Rachel Ren�e Russell grew up in Saint Joseph, Michigan. She was born on December 11, 1965. She is an attorney who also writes children's books. She writes and illustrates the Dork Diaries series. Rachel wrote her first book in 6th grade as a birthday present for her younger twin brothers. Dork Diaries dramatically chronicles the daily life of the main character, Nikki Maxwell, as she struggles to fit in and survive middle school. The book series is written in a diary format and includes doodles, drawings and comic strips. According to the author's website, the Dork Diaries books are based on Rachel Renee Russell's experiences in middle school, as well as those of her two daughters, Erin… and Nikki. Her older daughter, Erin, helps with writing and her younger daughter, Nikki, helps with illustrations. The main character, Nikki Maxwell, is named after her daughter. Currently, there are over 10 million copies of the Dork Diaries books in print in the United States. Publishing rights have been sold in 36 countries with translation into 32 different languages. Dork Diaries was awarded the 2010 Children's Choice Book of the Year Award for the 5th/6th grade division. She made The New York Times Best Seller List iwith her title OMG!:All about Me Diary! and her title Dork Diaries.