Nick West was born in Gainesville, Florida, and grew up on his family's farm near Archer. He attended Gainesville High School and the University of Florida. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and, along with his son and daughter, owns and operates a landscape business. Nick West's first book, The Great Southern Circus, is about his ancestors, who were part of a circus troupe in the 1850s. It was originally written for his family, but was so well received by other readers that he wrote the sequel, The Long Road Home, as he followed the characters from his first book through the American Civil War. The Sandspur Special is based on the same family as they move to Florida in 1917.