Vanessa Walters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vanessa Walters was born in London in 1977 and is best known as the teenage novelist discovered to be writing a novel as hobby to share with her school friends. When discovered by teachers, the journal was passed over to an agent who quickly had her signed to a publishing company with a five-figure book deal even before she'd left.
The book, Rude Girls, made her a success, but instead of diving head long into the literary world she continued her studies, progressing to University. The quirky young author once confided when asked where she'd got the inspiration to write Rude Girls: "Well I don't live that and I don't know anyone like the characters my book. I really just watched lots of television, like the BILL ."
Nonetheless, Rude Girls was acclaimed as an accurate portrayal of life in the North London Black community -- it was a huge success straight across the board. Whilst studying law, Vanessa found time to spend a year in Paris and continue her fictional writing. The Best Things in Life was published in 1998 and explored the lives of young Black women struggling to balance friendship, work and relationships.
Vanessa lives in Leyton, East London with her mother and sister and was recently named one of the 100 Great Black Britons by the Voice newspaper and the Greater London Authority. .
