Mark MacAllister grew up in northern Illinois, spent a great deal of formative time on his grandparents' dairy farm in southwest Wisconsin's Driftless region, and learned to write at Oberlin College. Mark now lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina but travels often to the Wisconsin Northwoods and to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to hike and bike.

His professional career has focused on the conservation of wildlands and wildlife; he is also an active member of his community’s emergency response team, of a red wolf conservation organization and of a Wisconsin-based writers’ cooperative.