Creative Writing - Nicole Hardy writer, creator, editor

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The New York Times • 28th January 2026

Tiny Love Stories: ‘First Love Never Dies"’

Two days after Christmas, Maxwell called. “Might drop dead tomorrow,” he said. A loud-talking, adorable joker from Jersey, he’d hired me as a deckhand narrating Seattle boat tours in 1996. We fell in love, felt invincible with the Space Needle and Kurt Cobain’s house in the distance. Fast forward to Parkinson’s, heart failure, a D.N.R. “One to 10, how scared are you?” I asked. “Seven,” he replied. My heart dropped. “Do you still believe in God?” I asked. “Tell you tomorrow,” he joked, and we laughed ourselves breathless. “I love you forever,” I said. It’s always been true. — Nicole Hardy

Seattle Magazine • 7th April 2020

Stories from Seattle: Living Alone in a Former Sanatorium

The day after the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, I discovered I’ve been living in a former sanatorium. I’d heard rumors since I first moved into my condo in 2005—a roomy one-bedroom right on the beach just south of the Fauntleroy ferry that I could never afford in today’s market. People said it was once a mental institution, or a place for alcoholics to dry out. One neighbor swears that in the ‘40s two dead bodies floated past one morning when he was skipping stones at the beach with a friend.

The Washington Post • 26th August 2019

Spending a Year at Sea, I Was Living The Dream. But Thanksgiving Was Lonely

Every elementary school sleepover I attended was plagued by some homesick girl, begging to be taken home just hours into the evening. I judged that girl harshly. And continued to judge, as she grew into the preteen at summer camp, the freshman in my dorm, the graduate student in Vermont, the expat in the Caribbean, the woman on vacation in the South Pacific.

The Washington Post • 26th August 2019

I'm a Female Bachelor In My 40s. I'm Grateful For That, Not Sad

“This car says: ‘There will never be a baby seat in my life,’ ” my friend Theo said, struggling to arrange herself and both our laptops in the passenger side of my tiny, bright blue convertible. The Barbie dream car, friends call it.

“That is news to no one,” I said.

The Washington Post • 26th August 2019

The Suitor I've Never Been Able To Turn Down: Wanderlust

Fourteen is the number of consecutive nights I’ve ever spent with a man. So when people talk about singlehood, I’m often skeptical. What do you really know? I want to ask the divorcee, the serial monogamist, the widower. At 44, I am the expert witness, outstanding in my field.

People ask whether I’m lonely, and I tell the truth:

The New York Times • 7th January 2011

Single, Female, Mormon, Alone (Updated With Podcast)

UPDATED: You can now hear this essay read by the actress Justina Machado in Modern Love: The Podcast. Look for the “play” button below.

About Me

I'm a cross-genre creative writer and developmental editor based in Seattle, currently at work on a memoir of the year I spent sailing the world.

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