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In addition to being really good at gymnastics, Arianna Robinson apparently knows a lot about hiding her cell phone from her teachers.

You can learn more by reading the March 27 installment of Nikki Maxwell's diary.

Robinson is the niece of award-winning author Rachel Renee Russell, whose "Dork Diaries" books have spent a total of 206 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers list in the Children's Series category. Robinson has been contributing to the books as an editor and writer since she was in middle school, and has 18 pages published in Book 7 of the series, titled "Tales From A Not-So-Glam TV Star."

"Her chapter is hilarious," Russell said. "She has the chops of a very successful author. She's very talented."

Nikki Maxwell is the main character of the book series, a teenage girl with a dorky side and a crush on a boy named Brandon. Between pages 232-249 of Book 7, Robinson writes about the dos and don'ts of having your cell phone confiscated in class and the drama surrounding Nikki's efforts to help Brandon get a scholarship.

Robinson has made other contributions to the book series and helps provide content to the blog on the Dork Diaries website. She started working with Russell when she was in middle school because she was in the same age bracket as Nikki.

"I could ask her what the latest hot boy band was, or what's in and what's out," Russell said. "Sometimes I'd write a chapter and think it was funny, but then I'd have her read it to make sure it was funny to my target audience."

It was clear Robinson had a natural flair for writing and she took a couple of creative writing classes at Freedom High School in South Riding, Virginia. She is minoring in creative writing at Cal to accompany her American studies major.

"(Russell) encouraged me to continue to write in my free time," Robinson said. "Writing is a way for me to express myself because it allows me to create different worlds that can be potentially lived in."

The demands of Division I gymnastics and attending the top public university on the planet make it challenging for her to find time to write on her own. For her creative writing classes, she has written pieces about a girl who finds out she was adopted after her parents pass away, as well as a girl who realizes her grandfather has Alzheimer's disease after looking through a photo album with him.

Robinson says most of the writing she does on her free time takes place during the summer.

"Summers are when I just go free rein," she said. "Part of it is writing to potentially get published, and part of it is just writing because I have a story to tell and it will bother me until I actually write it down. I'll stay up until 2 o'clock in the morning and write a quick note of it, and then go to sleep."

Robinson, a two-time second-team All-Pac-12 pick and a two-time honorable mention Pac-12 All-Academic choice, has designs of becoming a published author someday but is also looking into becoming an editor for a publisher.

"She is able to write humor and most editors will say it's harder to write something that's funny than a standard drama or mystery or something like that," Russell said. "I hope to see her published within a couple years. It's going to happen for her."