Aged twenty five she met Paul Shanks, who was to become her husband and father to her seven children. It transpired Paul was mentally very ill and he committed suicide aged 51.
Since 2007 she has been a single mother to her seven children, six of them are Autistic and one Dyslexic – the two youngest also have Cerebral Palsy. She now works full time writing, blogging, speaking and working with families affected by Autism."
Reprinted from her website - Click pic link right 

"Vikie Shanks was born in 1958 in Aden (now South Yemen), where her father was stationed in the RAF, the youngest of three children, and lived from the age of five in Waterbeach near Cambridge.
At the age of seventeen she left home and moved to London to start work as a trainee buyer in Harrods but left after a year and became a croupier. After two years working in London and a further year in Spain she became a full time model back in the UK.

The Inspirational - VikieShanks.com