Ivete Maria Teixeira de Abreu Mendonça was born on May 9, 1970 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has a four year old daughter named Mónica Eduarda. She studied at Kempton Park Primary School and Boksburg High School in South Africa and received a bachelor's degree in Modern Languages and Literatures with a focus on English and German studies from the University of Madeira as well as a master's degree in Anglo-American Culture and Literature. Currently, she teaches at Escola Básica e Secundária do Carmo in Câmara de Lobos, Portugal and enjoys reading, cinema, theater, and traveling in her free time.