Innes Richens was born in the American Midwest, grew up in the north of England, and has lived on the south coast for most of his adult life. Flood is his debut novel. He has previously self-published the novella The Soulless Man and a collection of short fiction, An Allowance of Small Noises, co-authored with Valerie Bird. He lives in Portsmouth with his husband and an English Springer Spaniel of strong opinions.