Jay Martin grew up in Melbourne and lived in the UK, Vietnam, India, Japan and Perth before moving to Canberra, where she worked as a social policy adviser and inadvertently married a diplomat. While in Poland, Jay worked as a freelance writer for Australian and European publications, volunteered at the Warsaw Uprising Museum and baked one decent chocolate cake. She came to understand snow and vodka, but never, really, pickled herring. Jay currently lives with her husband in Alberta, Canada.