Although born in England, Fiona McIntosh spent her childhood years in West Africa. As a young adult she lived and worked in London and France before moving to Australia. McIntosh worked in a tourism commission, an advertising agency and for an international airline before spending seventeen years in travel publishing. During this time she developed strong editorial skills and worked on her own short stories. After undertaking a twelve-day intensive writing course with
Bryce Courtenay (q.v.) in 2000, McIntosh began work on novel writing.