Weller, born in Lake Forest, Illinois, has been a lifelong fan of fellow Illinois native Ray Bradbury. The genesis of his love for Mr. Bradbury's work has been described as the following:

Sam Weller familiarized himself with the words of Ray Bradbury even before he was born. During the infamous Chicago blizzard of January 1967, as drifting blankets of snow created white-out conditions in the Windy City, William Weller, Sam’s father, read Bradbury’s seminal classic, The Illustrated Man, aloud to his pregnant wife, Barbara. The baby, nine months in utero, turned and listened with keen interest

This love, coupled with a journalist's tenacity, has led Weller to become Bradbury's only official biographer.

In addition to authoring books, Weller is the former Midwest Correspondent for Publisher's Weekly, former staff writer for the alternative weekly Newcity, a regular contributor to the Chicago Tribune Magazine, a regular literary critic for the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and the now defunct Punk Planet magazine. He is also a contributing writer for the Chicago Public Radio program 848, and his work has appeared on the National Public Radio program All Things Considered. He is also a contributor to Playboy.com. Weller also lectures frequently on the life and works of Ray Bradbury.

Currently, in addition to his freelance writing, Weller is a full time faculty member of the Fiction Department at Columbia College Chicago. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughters. He is currently at work on a historic narrative nonfiction mystery.