J. Belinda Yandell was born in the charming town of Thomasville, Georgia, famous for its pool hall chili dogs. Raised in the picturesque and culturally rich Savannah, Georgia, she considers Savannah her hometown, despite its aroma being more of dead fish and the nearby paper mill than the romanticized moonlight and magnolias often depicted in literature.

J. Belinda Yandell earned her BA in Art and English from Agnes Scott College for Women, located near Atlanta, where she started taking the art of writing seriously. Her first foray into fiction writing began as early as the fifth grade, motivated by her mother's promise of a nickel per chapter to read the classic "Gone with the Wind."