Margaret Weis was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduating in 1970 with a BA in creative writing. In 1983, Weis was hired as book editor at TSR, Inc., producers of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. Here she met game designer Tracy Hickman and the two teamed up to write the bestselling Dragonlance novels. Weis has two children, David and Elizabeth Baldwin. Weis and husband Don Perrin live in a converted barn in Wisconsin with two collie dogs, Laddie and Robbie; a Sheltie, Jo-jo; and two cats, Nickolai Mouse-slayer and Motley Tatters.