Lorna Cook was born in Redwood City, California, and grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. As a teenager, she began experimenting with poems and short stories. In college, she earned a degree in Psychology and Sociology, an education in what makes people behave the way they do, which ultimately helped shape her fiction. She spent two years in Philadelphia interning with a refugee agency and a program assisting pregnant teenagers, while also waiting tables at a famous Irish pub. After full-time jobs at a shelter for runaway youth and a group home for teenage girls, she moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill. After publishing her first novel, she switched to full-time writing.

She currently is at work on a fourth novel. Recently accepted into the Stowe Narrative Lab for a screenplay, she has expanded her repertoire, and also is writing a romantic comedy feature.

Married with two grown sons, she lives in a small town near Lake Michigan. Whenever possible, she travels in order to feel unmoored and challenged; and at home, volunteers in her community with adult literacy.