November 4, 2025 • 21 mins
Why now?:The #1 New York Times bestselling series, Dork Diaries, now has dazzling, full-color illustrations for a new generation of middle-grade readers. Rachel Renee Russell and her daughter Nikki Russell, who illustrates the series, are on a mission to encourage kids to embrace their individuality, and to inspire them to be strong and have self confidence in the face of adversity. Rachel knows that humor can be a band-aid to help emotional wounds heal, that it can provide temporary relief from stress and worry—and in some cases even provide hope. Rachel Renee Russell and Nikki Russell are keenly aware of what kids today want. They set a new direction for illustrated middle grade books when the series was initially introduced, and now that kids today are more visual readers, they are giving readers a full color edition making this a fresh new take on this contemporary classic story about how difficult middle school can be. Rachel’s daughters were actually the inspiration for the series. They were bullied and teased, and had a really hard time fitting in during middle school – something I think any parent of a tween can relate to. One morning one of her daughters had enough and said “You know what? I'm proud to be a dork, being a dork is cool!” Rachel took the negative meaning behind that word and turned it into something positive. And she used that concept and channeled it into Dork Diaries.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, So for all these years have said, hey, if
you're looking for a great podcast, just google me Arrowcollins,
and then all of a sudden you find yourself on
a streaming platform and can't figure out where anything is.
He said, he was talking to this person. But okay,
So what I've done is I've centralized it. Now Arrow
dot net, A R R O E dot net, all
seventeen of my podcasts are up there for you to enjoy.
(00:21):
How are you doing today, Rachel?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Oh very good? How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
There you are, the two of you. I swear to god,
I feel like I've grown up with the two of
you just as much as readers have grown up with
the Dork Diaries.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh thank you, thank you. I'm adjusting my volume here too,
and then it will be aw set.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm very excited to share a conversation with the two
of you, because I mean, you guys are stepping into
something here that it's it's almost like a Beatles moment
for a lot of people, because full colored Dork Diaries.
This is a moment. Do you not agree?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, it is. It's almost like a reset for our
book series. And it'll either reset not as good, it'll
reset about the same, or it'll just be fantastically exactly. Well,
we even look at some of our middle grade books
that were originally inked have converted over to full color
(01:17):
and they're doing like phenomenal. So we're hoping that when
we take our ink and converted over to full color,
we won't be graphic novel technically, but when we converted
over to full color, we hope our sales will be
phenomenal like many of the middle grade books that are
graphic novels and full color. Well.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
See, I love this idea because one of my essential
jobs only because I love people so much. I wanted
to go where the people are so so the universe
put me inside a grocery store and it's fun to
stand there and talk with mothers and fathers with their
kids about Dork Diaries because they they wrote, they read
Dork Diaries, and their kids are just discovering it. So
(01:54):
I mean, it's like, that's why I'm so inspired by
the two of you, because somewhere in your heart you
have to know that you are generational, that you are
going to reach well beyond where we are in this
moment of now.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, yeah, we love to hope. So, but I like
the average I think the average time that the graphic
not in the graphic novel. I would say the average
children's book middle grade, because that's the area we work in.
Maybe they have a shelf life of maybe three to
five years, and that's even considered excellent. And we've been
doing this for sixteen years, so I guess they kind
of call our series evergreen. Yeah, so we have kind
(02:30):
of gone beyond the average you know, three three years,
maybe five years. You know, if a book is doing
really well or if it makes times bestsellers. We're a
series too, so we can keep renewing everything every year
or every other year.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And yet when you step inside the Imagine on which
is in Uptown Charlotte, which is filled with all books
from YA authors, it's fun and fascinating to go to
your section and sit there and you're going to think
I'm a freak. I will open up the books because
I know somebody else's imagination has been in that book,
and I want to know what their imagination planted on
your page so that we can continue with that positive
(03:03):
energy forward all of us as a community.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That sounds fantastic to me. Yes, I'm excited about it. So, yeah,
this is where we have our fingers crossed and we
hope this will kind of relaunch the entire series.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Have any of the readers of the year's past, because
you were talking about sixteen, has anybody started their own diary?
Because I am a daily writer. I've been doing it
since July of nineteen ninety four. I put value in
having a diary, I really do. And this is where
I can relate with Nicki Maxwell in new school new diary.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yep, that's me. I would be that guy exactly. Yeah,
I'll let Niki answer this because she started. I used
to buy her like spiral notebook yep, from the grocery
store when she was maybe three or four years old.
She had a really nasty habit of drawing and with
my magic marker on her bedroom wall. So I thought
I bought her a little spiral notebook and you know,
(03:54):
gave her a pencil or pen or her fat marker
that she loved so much, so she could put all
that energy into a spiral notebook instead of her bedroom walls.
I don't like to talk about the whole diary thing.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Well ever, since I was very young, I really loved drawing,
and my mom got me into Spiro notebook papers and
pens as my very first way of expressing myself on paper,
and that eventually evolved into art lessons in middle school
during the summer, and from there I went into fine
(04:24):
arts as my minor. In college, elementary education was my major,
which has prepared me to work with children as a
children's illustrator. So it's really great how all that works
out now. As a diary person, I've loved diaries ever
since I was Nicky Maxwell's age actually, and I have
collected them since been. I am very much a diary
(04:46):
person myself, and I feel like I can't get through
life without having a way of processing my feelings in
a diary. And not only that, I also have what
I call a plannery. It's something I use daily just
to set up my schedule to be a place to
jats on my thoughts and my feelings throughout the week.
And I even fill it with stickers and colorful gelpins
(05:09):
and stuff. Because I consider being creative and crafty very cathartics.
So yes, diaries and journals all the way.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So from one creative person to another, then Nicky because
when it comes to keeping that diary, did you ask
yourself the questions, do I need to put color inside
these storylines? Did you work it out inside your diaries
first and then work it with your mom and then
come out with the book itself, Because I mean that's
how ideas start to me in the diary.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Yes, yes, absolutely, And you.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Don't have to feel like a dork. But then again,
I'm kind of proud being a dork. I like that
they think I'm weird, so I'm.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Going to prove it.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
And Rachel, Rachel, one of the most inspiring things is
that I love the fact that Nicky did you know
draw and pictures all over the wall because my daughter's
room to this day is and we refuse to paint
over it because I wanted the grandchildren to experience it.
And it's fun to watch the grandchildren to step in there.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Thinking a lot more positive than I was, because I'd
be like, ah, and then we'd have to like repaint
our walls maybe two or three times a year. Yeah, yeah,
well that's one I wish I was like that. I
think that was the reason the experience.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I think that was the reason why I finally accepted
it's like, I'm tired of painting these walls.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
The very cool and that's going to be so wonderful
when her your own children, you know, they'll be like wow, mom,
maybe they'll be aspiring start drawing on bare walls. I
know what we need to do.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
We need to come up with wall paper or something
that goes on the walls.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, draw yes, not a problem. I think you could
buy like chalk paint, but that's chalk. We need something
like that Mark watercolor marker.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
That is absolutely York diary marketing right there. That's the
kind of stuff for you. You put your name on that.
Oh my god, that's Mark, and then do some T
shirts because we all like to write on ourselves as well.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Exactly. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, that's that's a really good
We can like market it with Brianna because Brianna and
the Dark Diaries is inspired by Nikki and my older
daughter Aaron, and we could have a whole Brianna brand
of UH markers and things that you can use on
your on your bedroom walls. That's an excellent idea.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
It's so inspiring to see you reaching forward, Rachel in
the way that I mean it began with you and
now everybody else is getting involved, and it really puts
me in a position where with a lot of parents,
because you know, the parents are going to be picking
this up because it's a part of their lives. But
we're all asking that question when we look back, what
do we see? And and your story is very inspiring
(07:47):
because you're passing it forward, you're giving it forward, and
that that is so very impressive.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Thank you so much, Thank you. So Yeah, we've been
we've been at it since this is our sixteenth year.
And I again, I expect it. Like when I originally
did it, I thought, you know, maybe I'd get published
and I'd maybe get about five, maybe ten thousand dollars,
and then I was going to buy a new living
room furnature and I was like my hope of it go.
And at the time, I was a consumer bankruptcy attorney.
(08:15):
And I've been able to I don't have to practice
law anymore. And I just work in my pajamas in
this office, yep, working on the most cool, wonderful stories
that I can think of, you know, with my daughter
full time, no less. So I have a very very wonderful,
blessed life and I do know that and like I said,
thank goodness. I have to thank all of our fans
and teachers and librarians and parents and our readers for
(08:37):
keeping us around for sixteen long years and hopefully have
another sixteen long years ahead of us.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Now, Nikki, this is what I heard. She was buying
the furniture because what really, what she wanted to buy
was more notebooks for you so that you didn't write
on the walk, because she was gonna please do not move.
There's more with Rachel and Nicki Russell coming up next.
Families have not only grown up, but grown together because
of the Dork Diaries, and now it's in full color.
(09:05):
Mom and dad, wait until you experience it. We are
back with Rachel and Niki Russell. How do you keep
it together though, because you know how sometimes with family,
the you know, creative minds we all are going into.
I mean, we have eight kids in my family, none
of us have anything creative in common. But yet the
three of you guys now have this all in common.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, it's well. Technically the books were inspired by my daughters. Yep,
and I did ask Nicki for permission to use her
name and likeness in some of her life experiences and
what did you say exactly? My other daughter not so much.
She was like here, I don't know. And then after
we became New York Times bestsellers, then she wanted her name,
(09:49):
so we've added her name to our misipitches of Max
Crumbley books. So Nicki gave me one hundred percent of
permission to use things in her life. And that's why
I think Dork Diaries has done so well and kids
relate to it because it's actually based on real life experiences.
And Nicki was bullied as a child. I mean, it's weird,
(10:10):
but she her dad is very tall, so both her
and her sister and inherited his type. So she was
always like the tallest kid in kindergarten and the tallest
I mean. Finally, the varsity basketball players caught up with
her in high school and she was taller than most
of the male basketball players too. But that you know,
people gave her a hard time because she was a
(10:31):
little different. So ultimately we had to change schools. It
was that bad, another different school where kids were kinder
and all of that too. So we were able to
take her experiences and some of the trauma and pain
she suffered and add a little humor to it and
then release it in Dirk Diaries and hopefully kids will
(10:51):
read it and if they see themselves, they can see
how Nicki in the book series is coping with some
of the issues she has to deal with. So it's
I think the book is really an anti bullying but
we don't advertise it this exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I would love to sit down with some of those
readers and ask them, what voice do you hear while
you're reading the paragraphs, because I want them to hear you,
but at the same time, I want them to hear themselves.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah, that would be wonderful, And I think that's what's
happening because we do get emails and when we do
appearance as kids will stand up and tell us about
their experiences and what we do recommend for kids. Number one,
tell a trusted adult parent first and parent and then
an additional trusted adult. And whatever environment you're in, so
(11:37):
open school, you might want to talk to a teacher
or a counselor. We also advise kids to find other
friends that are like them. Of course, you're gonna want
to hang around, you know, the most popular kid, or
the homecoming queen or the cheerleaders, but they're not always
the people that will make the best friend for you.
They may be friends to hundreds of other people and
(11:58):
super popular, but you want person that's going to relate
to you. You want to talk about that a little bit,
because that's what you got to do.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Grow.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
There was all sorts of different things going on during
each phase of my life. Elementary school, there was a
mean girl who was like Mackenzie Hollister, popular, had everything
going for her, good grades, beautiful clothes, just everything about
her was absolutely outstands and I wanted to be her friend,
(12:31):
but she couldn't stand me, and she was very mean
to me. And she had this beautiful, wonderful birthday party
and basically invited everybody except for me, and that devastated me.
And then in middle school it was the same thing
over again, and this this mean girl was excellent at sports.
(12:52):
I was not very good at sports. I was more
of an artsy theater kid. But again I admired her
so much, but she would just give me such a
hard time. She and her friends would just bing up
on me. And then there was high school, and I
think that's when I just gob out had and realized
I needed to get out of there because I would
just get so harassed. I would call me names, they'd
(13:15):
throw paper wads at me, they would take fun of
me in the hallway and in the class, and it
would make it hard for me to do my work.
So I'm really grateful for my mom transferring me and
giving me a fresh start somewhere where a lot nicer.
But yeah, it's important to not just fawn over the
(13:36):
most popular girl or someone everybody else adoores, because they
may not be They might look out standing on the outside,
but on the inside they may not be very good.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, but you always want to find your Chloe and
your Zoe. And your Chloe and your Zoe are two
people that will like you and love you and admire
you and appreciate for who you are. And if you're
dark then they'll love you because you're darky, or you're
call they'll think part of your height is, you know,
just the coolness about you. So you want to find
(14:10):
people that value you for who you are. And a
lot of times you get caught up with again the
most popular kids, or the cheerleaders or whatever. And I'm
trying to drag cheerleaders, but I'm just saying that a
lot of times kids that are being bullied or harassed
or or feel like, you know, they don't fit in,
that's who they are affected because that person has, you know,
(14:32):
the friends and all this and that they want that,
so they'll kind of be attracted to those people and
they're not always the best. You know, you have to
find people who appreciate you for who you are, and
we call that finding your Chloe and z So Nikki
ultimately found her Chloe and Zoe. And that's what we
tell people is to you know, try to find friends
that are like you that if you're into I don't know,
(14:52):
if you're into sports, find and other people that are
into sports. If you're into theater, you find kids that
love the same things you do, then you will be
able to find it.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I've been in a classroom where where there was an
unruly student. He did have a dork diary, and I
remember that school teacher saying, here's what I want you
to do. I want you to go through your book
and I want you to find a part in this
book that you are feeling. And then I want you
to write me a story. What you would do if
this story was written about you.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And my God.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
But that's how it changed this kid. I mean, he
just he changed right there in front of me because
he because she invited him into something he enjoys, because
she could relate with it, and then they could relate
together and talk about it. And Wow, that right there
is exactly what you're talking about with Chloe and everything.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yes, yes, well that's I'm happy to hear this all
working in real life. I love hearing real life experiences
where people are inspired by dork Diaries or they were
able to use some of the things that we suggest
in our book, the stories that Nicky Maxwell does, they
use those in real life and they have a positive outcome.
So that just warms my heart. And that's the whole
(16:07):
point why we wrote the book.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Wow. We want kids to laugh and to you know,
find the story is really exciting. But most of all,
we want them to, you know, hopefully take away some
something positive from the book that you know, makes their
own lives better.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
But you know what I when I see when I
when when someone is holding on to a dork Diary
book is the fact that what I'm hearing in my
heart when I see it clutched in their hand. They're
saying mine, this book is mine. But you know, you
know what I mean because a lot of people think, oh,
I borrowed the book, Oh this is my brother's book.
But when they've got you can tell somebody who this
is their book, and you can tell it belongs to them.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Excellent, excellent. Wow. So where thank you for sharing that
those stories.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Where can people go to find out more information about
the two of you, because you're, as I've said many
many times times with you guys, you're just getting started.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
This is just.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Every book is a brand new beginning for you too.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
You want to show the cover, Nikki, and some of
the artwork. So this is what our full call. This
is Dork Diaries Book one here that I'm holding and
it has the ink art work and that I'm going
to hold that back up again. This is our new
Ark Diaries, and it's full color and it's really really
(17:31):
well done. And as a matter of fact, we've had
people tell us that, oh, that's all AI artwork. It's
not AI artwork. It took us, like good probably like
four years we finish the art color full color artwork
for three books, books one through three, and it took
us the almost four years to do it. We would
(17:52):
not have been working and slaving over these books for
four years if we could just go click and have
a I finish it in.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Second and and and it's only because I'm an author
as well. Look at that book cover and look at
those pages. That's sturdy. That tells me this is going
to someone else's children after you've had it as a child.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Thank you. And then the interesting thing too, is that
every artwork that she's showing you, if you go to
the old book, you can find the ink of it.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Look at that.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, when you find that one, what page is that? Okay,
oh that's in the veria. Okay, yeah, we're going to
hold up this is.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
The Yeah, well look at the difference that. Wow, that
is a total experience. Look at that.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, so it's exactly the same art. And like I said,
that is not AI. We just took the ink and
then we spent four years with Nikki and a few
of her excellent colors friends working on the entire book
is basically our ink artwork that has been colored. And
then we have some new material in there too, so
we had to add a few You got maybe about
(18:58):
a half dozen to a dozen new artwork, so I'm
sure of Brianna is one of my favorite ones. Now
this is a brand new artwork a Brianna because Nicki
kind of says she, Oh, both of these, you can
show them both those are both new material in the book.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Oh man, look at see. I mean you are so
because you know, we are in this age because of
social media where we enjoy looking at pictures. Otherwise we
wouldn't be doing selfies and we wouldn't be addicted to exactly.
I mean, you are so in touch with where that
that that inner eye really is looking well.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Thank you, thank you so so much. So we're excited
about it. And like I said, if this book sold
really really well, and it has, I think we're in
what forty two I always get the numbers mixed up,
but I think we're in like fifty two countries and
forty five languages. And if this was able to do
that with just Nicki's inks drawings, hopefully the full color
will do, you know, just as well, if not better. Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well you you guys have got to come back to
this show anytime in the future. You know that door
is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so But anyway,
I think you asked where people can find out more
information at our website is dorkdiaries dot com. So wwwdorkdiaries
dot com is our website. We're also on social media.
Our biggest social media now is of course TikTok. Yep,
So we're at TikTok. We're at dork Diaries and we
(20:26):
have a lot of really cool stuff on there and
Nicki and I'm not I don't really feel that comfortable
filming myself, but we're on there, you know, trying to
do videos, and we have a lot of artwork on there,
and Nikki shares her studio, so if you want to
see what Nikki's art studio looks like, you can go
on our TikTok and she does a studio tour. So
it's been a lot of fun, you know, putting our
(20:49):
material out on TikTok. And I think we have we
have like a quarter million followers. It's like, well just
maybe two hundred and thirty thousands, so we're close to
a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Oh man, will you guys be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Okay, thank you so much, Thank you for having us.
Thank you for having us. We always love speaking with
you
Okay, So for all these years have said, hey, if
you're looking for a great podcast, just google me Arrowcollins,
and then all of a sudden you find yourself on
a streaming platform and can't figure out where anything is.
He said, he was talking to this person. But okay,
So what I've done is I've centralized it. Now Arrow
dot net, A R R O E dot net, all
seventeen of my podcasts are up there for you to enjoy.
(00:21):
How are you doing today, Rachel?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Oh very good? How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
There you are, the two of you. I swear to god,
I feel like I've grown up with the two of
you just as much as readers have grown up with
the Dork Diaries.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh thank you, thank you. I'm adjusting my volume here too,
and then it will be aw set.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I'm very excited to share a conversation with the two
of you, because I mean, you guys are stepping into
something here that it's it's almost like a Beatles moment
for a lot of people, because full colored Dork Diaries.
This is a moment. Do you not agree?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, it is. It's almost like a reset for our
book series. And it'll either reset not as good, it'll
reset about the same, or it'll just be fantastically exactly. Well,
we even look at some of our middle grade books
that were originally inked have converted over to full color
(01:17):
and they're doing like phenomenal. So we're hoping that when
we take our ink and converted over to full color,
we won't be graphic novel technically, but when we converted
over to full color, we hope our sales will be
phenomenal like many of the middle grade books that are
graphic novels and full color. Well.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
See, I love this idea because one of my essential
jobs only because I love people so much. I wanted
to go where the people are so so the universe
put me inside a grocery store and it's fun to
stand there and talk with mothers and fathers with their
kids about Dork Diaries because they they wrote, they read
Dork Diaries, and their kids are just discovering it. So
(01:54):
I mean, it's like, that's why I'm so inspired by
the two of you, because somewhere in your heart you
have to know that you are generational, that you are
going to reach well beyond where we are in this
moment of now.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, yeah, we love to hope. So, but I like
the average I think the average time that the graphic
not in the graphic novel. I would say the average
children's book middle grade, because that's the area we work in.
Maybe they have a shelf life of maybe three to
five years, and that's even considered excellent. And we've been
doing this for sixteen years, so I guess they kind
of call our series evergreen. Yeah, so we have kind
(02:30):
of gone beyond the average you know, three three years,
maybe five years. You know, if a book is doing
really well or if it makes times bestsellers. We're a
series too, so we can keep renewing everything every year
or every other year.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And yet when you step inside the Imagine on which
is in Uptown Charlotte, which is filled with all books
from YA authors, it's fun and fascinating to go to
your section and sit there and you're going to think
I'm a freak. I will open up the books because
I know somebody else's imagination has been in that book,
and I want to know what their imagination planted on
your page so that we can continue with that positive
(03:03):
energy forward all of us as a community.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
That sounds fantastic to me. Yes, I'm excited about it. So, yeah,
this is where we have our fingers crossed and we
hope this will kind of relaunch the entire series.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Have any of the readers of the year's past, because
you were talking about sixteen, has anybody started their own diary?
Because I am a daily writer. I've been doing it
since July of nineteen ninety four. I put value in
having a diary, I really do. And this is where
I can relate with Nicki Maxwell in new school new diary.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yep, that's me. I would be that guy exactly. Yeah,
I'll let Niki answer this because she started. I used
to buy her like spiral notebook yep, from the grocery
store when she was maybe three or four years old.
She had a really nasty habit of drawing and with
my magic marker on her bedroom wall. So I thought
I bought her a little spiral notebook and you know,
(03:54):
gave her a pencil or pen or her fat marker
that she loved so much, so she could put all
that energy into a spiral notebook instead of her bedroom walls.
I don't like to talk about the whole diary thing.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Well ever, since I was very young, I really loved drawing,
and my mom got me into Spiro notebook papers and
pens as my very first way of expressing myself on paper,
and that eventually evolved into art lessons in middle school
during the summer, and from there I went into fine
(04:24):
arts as my minor. In college, elementary education was my major,
which has prepared me to work with children as a
children's illustrator. So it's really great how all that works
out now. As a diary person, I've loved diaries ever
since I was Nicky Maxwell's age actually, and I have
collected them since been. I am very much a diary
(04:46):
person myself, and I feel like I can't get through
life without having a way of processing my feelings in
a diary. And not only that, I also have what
I call a plannery. It's something I use daily just
to set up my schedule to be a place to
jats on my thoughts and my feelings throughout the week.
And I even fill it with stickers and colorful gelpins
(05:09):
and stuff. Because I consider being creative and crafty very cathartics.
So yes, diaries and journals all the way.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So from one creative person to another, then Nicky because
when it comes to keeping that diary, did you ask
yourself the questions, do I need to put color inside
these storylines? Did you work it out inside your diaries
first and then work it with your mom and then
come out with the book itself, Because I mean that's
how ideas start to me in the diary.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Yes, yes, absolutely, And you.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Don't have to feel like a dork. But then again,
I'm kind of proud being a dork. I like that
they think I'm weird, so I'm.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Going to prove it.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
And Rachel, Rachel, one of the most inspiring things is
that I love the fact that Nicky did you know
draw and pictures all over the wall because my daughter's
room to this day is and we refuse to paint
over it because I wanted the grandchildren to experience it.
And it's fun to watch the grandchildren to step in there.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Thinking a lot more positive than I was, because I'd
be like, ah, and then we'd have to like repaint
our walls maybe two or three times a year. Yeah, yeah,
well that's one I wish I was like that. I
think that was the reason the experience.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I think that was the reason why I finally accepted
it's like, I'm tired of painting these walls.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
The very cool and that's going to be so wonderful
when her your own children, you know, they'll be like wow, mom,
maybe they'll be aspiring start drawing on bare walls. I
know what we need to do.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
We need to come up with wall paper or something
that goes on the walls.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah, draw yes, not a problem. I think you could
buy like chalk paint, but that's chalk. We need something
like that Mark watercolor marker.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
That is absolutely York diary marketing right there. That's the
kind of stuff for you. You put your name on that.
Oh my god, that's Mark, and then do some T
shirts because we all like to write on ourselves as well.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Exactly. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, that's that's a really good
We can like market it with Brianna because Brianna and
the Dark Diaries is inspired by Nikki and my older
daughter Aaron, and we could have a whole Brianna brand
of UH markers and things that you can use on
your on your bedroom walls. That's an excellent idea.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
It's so inspiring to see you reaching forward, Rachel in
the way that I mean it began with you and
now everybody else is getting involved, and it really puts
me in a position where with a lot of parents,
because you know, the parents are going to be picking
this up because it's a part of their lives. But
we're all asking that question when we look back, what
do we see? And and your story is very inspiring
(07:47):
because you're passing it forward, you're giving it forward, and
that that is so very impressive.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Thank you so much, Thank you. So Yeah, we've been
we've been at it since this is our sixteenth year.
And I again, I expect it. Like when I originally
did it, I thought, you know, maybe I'd get published
and I'd maybe get about five, maybe ten thousand dollars,
and then I was going to buy a new living
room furnature and I was like my hope of it go.
And at the time, I was a consumer bankruptcy attorney.
(08:15):
And I've been able to I don't have to practice
law anymore. And I just work in my pajamas in
this office, yep, working on the most cool, wonderful stories
that I can think of, you know, with my daughter
full time, no less. So I have a very very wonderful,
blessed life and I do know that and like I said,
thank goodness. I have to thank all of our fans
and teachers and librarians and parents and our readers for
(08:37):
keeping us around for sixteen long years and hopefully have
another sixteen long years ahead of us.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Now, Nikki, this is what I heard. She was buying
the furniture because what really, what she wanted to buy
was more notebooks for you so that you didn't write
on the walk, because she was gonna please do not move.
There's more with Rachel and Nicki Russell coming up next.
Families have not only grown up, but grown together because
of the Dork Diaries, and now it's in full color.
(09:05):
Mom and dad, wait until you experience it. We are
back with Rachel and Niki Russell. How do you keep
it together though, because you know how sometimes with family,
the you know, creative minds we all are going into.
I mean, we have eight kids in my family, none
of us have anything creative in common. But yet the
three of you guys now have this all in common.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, it's well. Technically the books were inspired by my daughters. Yep,
and I did ask Nicki for permission to use her
name and likeness in some of her life experiences and
what did you say exactly? My other daughter not so much.
She was like here, I don't know. And then after
we became New York Times bestsellers, then she wanted her name,
(09:49):
so we've added her name to our misipitches of Max
Crumbley books. So Nicki gave me one hundred percent of
permission to use things in her life. And that's why
I think Dork Diaries has done so well and kids
relate to it because it's actually based on real life experiences.
And Nicki was bullied as a child. I mean, it's weird,
(10:10):
but she her dad is very tall, so both her
and her sister and inherited his type. So she was
always like the tallest kid in kindergarten and the tallest
I mean. Finally, the varsity basketball players caught up with
her in high school and she was taller than most
of the male basketball players too. But that you know,
people gave her a hard time because she was a
(10:31):
little different. So ultimately we had to change schools. It
was that bad, another different school where kids were kinder
and all of that too. So we were able to
take her experiences and some of the trauma and pain
she suffered and add a little humor to it and
then release it in Dirk Diaries and hopefully kids will
(10:51):
read it and if they see themselves, they can see
how Nicki in the book series is coping with some
of the issues she has to deal with. So it's
I think the book is really an anti bullying but
we don't advertise it this exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I would love to sit down with some of those
readers and ask them, what voice do you hear while
you're reading the paragraphs, because I want them to hear you,
but at the same time, I want them to hear themselves.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah, that would be wonderful, And I think that's what's
happening because we do get emails and when we do
appearance as kids will stand up and tell us about
their experiences and what we do recommend for kids. Number one,
tell a trusted adult parent first and parent and then
an additional trusted adult. And whatever environment you're in, so
(11:37):
open school, you might want to talk to a teacher
or a counselor. We also advise kids to find other
friends that are like them. Of course, you're gonna want
to hang around, you know, the most popular kid, or
the homecoming queen or the cheerleaders, but they're not always
the people that will make the best friend for you.
They may be friends to hundreds of other people and
(11:58):
super popular, but you want person that's going to relate
to you. You want to talk about that a little bit,
because that's what you got to do.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Grow.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
There was all sorts of different things going on during
each phase of my life. Elementary school, there was a
mean girl who was like Mackenzie Hollister, popular, had everything
going for her, good grades, beautiful clothes, just everything about
her was absolutely outstands and I wanted to be her friend,
(12:31):
but she couldn't stand me, and she was very mean
to me. And she had this beautiful, wonderful birthday party
and basically invited everybody except for me, and that devastated me.
And then in middle school it was the same thing
over again, and this this mean girl was excellent at sports.
(12:52):
I was not very good at sports. I was more
of an artsy theater kid. But again I admired her
so much, but she would just give me such a
hard time. She and her friends would just bing up
on me. And then there was high school, and I
think that's when I just gob out had and realized
I needed to get out of there because I would
just get so harassed. I would call me names, they'd
(13:15):
throw paper wads at me, they would take fun of
me in the hallway and in the class, and it
would make it hard for me to do my work.
So I'm really grateful for my mom transferring me and
giving me a fresh start somewhere where a lot nicer.
But yeah, it's important to not just fawn over the
(13:36):
most popular girl or someone everybody else adoores, because they
may not be They might look out standing on the outside,
but on the inside they may not be very good.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, but you always want to find your Chloe and
your Zoe. And your Chloe and your Zoe are two
people that will like you and love you and admire
you and appreciate for who you are. And if you're
dark then they'll love you because you're darky, or you're
call they'll think part of your height is, you know,
just the coolness about you. So you want to find
(14:10):
people that value you for who you are. And a
lot of times you get caught up with again the
most popular kids, or the cheerleaders or whatever. And I'm
trying to drag cheerleaders, but I'm just saying that a
lot of times kids that are being bullied or harassed
or or feel like, you know, they don't fit in,
that's who they are affected because that person has, you know,
(14:32):
the friends and all this and that they want that,
so they'll kind of be attracted to those people and
they're not always the best. You know, you have to
find people who appreciate you for who you are, and
we call that finding your Chloe and z So Nikki
ultimately found her Chloe and Zoe. And that's what we
tell people is to you know, try to find friends
that are like you that if you're into I don't know,
(14:52):
if you're into sports, find and other people that are
into sports. If you're into theater, you find kids that
love the same things you do, then you will be
able to find it.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I've been in a classroom where where there was an
unruly student. He did have a dork diary, and I
remember that school teacher saying, here's what I want you
to do. I want you to go through your book
and I want you to find a part in this
book that you are feeling. And then I want you
to write me a story. What you would do if
this story was written about you.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
And my God.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
But that's how it changed this kid. I mean, he
just he changed right there in front of me because
he because she invited him into something he enjoys, because
she could relate with it, and then they could relate
together and talk about it. And Wow, that right there
is exactly what you're talking about with Chloe and everything.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yes, yes, well that's I'm happy to hear this all
working in real life. I love hearing real life experiences
where people are inspired by dork Diaries or they were
able to use some of the things that we suggest
in our book, the stories that Nicky Maxwell does, they
use those in real life and they have a positive outcome.
So that just warms my heart. And that's the whole
(16:07):
point why we wrote the book.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Wow. We want kids to laugh and to you know,
find the story is really exciting. But most of all,
we want them to, you know, hopefully take away some
something positive from the book that you know, makes their
own lives better.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
But you know what I when I see when I
when when someone is holding on to a dork Diary
book is the fact that what I'm hearing in my
heart when I see it clutched in their hand. They're
saying mine, this book is mine. But you know, you
know what I mean because a lot of people think, oh,
I borrowed the book, Oh this is my brother's book.
But when they've got you can tell somebody who this
is their book, and you can tell it belongs to them.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Excellent, excellent. Wow. So where thank you for sharing that
those stories.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Where can people go to find out more information about
the two of you, because you're, as I've said many
many times times with you guys, you're just getting started.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
This is just.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Every book is a brand new beginning for you too.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
You want to show the cover, Nikki, and some of
the artwork. So this is what our full call. This
is Dork Diaries Book one here that I'm holding and
it has the ink art work and that I'm going
to hold that back up again. This is our new
Ark Diaries, and it's full color and it's really really
(17:31):
well done. And as a matter of fact, we've had
people tell us that, oh, that's all AI artwork. It's
not AI artwork. It took us, like good probably like
four years we finish the art color full color artwork
for three books, books one through three, and it took
us the almost four years to do it. We would
(17:52):
not have been working and slaving over these books for
four years if we could just go click and have
a I finish it in.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Second and and and it's only because I'm an author
as well. Look at that book cover and look at
those pages. That's sturdy. That tells me this is going
to someone else's children after you've had it as a child.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Thank you. And then the interesting thing too, is that
every artwork that she's showing you, if you go to
the old book, you can find the ink of it.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Look at that.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, when you find that one, what page is that? Okay,
oh that's in the veria. Okay, yeah, we're going to
hold up this is.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
The Yeah, well look at the difference that. Wow, that
is a total experience. Look at that.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Yeah, so it's exactly the same art. And like I said,
that is not AI. We just took the ink and
then we spent four years with Nikki and a few
of her excellent colors friends working on the entire book
is basically our ink artwork that has been colored. And
then we have some new material in there too, so
we had to add a few You got maybe about
(18:58):
a half dozen to a dozen new artwork, so I'm
sure of Brianna is one of my favorite ones. Now
this is a brand new artwork a Brianna because Nicki
kind of says she, Oh, both of these, you can
show them both those are both new material in the book.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Oh man, look at see. I mean you are so
because you know, we are in this age because of
social media where we enjoy looking at pictures. Otherwise we
wouldn't be doing selfies and we wouldn't be addicted to exactly.
I mean, you are so in touch with where that
that that inner eye really is looking well.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Thank you, thank you so so much. So we're excited
about it. And like I said, if this book sold
really really well, and it has, I think we're in
what forty two I always get the numbers mixed up,
but I think we're in like fifty two countries and
forty five languages. And if this was able to do
that with just Nicki's inks drawings, hopefully the full color
will do, you know, just as well, if not better. Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well you you guys have got to come back to
this show anytime in the future. You know that door
is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so But anyway,
I think you asked where people can find out more
information at our website is dorkdiaries dot com. So wwwdorkdiaries
dot com is our website. We're also on social media.
Our biggest social media now is of course TikTok. Yep,
So we're at TikTok. We're at dork Diaries and we
(20:26):
have a lot of really cool stuff on there and
Nicki and I'm not I don't really feel that comfortable
filming myself, but we're on there, you know, trying to
do videos, and we have a lot of artwork on there,
and Nikki shares her studio, so if you want to
see what Nikki's art studio looks like, you can go
on our TikTok and she does a studio tour. So
it's been a lot of fun, you know, putting our
(20:49):
material out on TikTok. And I think we have we
have like a quarter million followers. It's like, well just
maybe two hundred and thirty thousands, so we're close to
a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Oh man, will you guys be brilliant today?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Okay, thank you so much, Thank you for having us.
Thank you for having us. We always love speaking with
you
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