Quade was born to a white father and a Hispanic mother in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Her father was a desert geologist and her family lived throughout the Southwestern United States as well as in Australia.

From 2009 to 2011 she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow in the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University, where she also taught as a Jones Lecturer.

[3] Her writing weaves together themes of family, race, class, and coming-of-age, and unfold in New Mexico landscapes inspired by the author's own upbringing.

[5] Her debut short story collection, Night at the Fiestas, received critical praise and won awards.