Nicole Martin knows that being a 20-something in the Tinder age is a wild adventure. Inspired by her own personal dating experience and that of her friends, Martin has written her first book, Love, Sex, and Situationships, released today.
Nicole Martin
One of the first anecdotes in her book, entitled “The Talk,” is all about that point in a relationship, or a “situationship” as Martin calls it, where a couple has been dating for a while and needs to establish where things are headed. Speaking from personal experience, Martin says, “the whole story is just me asking this guy at the wrong time, at the wrong moment where it’s going, but it’s a total disaster and it just doesn’t work out.” After each anecdote, Martin offers advice on what to do when you are caught in a similar situation.
Martin creates a new lexicon for her book within the title, Love, Sex, and Situationships. What is a “situationship?” Martin defines this new word as, “any complicated, uncertain, confusing dating affiliation with a potential partner that has yet to be determined. This could include hookups, friends with benefits, or booty calls.”
In her story, “That Girl,” Martin talks about how girls need to stick together when it comes to the dating world: “Don’t hate other girls. I’m talking about a girl walks into a bar in something sexy, don’t hate her ‘cause she looks good,” she laughs, “We should look out for one another.”
The most precious advice Martin offers to her readers is, “don’t take yourself too seriously.” Martin continues, “you’re gonna make mistakes and you’re gonna do things that maybe you’re gonna regret later, but, you know, the whole point of the book is talking about: I’ve been there, my best friends have been there, girls have been there. It’s okay to be you.”
Nicole Martin is a final semester graduate student at Point Park University studying to achieve her M.A. in journalism and mass communications. She attended Penn State University as an undergrad, where she earned her B.A. in print journalism with a minor in sociology. Martin is a is currently the managing editor of STEM Jobs Magazine, and a digital content editor for Military Spouse, G.I. Jobs and STEM with Victory Media. She is also an online professor for Penn State. Martin has previously worked at College Magazine as a sex and dating writer, and eventually became the editor for that team for a couple years. She has also written for Playboy and freelances sex and dating writing.
Martin’s undergrad mentor, Pam Monk is a senior lecturer at Penn State and a freelance writer. Monk helped Martin create and publish her first magazine, L7, her senior year of college: “Basically, I just encouraged her, as much as anything,” Monk says, “She’s really a self-starter.” Most of Monk’s students took her Magazine course and waited to receive an assignment and work for a grade, but Martin knew exactly what she wanted to do, and simply asked how to make it work.
Martin carried that initiative into her graduate school days. In an email interview with one of Martin’s Point Park professors, Tatyana Dumova says, “Nicole was a bright student interested in literature, and a blog writer. She interned at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Professional pursuits of literature require talent, dedication and a lot of work, and I wish Nicole all the best in following her dreams.”
In Martin’s press release, Dating and Lifetsyle Blogger Maggie Quigley says, “Nicole Martin is the sitcom best friend I always wished I had – that pretty brunette with a dirty “Dear Diary” anecdote for every occasion. Thank god she’s put her hard-earned wisdom to good use, and decided to share with the rest of us mortals.” Quigley also says that Martin’s book is “truly a manual for any woman trying to navigate the messy dating world that our Tinder-lovin’ generation has created for ourselves.”
Martin’s biggest advice for aspiring writers and journalism students is to reach out to as many people as possible: “Be as persistent and pushy as possible with your writing and just keep trying.” She says, “You’re going to be rejected over and over, I’m not going to lie to you. I have and everybody else has, but once you find that person who gives you a chance, it’s your break. Don’t let other people discourage you.”
Pick up your copy of Nicole Martin’s book, under her pen name – Nicole Raye, Love, Sex, and Situationships, today on Amazon for $6.99.