P. A. Downs mostly grew up in North West England, with some of her early childhood spent in Romania and Bilbao. She now lives and works in London, where she is a teacher and a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England.
She originally trained as an actor, working mainly in commercials. Other jobs included selling theatre tickets, being an admin assistant on a project to build an oil rig, managing a database system and teaching. Along the way she collected a BA, a BSc, a DipHE in Theology, Ministry and Mission and a Masters Degree in Education.