Episode 88: Special Guest, Elle McNicoll! (Novelist and Screenwriter)

I am super excited for today's episode as I have the wonderful special guest Elle McNicoll on the show. Elle is a bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter. She is an advocate for better representation of neurodiversity in publishing, as an autistic and dyspraxic novelist. Her debut, A Kind of Spark, won the Overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2021. It was also voted number 75 in The 100 Greatest Children's Books of All Time in 2023.

She is a three-time Carnegie-nominated author and was also honoured in the US with the Schneider Award, 2022. Her first novel has also been adapted for television by the BBC, and McNicoll was head writer on the project. The adaptation was described in the press as 'groundbreaking' for its inclusion of autistic actors and crew (and you might remember when Ella Maisy Purvis was on the podcast, who played Elinor/Bonnie in the show!)

I reached out to ask if she might like to come on my podcast to chat a little more about her latest book which is Elle’s YA debut 'Some Like It Cold'. I was kindly sent a copy to review and read earlier this year by the lovely team at Pan Macmillian so I have been very fortunate to have read the book. It will be published on October 1st (US) and October 3rd (UK), which is today!

Buy Elle’s new book ’Some Like It Cold’:

• Indie bookshop editions: linktr.ee/somelikeitcold

• Preorder signed Waterstones editions: https://www.waterstones.com/book/some-like-it-cold/elle-mcnicoll/2928377278267?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabdFYqMgatGwJuIgBTZD65RubhPkHDQAHZR_1iY5Q2RplaIgyGbaTUmnAk_aem_irZ80J1Fbj5FcufVoBwFoA

See Elle on tour:

• Tour dates: https://linktr.ee/SLICromancetour
• Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC): https://londoncomicconwinter.com/YALC/guest/elle-mcnicoll/
• Cheltenham festival: https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/some-like-it-cold-with-elle-mcnicoll

Elle’s social links:

• Elle’s website: ellemcnicoll.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellemcnicollofficial
• X: twitter.com/BooksandChokers
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ellemcnicoll
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ellemcnicollofficial

Watch ‘A Kind of Spark’ on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0f7q3rv/a-kind-of-spark