Fay Sampson was born in Plymouth, UK, in 1935, the daughter of a Royal Marine bandsman. She grew up in Lympstone, a farming and fishing village on the Exe. She graduated in mathematics at the University College of the South-West, now Exeter University. She taught in high schools in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, and married Jack Priestley. They went to a teacher training college in Northern Rhodesia/Zambia, where their two children were born. After their return to Exeter, Fay began writing, as well as teaching part-time.

In 1987 she left teaching to write full-time and began to write novels for adults as well, often based on myths and legends. She has also published four books on church history, using the research for her novels.

She lives with her husband in a Tudor cottage in mid-Devon. Her hobbies are family history, walking, and activities at her Methodist church.

Biography provided by the author, September 2003.