Born in upstate NY, Jess Russell has been writing since the fifth grade. Her first story was written about a giant fish named Fred, who let her ride on his back across lake Ontario to Niagara Falls. The following year, her Halloween story entitled, "The Ghost in the Graveyard" won the award for best story in the class. After that, writing became the one thing her confidence excelled in. Jess wrote all through out high school, and began writing poetry when she was fourteen. A stint of depression, and time spent in the hospital at age fifteen, helped fuel her writing, using it as her own personal therapy. Suffering with social anxiety, and feeling unable to fit in, Jess spent most of her high school years secluding herself from others, watching from a distance. This helped her to understand how people interacted with each other, and created characters out of them in her mind. Her love of music pushed her into the major at junior college, but soon realized she was a much better writer. In 2005, Jess gave birth to a son, Dylan, and moved to Binghamton NY with his father when Dylan was six months old. The next three years were filled with highs and lows, happiness and sorrow, but she came out the other side stronger, and even more inspired. Jess now resides in a small town near Rochester, NY, with her husband, son, step-son, and three cats, Taz, Meatball, and Sierra.