Tamora Pierce was born in Fayette County Pennsylvania, in 1954. Her father worked for the telephone company while her mother went to college for her degree in English, intending to become a teacher. Pierce grew up surrounded by books - World Book encyclopedias, Winnie the Pooh books and lots of Dr. Seuss. As a young person, Pierce wrote "Star Trek" stories, "Here Come the Bride" stories, "Time Tunnel" stories and when one of Pierce's English teachers introduced her to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, she was hooked on Fantasy.