Meg Gardiner - Biography

Biography

Gardiner was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Santa Barbara, California. She currently lives in the UK near London with her husband, Paul Shreve, and their three children.

In describing herself, Gardiner has said quite simply: "I write thrillers," before recently elaborating: "I used to practice law. I taught writing at the University of California. Of course, there's more — and because the Internet can fact-check you, faster than you can type 'Sarah Palin', I'm going to come clean: It's true that I used to be a mime. But only before mimes became annoying. And yes, I did go in costume to the Star Trek exhibition in Hyde Park. But I did not wear the Ferengi ears. And though I'm American, I currently live near London. This can confuse people. At British book events, people ask, 'When did you get in from California? Aren't you jet-lagged?' And in the USA, people sometimes say, 'But you don't have an English accent.' And I never will. If you put a gun to my head and told me to pronounce jolly good, I'd blurt out, 'Dude!' Or, if truly panicked, 'Y'all!'

Gardiner is the daughter of English professor Frank C. Gardiner and Sally Love. Gardiner attended Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, a community just north of Santa Barbara, graduating in June 1975.

Following graduation, she attended Stanford University, where she attained her Bachelor's degree in Economics and lettered in track. She went on to graduate from Stanford Law School and to practice law in Los Angeles, before returning to Santa Barbara to teach law writing at the University of California, Santa Barbara.