just taken a trip to New York for my birthday with my brother which he paid for because my mother basically bullied him into it – we are really close – and I was so inspired by New York. I heart New York was an ‘anywhere but here’ fantasy for me, I didn’t write it for anyone but myself, and then when I’d finished it a friend who was reading it as I was writing it,she encouraged me to send it out. I knew it was a series because I love series and I knew Angela’s story wasn’t finished. Jenny: No 7 – in the series – I Heart Forever – is the most recently published and you’ve been to pretty well every “hot” place – I Heart New York, Vegas, Paris, London, Hollywood    . . . . I suspect you’ll keep going until you’ve been to every city you want to go to? ? I heart London #5 in series Lindsey: Well yes – I’d still like to go to Tokyo  . . But no . . As we talk I am just finishing the second draft of I Heart Hawaii and that is going to be the last I heart – Ten years this year since the first one came out. . .We just felt it was a good time to draw a line under it… Yes – in this age of reboots I don’t want to say “Never say Never” but it just feels like a good time to let Angela live her life without me jumping in every couple of years and messing it up – so no I Heart Tokyo for me! Jenny: But there has also been an I Heart Christmas – and I gather for you Christmas could be likened to a favourite destination – you are mad about Christmas . . How does that work for you in LA? Lindsey:  It’s a heart breaker.. I do love Christmas I always have I am one of those awful people who want the biggest tree and then complain about having to dress it . . . LA is not ideal for Christmas This year. a friend and I went to Charleston, South Carolina for Christmas; it’s always good to go home for Christmas – or go to New York, New York is great for Christmas – the best!! I like to spread my Christmas far and wide. We are just moving into a new house, and I did check there is room for a massive tree so this year we just might have a great Christmas! Jenny: And your latest rom com – One In A Million- also newly published – is described as “Bridget Jones meets My Fair Lady for the social media set” It seems clear you definitely enjoy adding humour to the narrative. . . One in a Million – latest Rom Com Lindsey: Yeah. I think I have always thought of myself as more of a comedy writer than anything else most of my friends would laugh if you described me as a romance writer – not something I am traditionally talented at – I’m one of the most cynical human beings on earth – but I love to write the dynamics of human relationships. More than romance, I like to write relationships – whether a friendship or a family relationship. I love to write about the inter-relationships between humans – But I am also a youngest child who is a massive attention seeker and loves to make people laugh. . . Jenny: Yes relationships are key to the books aren’t they? Lindsey: Yes and with Angela although her relationship with Alex is central, her best friend Jenny is also pivotal and I get more feedback from readers who love that relationship with Jenny, and also she has her best friend at home Louisa and that is something people also seem to identify with – your current best friend alongside the best friend from your childhood. Jenny: You’ve had some heart-warming affirmation – including an endorsement from Marian Keyes who has complimented you on your ‘witty, funny, warm and clever books.” – is she one of the writers who has acted as a role model? Marian Keyes’ Watermelon – memorable as a teen reader Lindsey: She did bless her!! And oh yes . . I read Watermelon when I was a teenager – I told her this story but it was very embarrassing for me – we went on holiday somewhere and my Mum had it – I just read everything – so once she read it I did and loved it and I still quote it now… Just recently I was talking to a friend and they were watching that TV show Derry Girls that’s on Netflix – I don’t know if you’ve had it yet – about girls growing up in Derry, Northern Ireland and they were pronouncing it “Dairy Girls” and it reminded me of a scene in Watermelon where someone says the IRA has kidnapped his sister and they’ll be pistol whipping her by now and shouting “Shut Up Bitch” but it will be in a Northern Irish accent so it will be “Shot op botch.” I have never forgotten that I don’t know why – that an discovering what an episiotomy is – and I’ve always remembered it. She is so good at those little funny moments that stick in your head . . and then she will hit you with the emotional punch . . she is so gracious and so talented and so generous to other writers – I first met her at a writer’s lunch and I didn’t know she was going to be there because my friends hadn’t told me because they knew I wouldn’t be able to hold it together, and she was sitting across the table from me and I was looking and her and she was looking at me and I realized she was only looking at me because I was looking at her and instead of saying something I just sort of “waved” across the table and she waved back and I felt “Right I can die now” because the right thing to do would have been to say “Hi Marian, I’m Lindsey and I write too . . .” And when we did talk she absolutely did know who I was.. she is a wonderful person who is a gift to publishing and the world. Jenny: And along with all this writing you are also co-hosting two very different weekly podcasts. . .  one on Pro-Wrestling called Tights and Fights, and the other called Full Coverage, on Make Up and Beauty – “should I do Botox” and that sort of thing . . .  They seem violently opposing passions to hold, . . . Tell us how that came about . . . Pro Wrestling action Lindsey: Yes – I just love them both . . I’m not saying it’s a common interest, but there is a Venn diagram and in the middle there is a fair chunk of us who like both things! Cos women can do all kinds of things – I know it’s amazing!! I’ve always loved wrestling, I’ve watched it on TV since I was a little kid – as I mentioned I have an older brother and he watched it – He’s five years older than me and because he watched it I watched it… And when I moved to LA I heard about this wrestling podcast and they asked me to co host it – so yes it’s just great to share something you are passionate about – and the same with make up… I had a friend who moved to LA – she’s a make up artist from England and she moved to LA Just after me – and we were spending so much time talking about make up and beauty we said why don’t we combine this time we spend talking about make up together and make it a podcast and share it with everybody else… they are all natural organic things – they do take up a lot of time – but I am passionate about them and its nice to share what you’re passionate about with other people – I think that’s what nice about podcasting. Jenny:  You sound like a “down to earth” sort of gal and I wondered if moving to LA has changed to your outlook. I did listen to one of your podcasts and you were talking about Botox used for preventing wrinkles. Is itr different in LA? Lindsey:  Yes it is really.   I’ve lived most of my life in the UK, and then I had six years in New York and now I’ve been in LA for four and the approach here is very different – but also the industry has changed a huge lot in those four years. When I moved here the idea of the average person getting lip fillers was unheard of and when Kylie Jenner did it there was an uproar but now it is so common now all over the States and back in England – that is the thing that happens now, its as common as dyeing your hair. That frightens me because I’ve seen how fast it has changed, but if you are a teenager who grew up with it you think nothing of it. Kylie Jenner – pumped up lips the look of today I have had Botox, I first got it back in New York and I first got it because I had really heavy frown lines between my eyes because I frown when I am concentrating and I am concentrating all the time, so it made me look tired and angry all the time. It was full on “resting bitch face” and you can make those go away with two pricks of the needle – so that’s the first use – and it actually helped with my headaches… Since then I’ve had lip filler on my bottom lip – I’m nearly 40 and I was losing volume there – I use only a tiny amount – maybe half a vial – Kylie Jenner would be using at least two full vials . . . I think it looks nicer than lipstick. . . I think it simply a personal thing – I think women should be able to make the choice without judgement – if you’re doing it for you and it makes you happy then do it – but preventive Botox – it is nonsense – there are two sides to that argument and I come down n the side of the doctors who say its not needed – but it all comes down to need and that’s a subjective thing. I was so surprised – I always got tension migraines and it really helped! Jenny: While we are talking about LA influence I want to ask about a tantalising hint on your website about Channing Tatum  – who apparently  called you a unicorn. Ummm   Please explain? Channing Tatum – going viral Lindsey: Yes! Channing and I have yet to meet but I am sure it is only a matter of time. As I’m sure many people know he starred in a movie Magic Mike and he opened a stage show production of Magic Mike in Las Vegas and now in London, and I went to an early show and reviewed it for Glamour magazine and Channing saw the review and liked it and Tweeted about it which I’m told was organic – it wasn’t prompted by a publicist and he said I am a unicorn for life – I don’t know what perks there are to being a unicorn . . . Everyone I know that’s worked with him say he’s a delight. Jenny: Did you actually work in journalism at some stage? Lindsey: I didn’t no. I grew up in a really small village in south Yorkshire. I was dissuaded from a lot of things I think it was assumed I would become a teacher because I was a smart kid who liked reading – I knew I didn’t have the patience to be a teacher and I loved magazines – I still love magazines and subscribe to a lot of them, so I think I would have really loved working as a journalist but once I had written my first book opportunities appeared and its something I grabbed hold of with both hands – it’s something I have loved., . Turning to your wider career  . . .  Jenny: You seem to be a person who makes the most of opportunities and you’re now in LA – I wondered if you had any thoughts of writing for the movies sometime? Lindsey: Yes people are asking me all the time if the I Heart books are gong to become movies or One In a Million I would love to because to my mind I am a story teller and whatever medium it is in, I want the most people to be able to see it and enjoy it… But it is definitely different skills I have redacted a screen play into books so I have done it the other way, but to turn a book into a screen play is really hard… I suspect if anything happened we would just turn it over to a professional script writer to handle… In LA when you say you’re a writer they say “Oh movies or TV?” And you say “Books” and then they say “Oh, have you anything optioned?” And when you look vague they move on – “OK I’m done with you now.” Jenny: So moving to LA was not fuelled by that ambition? Lindsey: No definitely not. It was fuelled by my boyfriend working in the movie industry and moving from New York . . He has to be here. Jenny: Is there one thing you’ve done more than any other in your writing career that you see as the secret to your success? Lindsey: Yeah – you know I don’t know as there is anything – except perhaps “Be nice to everyone” It’s important – so important… It was really important for me to maintain my professional reputation – just be the best you you can be be respectful, be polite, . . I kept my full time job for three years . . And then it is now 99 per cent a matter of keeping my nose to the grind stone and getting the work done… Secret is . . . just do it The most common question is how do I become a writer and the only answer I have for that is “Write.” I get that all the time Until you sit down and work on it you don’t know if the idea you’ve got is good. . . so work really hard – because if you don’t someone is going to work harder than you – because those things re remembered.. Everyone remembers the “arseholes” Don’t be remembered for the wrong reasons. Turning to Lindsey as reader Jenny:  The series is called “The Joys of Binge Reading” because I see it as providing inspiration for people who like to read series. Who are you reading at the moment All the Boys . . . Lindsey LOVES YA Lindsey: At the moment I’m not reading because I am finishing a second draft . . I can’t read when I am deep in writing… the last series I read was the Jenny Han series To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before  I love YA because it was so important to me when I was growing up. And then I read the Crazy Rich Asians series by Kevin Kwan. I love sequels and trilogies I find it really hard to let them go.. Jenny: Any temptation to write YA yourself? Lindsey: Yes totally. That is something I am sure will happen. It is what I always thought I would do. I never thought of myself as a woman’s fiction rom-com writer. I was in college reading too much Brett Easton Ellis and looking Gothy and the rest of the time working with children’s fiction and reading YA . . YA is what I have always wanted to do and I think it’s so important and I love the thought of writing a book for the teenage me when she needs it. I grew up reading Sweet Valley High – that was my big jam as a tween – I love series.. Virginia Andrews – V C Andrews – all her series and the idea of writing a book that is so important to a kid… And the Making Out series about a group of teenagers who lived on an island.. each book was focused on one of the different teens I loved that series, it dealt with so many issues about being a teenager. The Making Out series – big impact on teens Jenny: Did you ever get into Harry Potter? Lindsey: Yes. I missed the first few but when I was in publishing I went back and read everything, but the last four I was waiting outside the bookshop – One of those I think it was the Half Blood Prince which I took away on a weekend with my boyfriend and his parents – I really didn’t do any favours to that relationship. I saw in a corner all weekend reading Harry Potter. And then another one of them – I think it was the last one, I took to a girls bachelorette weekend and sat reading it and they said “What’s wrong with you?” and I said “This is me, this is who I am. Just let it happen You guys go off and have a nice time I’m going to read Harry Potter.” Circling back to the beginning at the end  Jenny: At this stage in your career, if you were doing it all again, what would you change – if anything? Lindsey: I am totally happy with the way it has gone. I don’t think I could have done anything better – everyone I’ve worked with and that I’ve done I’ve pushed and pushed to do my best. Jenny: What is next for Lindsey the writer?  What are you working on, and new projects? Lindsey: I am finishing up with I heart Hawaii right now and then I’m moving into my summer book – that’s already planned, and then I am moving into my first children’s series, the first book in that series will be out with Harper Collins later this year. Jenny: Do you enjoy interacting with readers and where can they find you online? Lindsey: Yes! I work from home with my laptop and two cats who sometimes don’t want to talk to me, so please don;t leave me alone! I am on Twitter and Instagram pretty much all the time, and I am on Facebook but I’m not so good at checking messages there but I have to write books sometime!! Jenny: And of course there are your two podcasts.. Thanks To Our Technical Support: The Joys of Binge Reading podcast is put together with wonderful technical help from Dan Cotton at DC Audio Services. Dan is an experienced sound and video engineer who’s ready and available to help you with your next project… Seek him out at [email protected] or Phone + 64 – 21979539. He’s fast, takes pride in getting it right, and lovely to work with. Our voice overs are done by Abe Raffills, and Abe’s another gem. He got 20 years of experience on both sides of the camera/microphone as a cameraman/director and also voice artist and television presenter. Abe’s vocal delivery is both light hearted and warm and he is super easy to work with no matter the job. You’ll find him at [email protected]