Drew Bowling was born in September 1985, during a hurricane, which should have forewarned his parents about how difficult he would be to raise. He began writing stories in elementary school. Mostly he wrote mysteries, westerns, and scary tales about courageous kids who were good at finding trouble.

While in high school, Drew continued to write mysteries (in chemistry), westerns (in biology), and scary tales (in algebra). His family encouraged him, and his friends even voted him 'The Next Billy Shakespeare' during a mock award ceremony at the end of his senior year. Other people told him that making things up was a waste of time. In response, he started writing his first novel, The Tower of Shadows, during a senior-year math exam.

His hobbies include snowboarding, defending the literary merits of dragons at parties, reading anything and everything (his favorite authors range from Neil Gaiman to James Joyce), and traveling. He enjoys inventing excuses for missed deadlines and wants a haunted castle for Christmas. He lives in Maryland.