Nicole began writing stories as soon as she could write letters. Spurred on by her late father, whose voracious reading habits serve as a continued inspiration, she pursued fiction and poetry writing in her teens. This included participation in the Ohio State University Summer Program for the Arts in 1993. Nicole was one of only seven students across the state to be selected for the creative writing program. There she worked with published novelists and poets to help hone her craft.

Upon graduating from high school with honors, Nicole went on to Youngstown State University, where she studied journalism, graphic design, and advertising. She spent all four years writing for the student newspaper, The Jambar, with two years as Arts & Entertainment Editor and one year as Editor in Chief. After graduating with honors in 1999, Nicole moved to San Francisco to begin her professional career.

Nicole worked as a news reporter for Zatso, an internet start-up focused on enhancing the local news experience with online video. After Zatso, she served as a designer on Smart Business magazine, and an Art Director on GameNOW magazine, where she also wrote articles and helped steer the overall look of the magazine.

In 2004, Nicole jumped to the development side of the game industry, where she served as PR & Marketing Director for Foundation 9 Entertainment. While there, Nicole managed the corporate messaging through numerous mergers and acquisitions, and handled marketing for Backbone Entertainment's original IP, Death, Jr. Her efforts on Death, Jr. garnered an Mi6 award for best promotional item for a video game.

Missing editorial, Nicole began freelancing for a number of sites in 2008, including Green Pixels, What They Play, IGN, and The Escapist. In 2009, after publishing her first novel, she accepted a full-time position at IGN, where she led coverage of social games and assisted with new audience acquisition.