Lucy Chesser wrote her PhD on cross-dressing in Australian history at La Trobe University, where she then became an Honorary Research Associate in the History Program.
Chesser was brought up in Briar Hill on the outskirts of Melbourne. After school she spent four years doing an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner. She then enrolled at university and eventually left with a Bachelor of Arts and a PhD, both in History. After completing her PhD Lucy worked in academia for some time before training to become a teacher. She moved to Wangaratta (Vic) and secured a position teaching Engineering, SOSE, English and Indonesian. Chesser is a keen traveller, mainly in South East Asia, so feels she has actually used her school-girl Indonesian quite a bit. Her novel for young adults, Cut Loose, is set in Sumatra, Indonesia and is based around her own travels there. lives at Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula.