Carol Severance was born in Ohio and grew up in Denver, Colorado. She served with the Peace Corps from 1966-1968 and later assisted in anthropological fieldwork in the remote coral atolls of Truk, Micronesia. She lived in Hilo, Hawaii with her husband, former Peace Corps volunteer Craig J. Severance.
Much of Severance's writing includes references to Pacific Island lore and lifestyle. She won the Compton Crook Award for her debut novel, Reefsong, in 1991.
