Born in Brampton, Ontario, Lyon grew up in Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she and her family moved when she was a year old.
[1] In addition, she attended the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Law for one year.
The Best Thing for You, a collection of three novellas, followed in 2004 and was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.
[1] Her first novel, The Golden Mean, which imagines the relationship between Alexander the Great and his teacher, Aristotle, was published in 2009.
[7] A sequel, The Sweet Girl, which explores the life of Aristotle's daughter, Pythias, was published in September 2012.