Career
He is most notable as the creator of Trueman Bradley. Trueman Bradley is a fictional character in a series of detective novels, with an international following. Bradley is characterized as a genius detective with Asperger"s Syndrome.
His work has developed a cult following in educational and advocacy circles, having been added to school lesson plans and officially adopted as educational material for government programs, which focus on disability awareness and equality.
Russell"s debut novel, Trueman Bradley – Aspie Detective, was published in 2011 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This novel was the first detective novel to feature an openly Autistic detective as a protagonist and was the first work of fiction to portray Asperger Syndrome as a "different way of thinking", with some advantages over the neurotypical way of thinking -- and therefore, not necessarily a disability.
A German-language edition was published in 2013 by Von Loeper Literaturverlag, of Karlsruhe, Germany. His other works include Trueman Bradley – The Next Great Detective, Instruction Manual for the 21st Century Samurai, Why Not-World and the Forgotten Lore series.
Russell describes himself as an autism awareness activist and a self-described Japanophile.
In 2013 he compiled a guidebook outlining his personal philosophical outlook, based on traditional Japanese philosophies from Miyamoto Musashi, Tsunetomo Yamamoto and Dogen. He also advocates for the cause of quality Indie writing in his blog "Guerrila Ronin wRiter". Russell was born in Winnipeg and studied English literature at the University of Manitoba.
Alexei"s work has gained a cult following in advocacy and educational circles.
His first novel, Trueman Bradley - Aspie Detective was added to the book lesson plan for grade 6 students, by the Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness, of Portland, Maine, in 2015. And was officially adopted, in that same year, by Ireland"s Department of Justice and Equality, as official teaching material for their "Someone Like Maine" program, for primary schools -- designed to encourage understanding of disabilities in their students and encourage and instil the "celebration of difference" in children.
