Francine Stephanie Barron was born in
Binghamton, New York, and grew up in
Washington, D.C., the youngest of six sisters. She graduated from
Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, then earned a degree at
Princeton University in European History. While there, she wrote for the university newspaper, which led to later jobs with
The Miami Herald and
The San Jose Mercury News. She pursued an MA at
Stanford University in Latin American History, but left to work at the
CIA for several years as an intelligence analyst. After the publication of her first book, she started writing full-time, citing
John McPhee (who taught her at Princeton) and
Elizabeth George as particular influences. She lives in
Denver, Colorado, with her children and husband. Her eldest son, Sam, also went on to study at Princeton. Her youngest son, Stephen, went on to study at Penn State and is on the fencing team. ==Writing==