Valerie Fernandes was born in Mumbai, India. After completing an MBA, she worked as an Advertising executive at Hindustan Thompson Associates (now J. Walter Thompson). Following her marriage, she and her husband Rudy, farmed in rural India, living in a tent and using farming methods and implements which have changed little over the millennia. In 1997, she moved to Canada with her husband and their two children.

In September 2002, Cicada magazine (The Cricket magazine group, US) published her short story 'The Bitter and the Sweet' in their September 11 commemorative issue.