Born and raised in Colorado, Betsy attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and moved west to launch her 30-year career as a medical journalist, first as a newspaper reporter and then for International Medical News Group, a series of physicians' newspapers. After living in San Diego and then Los Angeles, she and her journalist/novelist husband, David, eventually moved their family to Santa Barbara. They restored a 1906 home near the Mission while their two children attended local schools, later settling in Toro Canyon. In a mid-life career change, Betsy returned to school to complete her masters' and doctorate degree in psychology at Antioch University Santa Barbara. She now balances her small clinical practice in medical psychology with writing, teaching, and grandchildren adventures.