Harris was born on June 4, 1931, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter ofJohn P., an oil executive, and Dora (nee Veal) Harris. Harris waseducated in her home state, attending Cottey College from 1945 to1951, then transferring to the University of Oklahoma, from which shereceived a bachelor of arts degree in 1953 and a master of artsdegree in 1955.

Harris's first collection of short stories, King's Ex, was publishedby Doubleday in 1967. After that Harris proved a prolific author,publishing seventeen books, including novels, short stories, romance/historical fiction and children's fiction in a twenty-year periodfrom 1970 to 1989. These works, in addition to those listed above,include In the Midst of Earth (1969), The Peppersalt Land (1970), TheRunaway's Diary (1971), The Conjurers (1974), Bledding Sorrow (1976),The Portent (1980), The Last Great Love (1981), Warrick (1985), NightGames (1987), and Lost and Found (1991). Harris's work has receiveda wide readership; in 1983, nine million of her books were in print,and her work has been translated into many languages, includingFrench, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Japanese. She hasalso been an author in residence at Oklahoma's Central State University.

Among the awards Harris has received are the following: University of Oklahoma LiteraryAward, in 1970; Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, 1973, for The Runaway'sDiary; Oklahoma Federation of Writers Teepee Award, 1974; Women inCommunications By-Liner Award, 1975; Oklahoma Writers Hall of FameAward, 1980; and Cottey College Distinguished Alumna Award, 1981.Harris is also an O. Henry Award winner.

Harris married Edgar V. Springer, Jr., a professor, in 1953; thecouple have two children: John P. and Karen Louise.