Elle McNicoll, author of 'Unapologetic Love Story' - Carnegie Award nominated writer discusses making your book stand out, the importance of representation, and being full-time whilst never having time to write

Elle McNicholl is a Carnegie Award nominated author. Her debut 'A Kind of Spark' won the Blue Peter Book Award and the overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize, alongside Blackwell's Book of 2020. It was turned into a BBC Children's TV show, which she wrote. That won a Royal Television Society Award, and was nominated for an Emmy.

She's published many more, 'Some Like It Cold', 'Wish You Were Her', 'Role Model', and many others.

Pretty good for a writer who didn't actually set out to write.

Her new novel is her debut for adults, 'Unapologetic Love Story'. It's all about Raina Lewis, London's hottest It Girl, who is effortlessly cool and beloved for her smash-hit podcast spotlighting autistic women. However, when she meets the investigative journalist Tom Branimir who is out to discover her secret, things change.

You can hear why representation is so important, and why her own neurodivergence helps and hinders her writing. We talk about how she gets her characters to do what she wants, how much she thinks about other audiences, and why she takes a social-media break after writing.

Elle runs through her path to publication, detailing how she really fell into writing, also she talks about how she makes her relatable novels stand out on kids bookshelves that are stuffed with magic and dragons.

You can get a copy of the book - uk.bookshop.org/shop/writersroutine

This week's episode is supporter by Philippa Hall's 'Quick Book Reviews' podcast, take a listen wherever you get your shows.

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