Patricia Hynes grew up in Pennsylvania, where she climbed hills and trees and swam in the local river. She attended college in Pennsylvania and got a degree in literature and secondary education. In both high school and college, her writing was published in school literary journals. She has spent her adult life teaching and writing for young people and has lived in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Florida, and Canada. She now lives in Venice, California, with her husband, a painter and dentist, and a fluffy orange cat named Stinky.