Pamela Rentz is a citizen of the Karuk Tribe of California. She has been writing since the beginning of time, and found success in 2007 when she won second prize in Wordstock, the book festival in Portland, Oregon. She used that story to apply to Clarion West and graduated from the workshop in 2008.

She grew up in southern California and graduated from Agoura High School and University of California at Santa Barbara, and completed a paralegal training program through UCLA Extension. Pamela ended up in Portland, Oregon, where she did a number of jobs until her big break as a paralegal working with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations.