Andrea Portes was born in rural Nebraska, and spent her early years living in Illinois, Texas, North Dakota, North Carolina, Rio de Janiero, and Brasilia. Portes attended Bryn Mawr and received her MFA from UC San Diego. She is the author of the semi-autobiographical novel Hick, and has also completed the comic book series, Super Rad, which will be released in September 2013 by Dark Matter Media.