The daughter of a Canadian father and a Croatian mother, she was born in Zagreb and left with her parents for Canada on the day she was born. They settled in Delhi; her father died when she just seven months old. Two or three years later, she moved with her mother to Toronto, the first of many moves during her childhood. Toten received a BA and then an MA in political science from the University of Toronto. She married and moved to Montreal. She did some broadcasts for Radio Canada International there. The couple moved to Ottawa where they spent seven years before moving to Toronto. They had two daughters there and Toten first started writing. They later moved to New York City, later returning to Toronto.
Toten has also reviewed children's books for ''Quill & Quire'' magazine.
