Helene Opocensky was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States as a child. After college graduation, she worked for an insurance company for ten years but, after filing a sex discrimination lawsuit against them, she was hired by her law firm and encouraged to attend law school. After graduation, she worked for many years in the child support department as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Connecticut. Upon retirement she published her debut young adult novel, Smoke and Mirrors: The Trueheart.