[1][better source needed] She received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary Education[2] from the University of Maryland in 1970.
She then earned a Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in 2012.
When Thompson heard Berkley Books was looking for a writer for a series set in turn of the 20th century New York City with a midwife heroine, so she wrote a proposal adding a detective character, and was hired to write the Gaslight Mystery series.
[4] She also served on the Board of Trustees for the Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire, Illinois from 2019-2024.
[4] Source:[4] In 2012, Thompson received a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine.