Writer

Deep Water

It’s 1971 in Coronado, a small southern California beach town. For 17-year-old Eddie Otero, a skilled waterman and avid surfer, life is simple. Then a buddy makes him an offer: Swim an illicit package across the border from Mexico. The intense workout is dangerous. Thrilling. Lucrative. And the beginning of a small business.

When the young entrepreneurs involve their former high school Spanish teacher, the smuggling adventure grows into a $100 million global operation over the next 10 years.

Soon they become fugitives. Living on the edge, they vow to return to their normal lives — right after one last run….

***

Katherine is the author of Deep Water, a narrative nonfiction book published by Simon & Schuster and optioned for screen adaptation. After its release (right: capacity launch event!), she completed a 25-venue book tour in California, Hawaii, and various states on the East Coast. A few media interviews are included below:

 

deep water book
deep water katherine nichols

“Nichols’ gift for detail and narrative organization has resulted in a finely-crafted book that delivers the goods (and the bads), in a thoroughly compelling page-turner.”

Group 39

“Deeply researched and evocative, Nichols’ narrative clearly illustrates where a single bad decision can lead.  As events unfold, readers experience the emotional roller coaster inherent to dangerous, illegal activities.  Readers who love true crime will find themselves engrossed in this true tale of excess.”

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Published Writing

As a longtime journalist, Katherine has written hundreds of articles and essays for numerous publications. Included below is a limited selection from the categories of health & wellness, sports, travel, business, and celebrity profiles.
 
 

For Better and for Worse

For Better and for Worse

Two weeks after my husband, E., was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that has no treatment or cure, he left me. At the time, we were preparing to depart on a long-planned family trip to Washington, D.C. Without warning, he declined to join us. He insisted...

The Other Dementia

The Other Dementia

San Francisco Chronicle Magazine UCSF is at the forefront of studying frontotemporal dementia, a wasting disease similar to Alzheimer's that strikes patients at their peak. Dawn spoke with impeccable grammar until she reached her late 40s, when she began struggling to...

Racing the Tinman Triathlon

Racing the Tinman Triathlon

Honolulu Magazine Submerged in water up to my neck, I barely notice the first traces of light piercing the ocean. I've been awake for hours. It's 5:44 a.m., that eerie time between darkness and blinding sun. That silence between the nervous hum of voices and the crack...

Reading Aloud

Reading Aloud

Honolulu Magazine and Honolulu Advertiser It's not about books, really. The worn pages, colorful illustrations and printed words are important but confined to the role of catalyst. It's really about human touch. Reading to my children before bedtime is a way to...

The Dirt on ‘Lost’

The Dirt on ‘Lost’

Working on a hit television show sounds glamorous. Until you actually do it. On this day in a jungle in Heeia, on Oahu's Windward side, slate-colored skies threaten rain. On the set -- a brief yet bumpy off-road drive from base camp, where trailers and a rudimentary...

Diminishing Returns

Diminishing Returns

New York Times Magazine During the two years leading up to his diagnosis, my husband, a highly respected physician, struggled to communicate and complete work, left me in doubt about his truthfulness, accumulated debt I was unaware of and wrote a series of notes that...

Battleship Missouri

Battleship Missouri

Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — Each day, thousands of people visit the USS Arizona Memorial to pay tribute to the victims of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese sneak attack on Dec. 7, 1941, killed 2,388 Americans, shattered the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and propelled the...

The Art of Traditional Tattoos

The Art of Traditional Tattoos

Honolulu Advertiser Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap. With each rhythmic echo of the wood, the thin, jagged comb-like edge of a boar's tusk dipped in ink pierces the skin of Daniel Reed's leg. Blood rises through the ink. But Reed, a 25-year-old former University of Hawai'i...

Pure Kauai

Pure Kauai

Town & Country Travel Magazine For the ultimate in a tailor-made rejuvenating holiday, look to Pure Kauai, which plans wellness retreats on the northern shore of Hawaii's "Garden Isle" for celebrities, executives, newlyweds and others seeking pampering and...

Country Doctors

Country Doctors

Honolulu Magazine Commuting between Oahu and Kalaupapa to treat Hansen’s Disease patients sometimes requires innovation beyond Dr. Kalani Brady’s medical expertise. The Honolulu physician flies to Molokai once a week. Yet inclement weather has prevented the plane from...

Coconut Island

Coconut Island

Welcome to a place with only one operating car. A few adventurous marine researchers try getting around on rusted bikes, but run the risk that a wheel might suddenly fly off. In one of Coconut Island's handful of tiny houses, roommates and doctoral candidates Ken...

Classic Abs

Classic Abs

Shape Magazine Depending on your geographical coordinates, you already may be donning chat cute little T-shirt that creeps up to reveal what you hope is a flattering sliver of midriff. If not, you will be soon enough, so consider it crunch time! Lose the gimmicks and...

Moab, Utah

Moab, Utah

Huffington Post Aside from a bevy of devoted mountain bikers who pay homage to the place every year in the 24-hour Mountain Bike National Championship, Moab, Utah doesn’t usually hover at the top of most people’s vacation wish lists. That’s a shame, because it’s one...

Favorite (Encore) Wedding Spot

Favorite (Encore) Wedding Spot

Associated Press HANA, Maui >> For my first wedding, a seamstress custom-made my gown and 300 people swarmed our catered beachfront dinner. The second time, everything else in our lives was so complicated that the wedding demanded simplicity. And Hana -- a small...

Wood Into Art

Wood Into Art

Harvard Magazine A music stand of East Indian rosewood, with maple laminated veneers curved as delicately as a clef, stands rooted in a solid base so that it leans toward the musician with assurance. It expresses the remarkable integration of art and utility in the...

Why I Compete

Why I Compete

Aloha Airlines Magazine My once strong arms are no better than two strands of pasta. I’m pulling salt water the way I have since I began swimming competitively more than three decades ago, yet viewing the same rock. I float briefly to rest my noodle limbs, clear my...

Young & Rich

Young & Rich

People Magazine High School Musical's hot couple ... Who's richer: Zac or Vanessa? • Power Couple Real-life sweethearts Zac Efron, 19, and Vanessa Hudgens, 18, nabbed big bonuses when the Disney Channel movie scored, got raises for the sequel according to The New York...

Christina Aguilera in Waikiki

Christina Aguilera in Waikiki

People Magazine Singer Christina Aguilera attends the Morimoto VIP dinner during the opening weekend of The Waikiki EDITION on October 16, 2010, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Waikiki EDITION Opening Weekend - Day 3 The Waikiki EDITION Honolulu, HI United States October 16,...

Emmy Winner Michael Emerson

Emmy Winner Michael Emerson

HiLuxury Magazine Playing Benjamin Linus on Lost earned him an Emmy, but actor Michael Emerson’s off-screen wit and tireless artistic dedication truly make him a star. Michael Emerson arrives early for the photo shoot at a studio in Kakaako with plenty of...

Try & Tri Again

Try & Tri Again

Honolulu Advertiser I admired Vicki Viotti long before I met her. When she chronicled her loss of 20 pounds last year, I found myself riveted by her personal challenge and impressed with her honesty. She told the entire state about her goal. What if she failed? Public...

Anywhere the Wind Blows

Anywhere the Wind Blows

Honolulu Magazine Ah, to be 22 and single, bronzed and fit. To travel the world half the year, making a living at your favorite hobby. To set your office hours by the wind. Such is the life of world-champion kiteboarder Martin Vari, who trains on Oahu when he’s not on...

Help on Horseback

Help on Horseback

Honolulu Magazine Since 14-year-old Jeremiah began horseback riding in Waimanalo, his mother, Laurie Kahiapo, has noticed that he behaves better, engages more appropriately with other people, and has improved his physical coordination. This kind of progress means a...

Keeping up with Richard Dreyfuss

Keeping up with Richard Dreyfuss

Honolulu Star-Bulletin Everyone wants to know how KHON anchor Joe Moore recruited an Academy Award-winning actor like Richard Dreyfuss to participate in “Prophecy and Honor,” about the court-martial of Billy Mitchell. Actually, the lure of a free trip to Honolulu made...