Jessica Steele

Jessica Steele was born in the elegant Warwickshire town of Royal Leamington Spa. She was a delicate child and missed a lot of school. In fact, she left school at aged 14, when she was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. Jessica started work as a junior clerk when she was 16.

She has two super brothers, Colin and George, and a lovely sister, Elizabeth, and all of them are very close. She has plenty of nephews and nieces to make up for the fact that she and her husband have no children of their own.

Peter and Jessica married in 1967 and within a very short space of time they had moved from her hometown to the lovely area where they now live. Their house is built into the side of a hill, and has beautiful views over more hills and valleys.

Both she and her husband are more than a little dog-oriented, and their current dog is a Staffordshire bull terrier named Florence. Florence is gorgeous. She loves everybody but, since she is 40 pounds of dynamite and would hurl her boisterous self at everyone she meets—given half a chance—she has to be restrained (as much as possible). She is fun.

Her husband spurred Jessica on to her writing career, giving her every support while she did what she considers her five-year apprenticeship (the rejection years) while learning how to write.

Jessica has tried using a typewriter, but it just doesn’t work for her. She is much happier writing in longhand, and in actual fact has a dozen or so fountain pens filled and ready to go at the start of any one session. A friend has a secretarial agency and, after deciphering Jessica’s writing, returns an immaculately typed manuscript.

To gain authentic background for her books, she has traveled and researched in Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Japan, Peru, Russia, Egypt, Chile and Greece.