Lynda Brendish was raised in New Zealand by her single mother and highly matriarchal and overbearing, but very loving, extended family. She was born in England – where she assumes her Chaldean Iraqi father still lives today, but can’t be totally sure because he abandoned her at a train station when she was six years old (hence the love for the overbearing aunties).

Reflecting her great appreciation for the scenic route, Lynda has a film degree from Columbia College Chicago and a journalism degree from Auckland University of Technology. She has worked as a feature film development assistant, a non-profit media coordinator and a freelance writer. As a freelancer, she’s covered everything from awards parties to lawsuits, and while working in marketing for a now-defunct aerospace startup, she sold tickets to space. Lynda writes mysteries anchored by complicated women searching for belonging. Her writing earned her a spot in the Circle of Confusion writers’ development program in 2020 and in the 2023 Warner Bros. Writers’ Workshop.