Vanessa Chan was born and raised in Malaysia. She is the author of The Storm We Made, a national bestseller, and has been selected as a Good Morning America and BBC Radio 2 book club pick. The novel marks her debut and is set to be published in over twenty languages worldwide. Vanessa's writing talents extend beyond her novels, having been featured in prestigious publications such as Vogue and Esquire. Her passion for storytelling is complemented by her love for reading, television, spicy food, and brightly colored attire.

Her novel The Storm We Made explores the narrative of an unlikely spy — a dissatisfied mother and wife in 1930s British Malaya, who inadvertently contributes to the outbreak of the most devastating war her country has faced by becoming a spy for the Japanese. The book's international acclaim led to it being acquired in a series of competitive auctions and is forthcoming in various languages and regions, including the United States with Marysue Rucci Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and in the United Kingdom with Hodder & Stoughton, an imprint of Hachette.

Additionally, Vanessa is crafting a collection of stories titled The Ugliest Babies in the World, which delves into the lives of feral girls in post-colonial Malaysia seeking to unravel the enigmas of their ancestry. This work is also forthcoming from Marysue Rucci Books. She currently resides primarily in Brooklyn and is represented by Michelle Brower and Stephanie Delman at Trellis Literary Management.