Rachel Renée Russell

Rachel Renée Russell once admitted that she was a lot like ‘Nikki Maxwell’ when she was in school. She was a “dork” and found it difficult to fit in with the other girls at school.

Not much is known about her husband. She got divorced in 2009 and has been living alone with her pet cat since then. Both her daughters are married.

Rachel Renée Russell was born on March 13, 1959, in Michigan. She was the eldest of the five children in the family and had two younger brothers and two sisters.

As a child, she was artistically inclined. Once, on her twin brothers’ birthday, she gifted them a book of illustrations that she had made. She was in middle school back then. She read a lot and also wrote, but it never occurred to her that she could become an author someday.

Soon, she became serious about the idea of becoming an author. After her high-school graduation, she got enrolled at the ‘Midwestern University,’ where she joined a professional writing course. However, she became extremely disheartened when one of her college professors criticized her writing skills in a rude manner.

She decided to quit writing once and for all. She decided to pursue law instead and upon receiving her bachelor’s degree, she started practicing law. She worked in the consumer bankruptcy sector and became a successful lawyer.

Once she got married and settled into her new job, she decided to give writing another chance. She was inspired by the real-life school experiences of her daughters, Erin and Nikki. Soon, she started working on her debut children’s novel.

Brainstorming on several ideas gave birth to the ‘Dork Diaries.’ The book was written in the form of a diary and included drawings, doodles, and comic strips that collectively took the story forward. The core story followed the life of a teenage girl named ‘Nikki Maxwell,’ and the series chronicled her life. Rachel named the lead character after her younger daughter, Nikki.

The first book in the series was titled ‘Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life’ and was released in June 2009 by ‘Aladdin Paperbacks.’ The story followed the life of Nikki, an introverted and lonely teenage girl, struggling hard to make friends in school and facing direct competition from the most popular girl there, ‘MacKenzie Hollister.’

The first book mostly introduced the main characters of the story. The book picked up pace slowly and became a massive success over time. It held its place on the ‘USA Today Best Sellers’ list for seven weeks. The book graced ‘The New York Times Best Sellers’ list for 42 weeks, which was a huge achievement for a debut author.

The surprising success of the first book enabled Rachel to work on her second book, which was a direct sequel to the first book. Titled ‘Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl,’ the book took Nikki’s story further and showed her struggling some more to tackle her insecurities. The book was yet another success, spending 42 weeks on ‘The New York Times Best Sellers’ list and 12 weeks on the ‘USA Today Best Sellers’ list.

The third book took the story forward as new characters made their entry. It narrated Nikki’s struggles with the humiliation brought on by her father’s low-end job of a bug exterminator and her attempt at buying an ‘iPhone’ to mingle with the kids at school.