Growing up in Sydney, Ireland (Cork) and Scotland, Jessica is an international student of horse racing. The sport, particularly its history, has fascinated her since childhood. The first horse she learned about was 1930s hero Phar Lap, and his story planted in her a long and lively fascination with the history of racing. As a teenager she was shortlisted in the UK Martin Wills Memorial Competition, an award for young writers in horse racing. She graduated from the University of Stirling with a combined honours degree in Environmental Science & Media, and returned to Sydney where she has worked as a riding instructor, editorial assistant and staff writer in two magazines. Frustrated by the daily commute, she went freelance to finish her first book.
Her fascination with the sport of kings is almost unnatural, given she has no roots in the sport outside of her own.

In November 2011, Jessica barnstormed the national spotlight when she released her debut biography, ‘Peter Pan: The Forgotten Story of Phar Lap’s Successor’. A vivid and carefully crafted story, ‘Peter Pan’ is the true tale of the 1930s horse that came after Phar Lap. Acclaimed in newspapers, reviewed across national radio stations and in America, Canada, Ireland, Great Britain and New Zealand, the book won the 2012 Bill Whittaker Award for Best Racing Book in Australia and propelled Jessica into ‘highly commended’ recognition at the 2012 Kennedy Awards in the category of Racing Writer of the Year. Jessica appeared on Channel 9 news on Melbourne Cup day, was featured on Sky Racing’s GG Girls program, and was a guest of Steve Byk’s rated radio program in Saratoga Springs, NY. In July 2012 she represented her now-famous book at the Asian Racing Conference in Istanbul, paneling alongside Eric O’Keefe (author of ‘The Cup’), and living legend Les Carlyon.

On 1 November 2013, Jessica released her second biography, 'Shannon', the story of a 1940s crack Sydney miler who broke records in the US. A natural successor to the very successful 'Peter Pan', 'Shannon' was heralded a masterpiece of research by reviewers, and remains a comprehensive window into wartime racing in Australia.
He came tentatively out of the shadows for me, until I felt like he was right there, three feet from my keyboard.

Jessica spent years researching and writing her books. She prides herself on her storytelling, preferring not to tell readers what happened, but rather show them. She travelled extensively for her subjects, in particular for globetrotting Shannon, whose story took her to Santa Anita, Kentucky and Saratoga Springs. "Shannon came tentatively out of the shadows for me," she says, "until I felt like he was right there, three feet from my keyboard." She has paid regular visits to Peter Pan’s grave, and counts her visit to Shannon’s final resting place in Kentucky one of her best experiences.

Jessica was married in May 2013 to Italian restaurateur Maurizio Lombardo. They have two children, Julien (4) and Charlotte (1). They have a cat, a dog (called Frankel), and an OTTB mare called Moxie's Halo. Jessica's journey with Moxie appears regularly on her twitter account. Peter Pan’s racing colours, carried from October 1934 to his retirement in 1936, are registered to her name in New South Wales.