Catherine Broughton was born in South Africa to British parents, and she is one of seven children. Her father was a doctor of tropical disease and his work took the family all over the world, to include many parts of Africa, the South Pacific, Spain, Switzerland, the Philippines and Bangkok. Catherine Broughton attended the University of London where she did a BA (Hons) in French, and she later also achieved a BA (Hons) in Art History with the OU. She is a water-colourist and many of her sketches and short stories appear in magazines; she is also a published poet and has won awards for some of her poetry. She has been married for thirty-five years, has three children and grandchildren. She now lives partly in France, partly in Sussex and partly in Belize.