Russell Newell is a Massachusetts native who inherited his love of storytelling from his Roscommon, Ireland-born mother. His writing career began at the tender age of eleven when his short story, The Fox’s Hard Life, was published in the Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle. After this early triumph, Newell entered his teen years and a period in the wilderness. He emerged after a decade with a brief turn as a sports reporter for the Salem Evening News and later as a graduate student in Boston University’s top journalism program.
After graduation, he embarked on a speechwriting career, writing for Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, at the State Department and at the Department of the Interior. He also spent 14 months in Iraq at the U.S. Embassy as the senior media advisor for the U.S. military. Newell currently writes for Disney|ABC Television.