Fifteen years ago, Laurel Handfield was a single woman living in a tiny one bedroom in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She worked a monotonous nine-to-five handling copy equipment leases. One day she decided to get back to what she loved most—writing. She decided to write a novel. But what would it be about?
A month later, she went on vacation to the Bahamas. In true Stella fashion (See Terry McMillian-How Stella Got Her Groove Back) she met a Bahamian. The rest is history, as they say. She came back from vacation, quit her job several months later and moved to Maryland to live with her sister while she wrote her first novel based loosely on how she and her husband first met. She has since moved to the Bahamas where she has lived for thirteen years with her husband, three children and Abigail, the family hamster. She writes full-time.
Her first upper middle grade novel, Unsinkable, will be released May 21, 2013 by Simon & Schuster/Strebor Books. Unsinkable gives the day-by-day account of the only black family aboard the doomed Titanic. The prequel novella, A Bond Broken, is an ebook that will be released April 16th for the anniversary of the sinking. Both novels were written in her penname, Nicole Bradshaw. Her first picture book, Cassi da Conch, will be released by Xist Publishing in 2014.
When she’s not writing, she’s sipping piña coladas on the beach. (seriously) For more information check out www.writernicole.com and
Both novels are available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.
Product Details
Publisher: Strebor Books Sold by: Amazon Digital Svcs ASIN: B00APJ7K68 Release Date: April 16, 2013
Publisher: S &S Strebor Books Paperback: 320 pages ISBN-10: 1593094833 Release Date: May 21, 2013
Unsinkable Description
Fifteen-year-old Corinne LaRoche’s life changes one evening when she returns home and witnesses her father being harassed by racist French policemen. That’s it! Her frustrated father decides the family is leaving France and moving back to Canada.
After boarding the beautiful Titanic, Corinne meets Christopher, the Captain’s nephew. Coming from a wealthy British family, Christopher is privileged in every way. He matches perfectly with Sophia, the daughter of a dear family friend he plans to wed.
Unsinkable is the tale of how two teens from seemingly different worlds come together amidst a tragedy that changed thousands of lives forever. They could have never imagined their impending fate as well as the family secrets revealed four days before the sinking. This novel gives a day-by-day account of the doomed voyage as told from a minority perspective.
A Bond Broken Description (Prequel e-novella to Unsinkable)
Corinne’s big sister, Astrid, has always looked out for her, even if Astrid believes Corinne has favor with their parents. But Astrid has a secret. She confides to her younger sister her plans to leave the tiny town of Cherbourg, France to become the first colored fashion designer in New York City. She’ll finally be on her own and rid of the family’s strict rules.
When their father loses his job, Astrid is commanded to leave school in order to assist the family financially. Trying to help, Corinne reveals Astrid’s secret but only makes the situation worse. Astrid feels betrayed by her younger sister and promises revenge. She seizes the perfect opportunity with Corinne’s blossoming friendship with a boy from class.
The sisters become mortal enemies and vow to hate one another until the day they die. That day may come sooner than they think. On April 10th, 1912, the family boards the beautiful Titanic on a voyage that will change their lives forever.
A Bond Broken is the prequel novella to the novel Unsinkable, which tells the fictitious story of the only black family on the doomed ship, the Titanic.
Fact Sheet for Nicole Bradshaw
•Born and raised in Malvern, PA but has lived in Silver Springs, MD and currently resides in the Bahamas.
•First taste of writing began when she and her older sister used to create plays from Archie comics.
•Wrote a parenting column for The Bahama Buy and Sell, a local newspaper.•Penname Nicole Bradshaw is her middle name and her mother’s maiden name. •Chose a penname to differentiate her adult novels from her children’s novels. •Currently writes children’s stories for an ipad app. •Unsinkable came about one day when she was watching the popular movie, Titanic.
•She wondered if there were any minorities on the ship. After the movie, she googled it and found out about the LaRoche family. From there, she created Unsinkable.
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