Terry grew up in Lake Jackson, on the Texas Gulf Coast, attending Brazosport High School, where her friends will not be surprised to learn that she was heavily involved in theater, acting and directing, and in the school chorus.

To finance her undergraduate years at the University of Texas in Austin, she worked as a secretary to a larger-than-life law professor, a waitress, and for two summers worked at Yellowstone National Park—some of the most fun she ever had, and where she made lifelong friends from all over the country.

After graduating from UT, she joined the CIA, where she was trained at Langley, Virginia as a computer programmer/analyst. She worked in that field for the next several years, moving from Washington, D.C., to Denver, Colorado and eventually settling in San Francisco.

Wanting to concentrate on writing, she attained her real estate license and worked in that field while she got her MA in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

No matter what job she pursued, she was always writing, and had a few short stories published in small literary magazines.

Her first foray into novel-writing was a sci-fi novel of the extra-terrestrial variety—now safely tucked away in a drawer. From there she began writing mystery novels, taking a break while her son was in school. When he was a senior, she went back to writing, and soon began work on the Samuel Craddock series.

Terry now lives in Marina del Rey, California with her husband, Max the kitty, and and Monty the dog. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and on the national board of Mystery Writers of America.