Sherwood Smith was a teacher for twenty years, teaching history, literature, drama, and dance. Before that she worked in the film industry for several years. She writes science fiction and fantasy for adults and young readers; she has been working on the Sartorias-deles fantasy series all her life, beginning with the CJ Notebooks, then continuing on as her main protagonists began to grow up and become active in the world.

Though known primarily as a fantasy writer, Sherwood along with author Dave Trowbridge  collaborated on Exordium, a five-volume space opera, with Rachel Manija Brown on the young adult “hopeful dystopia” series called The Change, and with Andre Norton on four books listed elsewhere.