A professional writer and author for more than 30 years, Vanessa's non-fiction articles have appeared in many regional and national magazines over the decades. In 2013, she took the plunge into book authorship with the publication of Rain on a Distant Roof: A Personal Journey Through Lyme Disease in Canada, which was submitted by its publisher, Winnipeg-based Signature Editions, for the 2014 Governor General Award for Non-Fiction.

Vanessa followed that up with a short story collection, The Things She'll Be Leaving Behind. Published by Thistledown Press in 2018, that book contained several stories that were initially published 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. A short story in that collection, "Napoleon's Eyes", was submitted by The Dalhousie Review for the Writers Trust McLelland & Stewart Journey Prize.

Twenty-twenty saw the publication of the historical novel, The Haweaters (Signature Editions, 2020), which went on to be shortlisted for the Canadian Author Association's 2021 Fred Kerner Book Award.

To learn more about Vanessa's professional writing services, please visit the Perennial Communications website.

To learn more about Lyme disease in Canada, visit the Lyme Disease in Canada website maintained by Vanessa.