Leigh grew up in Europe. She moved to Hong Kong where she won the Young Architect Award in 1999. She is now an assistant professor teaching courses in Design and Architectural Practice. 
Leigh is also the proud mother of a college-age daughter, a passionate cook and a collector of kitchen gadgets. When Leigh is not writing or drilling her students, she’s either chilling with friends or attending to a teacup poodle named Muffin G. Barker Brown.