Charlsie Russell grew up reading Zane Grey, Max Brand, and Frank Yerby and since her teenage years, her tastes have expanded to romance, mystery, and non-fiction, particularly history. Once she retired from the Navy and her children became semi-independent, she delved into writing the kind of fiction she likes to read. After seven years of rejection, she woke up one morning and decided she did not have enough years left on this planet to sit back and hope a New York publisher would one day take a chance on her novels. Thus resolved, she expanded her horizons into the publishing realm with the creation of Loblolly Writer's House, her independent press in Gulfport, Mississippi.  

Charlsie Russell's first title from Loblolly Writer's House, The Devil's Bastard, is a 2007 Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY) bronze medal winner for excellance in Independent publishing. In 2008, Wolf Dawson netted her a second IPPY, this one gold, along with a gold Next Generation Book Award (Indie), both in the romance category. In 2010, her third novel, Epico Bayou, won a silver IPPY for romance as well as a Written Art Award from Rebecca's Reads. River's Bend, her fourth novel won a gold Indie for romance in 2012.