Meet Nicole Tuttle-Robb of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Tuttle-Robb.

Hi Nicole, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I think I knew from a very young age that I was going to be a storyteller in some capacity.

Growing up, storytelling was just a part of my everyday life. My mom was writing her first novel, while my dad, an English and drama teacher, was bringing me along to his classes and introducing me to Shakespeare when I was 5 or 6. I was surrounded by stories before I was even old enough to understand that this was something I could eventually make a life out of.

As I got older, I found more and more ways to tell those stories. I grew up in the theatre world, surrounded by creative drama, and spent countless hours performing on stage through youth theatre, then in school. I competed in Young Authors competitions, started writing my own novels and scripts, and was constantly making skits with my friends. In middle school, I picked up a camera for the first time, and before long, I was entering photography competitions. I even won first prize at the county fair in the amateur photography category.

It became pretty clear, I was always going to be a storyteller. I just hadn’t figured out yet how many different ways I would end up doing it.

In college, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Acting, and Directing, with a support field in Literature and Language, followed by my Master of Arts in Theatre from Bowling Green State University. I spent two years as a teaching artist with CLIMB Theatre, a professional touring educational theatre company in Minnesota.

But theatre was never the only medium I loved.

I continued pursuing photography and eventually became a professional headshot photographer, while also working in wedding photography, production photography, and other areas.

During the pandemic, I wrote and produced a full three-season audio drama. That project introduced me to an entirely new form of storytelling and sparked a love for audio drama and voice acting that I hadn’t realized was waiting for me. Since then, I’ve worked professionally as a voice actor on a number of small independent projects, with an exciting SAG-AFTRA project coming soon that I unfortunately can’t talk about quite yet.

I still perform on stage, but I also love being behind the scenes as a director and producer. I’m currently on the boards of The Village Players Theatre and Frogtown Players, and I continue to find new ways to create and support the arts in my community.

And, of course, there is writing.

I’ve written and published nine novels, with more on the way. I’m also a playwright, and my scripts have been selected to be showcased in the Toledo Voices Playwrights Showcase. I perform in several online TTRPG actual-play podcasts, which gives me yet another opportunity to step into a character, build a world, and tell a story alongside other people.

When I look back at all of it, I think that’s the thread connecting everything I’ve ever done.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to tell stories in a million different ways—in novels, on stage, behind a camera, behind a microphone, through scripts, through directing, through photography, and around a table playing a character with friends.

I’ve never really been able to choose just one medium, because for me, being able to tell a story a million different ways makes for the most thrilling life.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The pandemic was certainly a hurdle I wasn’t expecting. Just as I was graduating with my Master of Arts in Theatre, having finished my time with CLIMB the year before, I was ready to get back into the theatre world armed with everything I had learned. I was excited to see where that next chapter would take me.

And then, suddenly, all the theatre in the world shut down. For an indefinite amount of time. Like so many other people in the theatre community, I was a little lost for a while. I wasn’t sure what came next, or where I was supposed to put all of this creativity and all of these stories I still wanted to tell.

That’s when I discovered yet another medium of storytelling I hadn’t ventured into before: audio dramas.

I started writing The LaFresian Chronicles, my three-season romantasy audio drama, and it ended up becoming so much more than simply something to keep me creative during a time when the theatre was closed. It gave me a completely new way to tell stories. I got to write the scripts, build the world, develop the characters, and eventually bring those characters to life through voice acting.

And in the process, I discovered a whole new love for voice acting.

Writing The LaFresian Chronicles not only gave me an outlet for storytelling when I desperately needed one, but it opened the door to some incredible voice acting opportunities that I might never have found otherwise. What started as me trying to figure out what to do when my entire industry shut down became another branch of storytelling that I still get to explore today.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
One of my biggest accomplishments, and something I’m most proud of, is the career I’ve built as an indie author.

I’ve written and published nine novels across several different series and genres, including Nameless, a paranormal romance series; Pride of Praxis, a dystopian romance; and Shadows of Verihdia, a romantasy series. I love writing across different genres and creating completely different worlds.

Being able to say that I’ve built a minorly successful platform around something I have loved doing since I was a kid is honestly pretty incredible to me. Writing started as something I did because I couldn’t stop myself from creating stories, and it has grown into something that reaches readers all over the world.

One of the milestones I’m particularly proud of is receiving an audiobook deal with Tantor Media. Getting the chance for one of my books move into another format and reach an entirely new audience is such an exciting opportunity for me, especially because voice acting have become such an important part of my creative life.

I’m also incredibly excited about the next stage of my writing career. Through one of the many indie author events I attended, I connected with an agent who is currently working to sell my next novel to traditional publishers. It’s surreal to look at where I started as an indie author and see the opportunities that have grown from simply continuing to write and put my stories out into the world.

I think what sets me apart is the fact that I don’t really fit into one creative box. I never have. I’m a writer, but I’m also an actor, director, producer, photographer, and voice actor. All of those experiences influence the way I create. I understand storytelling from a lot of different perspectives, and I think that gives me a unique way of approaching characters, dialogue, scenes, and the overall experience of a story.

What’s next?
There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon for me right now! I have an upcoming SAG-AFTRA voice acting project that I’m incredibly excited about, although I can’t share too many details just yet. My newest novel is also currently in the hands of publishers, which is a huge and exciting step in my writing career.

And, of course, I’m always finding ways to stay involved in theatre. I’ll be directing the winter production at The Village Players Theatre, so I’m looking forward to getting back into the rehearsal room and bringing another story to life from behind the director’s table.

There’s always lot happening for me (the nature of someone involved in a million things), and I’m excited to see where all of these different creative paths take me next!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/nikkirobbauthor
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkirobbauthor?igsh=MXAwZzJoYmpmMmF4ZQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr