We chat with bestselling and award-winning novelist and screenwriter Elle McNicoll about her Young Adult debut novel Some Like It Cold, following on from the phenomenal success of her middle-grade novels. She is a four time Carnegie nominated author and her debut novel, A Kind of Spark, has been adapted for television, becoming Emmy nominated and winning Best Children’s Programme at the Broadcast Awards and the Royal Television Society Awards in London, 2024. She is also an advocate for better representation of neurodiversity in publishing, as an autistic and dyspraxic novelist.
Hi Elle, thank you for joining us today! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your latest book Some Like It Cold?
Thank you! I’m an author and screenwriter, and all of my work features neurodivergent protagonists. In Some Like It Cold, the small and cosy town of Lake Pristine is being filmed for a documentary. However, the filmmaker and one of his main subjects can’t seem to put their dislike of one another to one side. But, of course, it’s not really dislike. It’s a proudly neurodivergent love story for young adults.
This is your YA debut after some incredibly successful middle grade novels. What drew you to this genre for Jasper’s story?
Romance is the genre I read the most and it’s the one that pulled me out of a massive, year-long reading slump when I was thirteen. I’ve always intended to do this and now is finally the moment! Growing up autistic meant seeing very negative portrayals of neurodivergent people in the media, and so Jasper is the kind of heroine I would have really aspired to be when I was eighteen.
Some Like It Cold takes us to the picture perfect small town of Lake Pristine – what inspired this choice of setting and genre?
A small town in a romance novel is always a plot device. It makes it easier for people who dislike each other to bump into one another, which is essential to this kind of love story. It also allows the author space to create colourful secondary characters. It’s also the kind of environment I grew up in, so being autistic in this kind of town is very different to the anonymity of a city.
This book captures that love for your hometown but also a frustration that it may not accept you for who you are. Why was this so important for Jasper’s story and what message would you like readers to take from the book?
I suppose the town is a microcosm. What Jasper goes through is normal for so many autistic women and girls. I don’t worry too much about a message, I just want them to feel like they’re walking alongside someone within the story. Someone that wouldn’t judge them. I hope they remember that we’re not what other people say about us.
Picking up from the above, it is fantastic to see a book where a neurodiverse protagonist gets to experience their great love story. Jasper is a phenomenal protagonist that readers will fall in love with and her autism is a large facet of her life, but it does not entirely define her. What does representation mean to you?
I always find it interesting when people say we’re not defined by being autistic. I might gently push back and say that we are. It’s in each breath, each thought, each memory. And that’s okay! That’s kind of what Jasper realises. That all of her is allowed to be considered golden, not just the parts that please other people.
Jasper and Arthur have such a great dynamic that’s more of an oblivious slow burn. What are some of your favourite romantic tropes in media?
Thank you! I don’t know if it has an exact term but I love, “my pining will mask as loathing”. They’re not quite enemies to lovers, that always feels like a strong fantasy hook and it sometimes doesn’t translate into contemporary romantic fiction. But I love a lovesick fool and the person who is not vain enough to recognise it.
What songs would form the soundtrack to Some Like It Cold for you?
Great question! Queen Bee from the Emma soundtrack, that’s definitely Arthur. Quarter Life
Crisis by Taylor Bickett. You’re On Your Own Kid by Taylor Swift. And I Can Do It With a Broken Heart. Dancing Queen by ABBA and the whole score of The Nutcracker!
Films play a huge role in the storytelling of Some Like It Cold. How have films impacted your storytelling and why did you choose to feature them heavily for Some Like It Cold?
As an autistic person, film has always been my mode of communication. I would use films to explain to people what I was feeling. I studied them. I used them to understand how things work. Which hasn’t always helped me, if I’m brutally honest. But I use films and thereby stories to process feelings and events in my life. I think that’s why they feature so strongly as a comfort for Jasper in Some Like It Cold!
Of course, your previous book A Kind of Spark has been adapted into a TV series and been hugely popular, as well as critically acclaimed. What has the process been like in seeing your work adapted?
It’s been incredible but also frightening. I’m one person, telling a story from my own lived experience. My own childhood. It’s like having your diary read out in everyone’s living room. But I’m so proud of our neurodivergent cast and crew. We broke boundaries. We opened doors. I will never get over that. We all pushed past what people said was possible and the response from the viewers was amazing. The number of people who got their diagnosis from watching the show, I’ll never forget it.
What books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I’ve adored I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue and Lover Birds by Leanne Eagan.
And Where Sleeping Girls Lie by my amazing friend Faridah!
If possible, can you share a little about what you are currently working on or any upcoming projects you have?
Something secret, something slightly less secret and my second YA! Set in Lake Pristine with a new couple!
Finally, if you could only use five words to describe Some Like It Cold, what would they be?
Love Story for Pining Romantics.
