Vanessa has been a professional writer for more than thirty years. Mostly working as a freelance agriculture and environmental writer, she has written countless articles for regional and national publications. She is also the author of three books: Rain on a Distant Roof, The Things She'll Be Leaving Behind and The Haweaters. The Haweaters was shortlisted for the Canadian Author Association's 2021 Fred Kerner Book Award. In addition, her short fiction has appeared in literary journals across Canada and in the United States, including The Dalhousie Review, dANDelion, filling Station, The New Quarterly, PRECIPICe, Qwerty, and Reed Magazine.