Tamora Pierce was born on December 13, 1954, in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor's degree from, the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. Before writing her first novel, she worked as a tax data collector and clerk, a social worker, a banking secretary, and an assistant to a literary agent. She also wrote and produced radio plays. Her wide-ranging interests include Japanese history, film production, psychology, medieval history, folklore, and the occult. She is a former instructor in the history of witchcraft at Pennsylvania's Free Woman's University. Her interest in medievalism and magic are evident in all of her books about the fearless female knight Alanna. While Alanna's adventures have apparently been brought to a close with the last book of the Song of the Lioness Quartet, Pierce intends to keep writing novels and radio plays. She lives with her actorfilmmaker husband in New York City.