Rita Feutl was born in Toronto to immigrant parents; she learned English once she started school. She wrote her first story when she was seven.

Rita has a bachelor's degree in political science, a master's in journalism, and a post-graduate diploma in teaching English as a second language. 

As a journalist, Rita has interviewed cabinet ministers, opera singers, and zookeepers (which is how she got to "shake" the tongue of an elephant). She has taught journalism techniques in Tanzania, English grammar in Europe, and creative writing across Alberta.  When she's not working as an editor, researcher, or teacher, Rita writes children's books in Edmonton where she lives with her family.