Patricia Gaffney was born on December 27, 1944, in Tampa, Florida, United States.
Patricia graduated from Walter Johnson High School.
She earned a bachelor's degree in English and Philosophy from Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, and also studied literature at the Royal Holloway College at the University of London, at George Washington University, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
After college, Gaffney taught high school English for a year before pursuing a career as a freelance court reporter for the next five years.
In 1986, she and her husband moved to rural Pennsylvania, where they continue to live.