Peng Shepherd grew up learning to ride horses in the deserts of Arizona, and has lived in Beijing, London, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York. She earned a BA in Chinese language and literature, an MA in international studies and diplomacy, and an MFA in creative writing, and her fiction has been published in the Weird Lies anthology, Litro Magazine, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4, among other places. The Book of M is her first novel.