“New York is unlike anywhere else on Earth. It’s electric and demanding and constantly moving.” Lindsey Kelk, British author describes what it is like to live in the States.
Lindsey moved to New York in 2009 after writing the best seller I Heart New York, which was the start of the I Heart series.
“Once you get caught up in the rhythm of the city, it’s very hard to imagine living anywhere else.
“There are a million different things to do with a million different people at any one time, I don’t think there was a single second I was bored in six years.
“You can do Soulcycle with Bradley Cooper in Tribeca, eat the most amazing food in the world for less than five dollars in Chinatown, buy designer clothes at Barneys and vintage clothes at Stella Dallas, see your favourite band play in the Met Museum and then finish up with three am karaoke on St Marks Square all in the same day.
“It’s the most incredible place, if you can keep up.”
The book is all about how Angela Clark flees to New York from London after she finds her boyfriend cheating at her best friend’s wedding.
There are six books in the I Heart series, all set in various cities including Los Angeles and London, as well as some short stories available as e-books.
The author slash beauty blogger tries to write as realistically as possible.
“I also try to do as much research as possible into my characters lives as well as the cities where the books are set, and that often inspires specific scenes in the books.” Lindsey explains.
“There are always bits and pieces inspired by real life but for the most part it’s all fiction.”
All of her characters are funny and witty with very specific hilarious characteristics.
Even though they are completely fictional the 35-year-old explains why and how they feel real.
“I have to feel as though they’re real.” Says Lindsey.
“I’ve been writing Angela and Tess for so long that I can pretty much put their characters in a situation and know exactly how they would react to it.
“Writing new characters is much harder, albeit more exciting in a way, because you don’t know them.
“I write books quite quickly meaning that I don’t have as much time to settle in with the characters, with series books, you’re going back to people you’ve already got to know.”
A Girl’s Best Friend is Lindsey’s latest release, which was out at the end of 2015.
The unusual thing with this book is that it is a combination of the I Heart Series with Angela and the Girl series about Tess Brookes.
Tess ends up in New York and meets Angela due to various connections through friendships and families and work.
The whole of the Girl series is amazing with a young women trying to sort out her career along with the social side of life.
Tess’ love life is a constant source for humour and heartache throughout.
“Angela was really a blank slate when she started, stuck in a rut and just going along with an unfulfilling life,” describes Lindsey.
“Tess was completely different.
“It was fun to have them meet each other and see just how different they are.
“And now that Angela is older and more experienced than Tess, Angela really takes on a big sister role.
“The same way Jenny took care of her when she arrived in New York and I loved writing her that way.”
A couple of her books are set over the Christmas period, for example I Heart Christmas and A Girl’s Best Friend, which shows how much she loves writing about Christmas.
“I have to get a chocolate orange on the day after Thanksgiving. Otherwise Christmas is cancelled,” explains Lindsey.
“I do love Christmas but I wouldn’t say that’s why I’ve written about it so much.
“It just conjures up a lot of drama which is great for storytelling.
“Autumn is always really beautiful in New York, so is spring.
“I’m pretty much up for anything other than summer which is a bit of a downer, given that I’ve moved to LA.”
Lindsey moved to LA last year and she is loving life there, even though she described it as being the opposite to New York.
“LA is a lot more relaxed than New York, literally the complete opposite to life in New York!” Lindsey then went on to talk about her favourite places and things to do.
“I like to hike up through Griffith Park early in the morning and hang out on the lawns, looking out over the city.
“I also really like to hang out at Little Dom’s and the Vista Cinema and we’ve got some really great vintage shopping out here.”
If you haven’t read any of Lindsey's books and you like funny, witty, romance stories with small twists here and there, then I definitely recommend you read them. I Heart New York is now one of my favourite books as well as About a Girl (the first book in the Girl series).