Alexis O'Neill grew up in Boston and Wakefield, Massachusetts. She earned a Ph.D. in Teacher Education from Syracuse University. She teaches writing for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program and was a Regional Advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) in the Central-Coastal region of California.
She has also been educator and consultant for a number of musea: Erie Canal Museum, Onondaga Historical Association, Everson Museum of Art, Museum of Ventura County and the J. Paul Getty Museum. (information obtained through the author's website)