Vanessa is suspended somewhere in her mid thirties. She grew up in New Plymouth, Taranaki, a small town on the west coast of New Zealand known for its snow-capped mountain, art gallery, black sand beaches and bogans.

She studied English Literature and Social Anthropology at Victoria University in Wellington, finished with first class honours then headed to London where she spent three years perfecting the art of evading tube fares and not smiling at strangers. These days, she travels regularly, but calls Melbourne’s northern suburbs home.

Likes: yoga, bicycles, bittersweet chocolate, mornings, green tea, dogs, red wine, baking, business class, handwritten letters, music festivals, live theatre, foreign films, grammatically correct text messages.

Dislikes: lateness, liquorice, cats, bad television, -isms, procrastination, strawberries.