Elizabeth Arnold was born in Leicester but has moved quite frequently both during her childhood and adulthood. Elizabeth says that she didn't enjoy school much but her favourite subjects were Art and English. She now lives in Southampton which is in Hampshire and is married with two adult children and four grandchildren. She keeps tropical fish, loves gardening, taking photographs, swimming and walking in the New Forest with her dogs. She also collects china dalmatians.

Before becoming a writer she had many jobs including a job one as a Science Technician, a Quality Control Manager and she even worked in a fish shop. She has always enjoyed writing and used her talents in many different forms like diaries, reports and articles before she wrote her first novel, The Parsley Parcel. This book was shortlisted for the 1995 Beefeater Children's Novel Award.

Her love of exploring and her inquisitive nature have helped her immensely in her work, especially in preparation for the Freya trilogy, The Parsley Parcel, Gold and Silver Water, A Riot of Red Ribbon, which required her to do research into the Romany culture. Many of her ideas and much of her writing are inspired by her interest in nature, the elements and a desire to know about lifestyles and cultures which display a sense of freedom.

Other books she has written include Scraggy Saves the Day, The Spin of the Sunwheel, Thief in the Garden and The Triple Trouble Gang. Gold and Silver Water was commended for the NASEN Special Educational Needs Award 1997.