The Weird Childhood Dream That Built Gareth Russell's Writing Career

Liftoff Journeys with Jeanniey Walden

Famous author and great guy, Gareth Russell Dreamt about being the Czar of Russia when he was little. WHAT?!?  I wasn’t expecting this conversation to go where it did, and honestly, that’s my favorite kind.In this episode of Liftoff Journeys, I sit down with author and historian Gareth Russell to talk about how he became the writer he is today… and it turns out that journey started much earlier than most people realize. Long before the books, the acclaim, or The Palace, there was a child in Belfast surrounded by Bible stories, family history, old films, and an imagination big enough to dream of becoming the Czar of Russia.Gareth is incredibly authentic about the fact that writing wasn’t just a dream, it was a refuge. A place where things made sense. A necessity before it was ever a career. And in that honesty, there’s something deeply inspiring about realizing that the path doesn’t have to be linear or obvious to be meaningful. This is one of the first conversations we have had where the person knew what they wanted to be when they grew up from such a young age!Because this is Liftoff Journeys, the conversation doesn’t stay in one lane. We move from childhood dreams to modern leadership, from royal history to artificial intelligence, and from the past to the very real questions we’re all asking about the future. Gareth shares why history isn’t something we leave behind, it’s something we repeat, reinterpret, and often fail to listen to.This episode is for anyone who’s ever felt called to something before they had the language for it. For anyone who’s taken a winding path and for anyone who believes that understanding how people become who they are can change how you think about your own journey.P.S. It is SUCH a good conversation that we've already asked Gareth to come back on the show in a month (we heard he is working on a new project) and we want to share the scoop!
2026-02-06 28 min

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