Early years

Elizabeth Myrtle Smith was born on a May 12 in Tacoma, Washington, the youngest of four children. She is of Japanese descent. Her parents met during the occupation of Japan following World War II, and her older siblings were all born in Japan. Soon after her birth, her family relocated again to Japan, making Japanese her first language. She sold her first fiction at 18 to DC Comics, writing Superman stories. After receiving her degree in linguistic anthropology from the University of Washington, she attended Columbia University in New York for one year, where she married her first and still current husband. Professionally a financial editor, Flynn describes her fantasy romances as being "no less based in reality."

Flynn returned with her husband to the Seattle area in 1989, and soon began writing romance fiction. She is a past president of the Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America. Her first book, The Sleeper Awakes, was published in 2007.