Suzanne Redfearn grew up on the East Coast but eventually moved to the West Coast; she currently lives in Laguna Beach, California, the setting of In an Instant. Redfearn is a residential and commercial architect and owns two restaurants with her husband. She enjoys many outdoor hobbies and has a son and daughter.

Despite being the author of six award-winning novels, Redfearn’s publishing career was a bumpy one. Though Redfearn’s first published novel, Hush Little Baby, did well, her second novel didn’t. Her publisher dropped her as a result. Redfearn then had to persevere through several other failures. Finally, discouraged enough to consider giving up writing, Redfearn yielded to the encouragement of her daughter and submitted a manuscript based on a car accident. In an Instant became an international bestseller, selling hundreds of thousands of copies.

There is a strong autobiographical link within In an Instant, which is based on an experience Redfearn had when she was eight years old. She, her father, and her brother, Jeff, went hiking in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York with her father’s best friend, Bob, and his two sons. They got caught in a blizzard and broke into an abandoned cabin.