I was born in Flushing, Queens, New York and came of age in biker-meth post-punk southern California. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of English. Later, in Australia, I completed a Bachelor of Social Work with Charles Sturt University.

I’ve always been a voracious reader. My favourite novelists include Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth Strout, Anne Tyler, Catherine Chidgey, Robinton Mistry, Fiona McFarlane and Jane Austen. In non-fiction, I adore Joan Didion, Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, Lawrence Wright and Patty Smith.

I live in both the Blue Mountains and Capertee Valley with my very good husband and our excellent dogs, Max and Stevo. Georgie, the Golden Retriever, died in 2025, at a ripe old age.