Elizabeth Thomas was born and grew up in Mount Clemens, Michigan. She obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees in English language and literature from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and worked as a writer and editor for the Gale Group. After moving first to Tucson, Arizona, and then Austin, Texas, she worked for Barrett Kendall Publishing. Eventually she returned to school for a nursing degree, but writing remains her first love. She now resides in a suburb of Austin, near her children and first granddaughter.