Bio
Hi, I’m Nicole! I am a hybrid author who writes romance full of humor and relatable characters. My STEM adventure novels, Deep In Love & Wild In Love, are independently published and out now! The final book in the series releases later this year. I’m represented by Nour Sallam at Helm Literary.
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I hold a BS in Environmental Biology/Zoology, a BA in Spanish, and a MS in Marine Biology with a focus on marine genomics. By day, I work at a marine science not-for-profit. When I’m not working or writing, I enjoy reading, watching sports, searching through tidepools looking for critters, exploring farmers markets, knitting (poorly), and trying new coffee shops!
Manuscript
Wishlist
(MSWL)
I love reading all kinds of romance, but for this program I’m specifically looking for contemporary romance, rom coms, and paranormal romance because this is where I can offer the best editorial advice! My tastes vary widely as you’ll see in my wishlist below so if your manuscript matches anything listed, I’d love to read it!
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Things I’d love to see:
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STEM romances of all types! However I would LOVE to see ones with less common fields (I’m talking underwater archaeology, zoology, botany, epidemiology, geology, cryptozoology, microbiology, etc). Bonus points for an unique subplot that forces the characters together!
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A fresh take on sports romance—give me a woman’s rugby player leading the way like Ilona Maher, stories set at the World Cup or Olympics, and focus on less common sports
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Paranormal romances! Vampires, werewolves, give it all to me as long as it’s grounded in the real world. Think FANGS WITH BENEFITS by Kath Richards and BOUND and UNBOUND by Ali Hazelwood
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Romance with a grounded speculative twist like TIME LOOPS AND MEET CUTES by Jackie Lau, ROMANTIC HERO by Kristy Greenwood and SEEING OTHER PEOPLE by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
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Men who YEARN, banter, humor, lots of pining!
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Adventure romance & unique settings
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Found family & ensemble casts
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Marginalized characters from authors who share their marginalization
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QUEER and BIPOC stories
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Slow to medium burn (I am not the best fit for instalove)
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Single or dual POV
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I am open to all spice levels though I lean towards novels with medium spice (think 3-5 scenes)
Tropes I love: enemies/rivals to lovers, forced proximity, second chance/years of history, only one ____, embarrassing meet cutes, meddling family and friends, friends to enemies to lovers, messy, unapologetic women, accidental pregnancy and miscommunication (controversial ones, I know)
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If you can comp to any of the following, I’d love to see it: Bones, Jurassic Park, Uncharted, National Treasure, Voicemails for Isabelle, Set It Up, 13 going on 30, Ella Enchanted, a Noah Kahan song or album, The Amazing Race, Discovery Channel shows (Gold Rush, Deadliest Catch, River Monsters, etc), The 100, anything by Jessica Joyce or Tarah Dewitt
I am not the best fit for:
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High fantasy/heavy world building Romantasy—though I love reading these, I don’t think I am the best fit editorially.
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Mafia or intense dark romances (dark rom coms [heavy on the com] are fine!)
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Anything with strong religious storylines
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Military or law enforcement romances
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Anything with on-page sexual assault, child abuse or weight loss/diet culture. Off-page is fine but please share content warnings.
Mentoring Style
I believe that highlighting strengths and what works well in a manuscript is as important providing constructive feedback. Editing is an emotional process and I’m here to build you up while making your work as strong as possible! For your manuscript, I’ll deliver a document with line edits and comments as well as an edit letter discussing some higher level developmental and character edits. In general, I like to ask questions within the document that will help you develop character and plot. I’m always happy to chat after you receive the edits to discuss, answer your questions, and listen to ideas for changes!
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Once the mentees are announced, I’d love to hop on a call to get to know each other, discuss your vision for your manuscript, set editing and communication expectations, and discuss how we will tackle edits/ timelines. I prefer text-based communication but I am available through email/DM/discord as well—whatever works best for you. I am always happy to talk through plans, career goals and publishing woes. My goal is to make the process as beneficial to you as possible to achieve your goals both with your manuscript and author career!
Applications
from Connections
Please do not apply to me if we've ever beta read for each other or have had extensive conversations online. If we're in the same discord(s) or mutuals on social media but haven't talked more than a comment on a post here or there, feel free to apply!