Janis Mackay was born and grew up in Edinburgh, but moved to London to study journalism. After university, she travelled throughout Israel, Turkey and Greece, before returning to the UK to work as a voice coach and storyteller. She has an MA in Creative Writing and has held writer-in-residence posts in both Caithness and Sutherland. She currently lives in the north of Scotland, where she teaches creative writing and works as a writer and storyteller.