Gerri Russell is an American romantic fiction author, currently residing in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

with her family.

Writing career and awards

Before publishing her first novel, Russell's career started in a variety of writing fields, beginning as a newspaper columnist in college. Upon graduation, she worked as a broadcast journalist, newspaper reporter, magazine columnist, technical writer and editor and instructional designer. Russell's first award was the

Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by incr ...

Golden Heart in 1998 for her paranormal romance, ''Remember Me''. She won another Golden Heart in 2002 in the short historical category with ''The Warrior Trainer''. The same book won the American Title II contest, sponsored by ''Romantic Times Bookreviews'' magazine and

Dorchester Publishing Dorchester Publishing was a publisher of mass market paperback books. Although mostly known for romance, Dorchester also published horror, thriller and Western titles. Publication lines Dorchester was the original publisher of the ''Hard Case ...

in 2006. Russell began writing when her daughter was three years old. Prior to selling ''The Warrior Trainer'' to Dorchester Publishing, Russell wrote seven novels, several partials and sought publication for thirteen years. For the November 2009 issue of ''RT Book Reviews Magazine'' (issue #309), Russell interviewed

Diana Gabaldon Diana J. Gabaldon (; born January 11, 1952) is an American author, known for the ''Outlander'' series of novels. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantas ...

about her seventh book in the ''Outlander'' series, An Echo in the Bone.

Personal life and interests

A history buff from a young age, Russell's novels are based on real-life historic people from the early 14th century. Her goal is to not leave footprints on history while writing. Russell's fascination with history extended to her spare time where she often worked for one weekend each summer as a living history re-enactor at the Shrewsbury Reinaissance Faire in

Kings Valley, Oregon Kings Valley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Benton County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the Luckiamute River and Oregon Route 223, the Kings Valley Highway. As of the 2010 census it had a population of ...

''The Warrior Trainer''

Scotia, the heroine in Russell's first novel, ''The Warrior Trainer'', is based on a real-life female from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

's history. Russell first learned of Scotia while at a demonstration by the Seattle Knights. Her research involved finding a first source reference that linked Scotia to Scotland's past. Russell discovered evidence of Scotia's existence in a book detailing the lineage of Scottish kings. The Warrior Trainer was initially rejected by several publishers for having a main female character who was considered too strong.

Bibliography

Scottish Stones of Destiny Series

*''The Warrior Trainer'', 2007, re-released 2015 *''Warrior's Bride'', 2007, re-released 2015 *''Warrior's Lady'', 2008, re-released 2015

Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars Series

*''To Tempt a Knight'', 2009, re-released 2014 *''Seducing the Knight'', 2010, re-released 2014 *''A Knight to Desire'', 2012 *''Border Lord's Bride'', 2014

Highland Bachelor Series

*''A Laird for Christmas'', 2013 *''This Laird of Mine'', 2013

Contemporary Titles

*''Flirting with Felicity'', 2015

References

External links

Gerri Russell Official Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Gerri 21st-century American novelists American romantic fiction writers American women novelists Living people Novelists from Washington (state) Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of historical romances 21st-century American women writers Seattle University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)