About Me

Portrait of a pale, middle-aged person with short brown hair and murky green eyes

Hello! I'm Nicky.

I write space operas for people who believe kindness belongs among the stars.

You know that feeling when you finish a book and want to live in that universe? That's what I'm going for. My Cooperative Realm is a place where people try to do right by each other (even when they mess up), where second chances actually stick, and where cats would absolutely get cybernetic enhancements if they could.

I came to science fiction sideways. Spent years writing about brains for the Dana Foundation, bounced around the country as a print and online journalist, and somehow always believed that stories are how we practice for the future.

These days, I'm writing from Maryland, where I live with my endlessly patient spouse, our rescue cats (who provide quality control by sitting on my keyboard), and roughly too many books. When I'm not sending characters into space, I'm probably arguing about whether coffee counts as a meal or researching obscure historical facts for my other novels.

Want to chat? I genuinely love hearing which characters readers connect with, what scenes made you laugh, or why that one plot twist didn't work for you. Find me on Bluesky [@nickypenttila] where I mostly post about writing, cats, and definitely-not-procrastination.

Your story matters too—drop me a line, join my newsletter for behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Cooperative Realm, or just come yell with me about books.

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On the orange futon couch, Nicky is reading, Lilo is sleeping, and Maddie is sitting on the back of the couch supervising the neighborhood

Everybody doing their favorite thing on a Sunday afternoon: Nicky reading, Lilo lounging on her pillow in the sun, Maddie supervising the neighborhood.