E. M. Powell was born and raised in Ireland, a descendant of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins. At University College, Cork, she discovered a love of Anglo-Saxon and medieval English during her study of literature and geography. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, and International Thriller Writers, and has been accepted onto the Romantic Novelists' Association (UK) 2012 New Writers Scheme. A reviewer for the Historical Novel Society, she lives today in Manchester, England, with her husband and daughter.