For too many married women their wedding dress still hangs in the wardrobe or in a box in a cupboard or loft as an everlasting and never to be used again memento of what was supposed to be the happiest day of their life.

But for Hampshire woman Jessie Keane that white dress gathering dust at home was to be the catalyst for her dream career.

It was 20 years ago and Jessie had dreamed of becoming a writer for as long as she could remember.

Then aged 35 and five years into her marriage it was now never, so she took her white chiffon wedding dress out her wardrobe and sold it for £100.

With the proceeds she bought her own home computer and started to type and has never looked back.

And on her road to becoming a top writer not only did the the 55-year-old from Winchester get rid of her dress.

Six years later she also ditched her husband, threw out all her wedding photographs and launched herself into her new life.

Today Jessie visits book shops signing copies of her latest bestseller.

She said: “I needed to raise the money to buy a computer.

“At that stage I wasn’t even sad to be selling it, I was so determined to kick start my career.”

Once she purchased her computer she slipped into writing thrillers, the genre she now feels most comfortable in.

She is no stranger to hardship, the youngest of eight children to parents who made a fortune in the building trade, Jessie had a privileged childhood but the family business went bankrupt and they lost everything.

When Jessie thought life couldn’t get any worse she was told her dad was dying.

She failed all her O-Levels and aged 17 she ran away to London.

Jessie had lots of different careers before becoming a writer including slicing bacon in a deli and working as a dental nurse. However her dream was always to be a writer.

When her marriage broke down 11 years later, Jessie threw herself into writing.

“I think the books are the most important thing in my life, it’s always been the books,” she said.

Her first book, Dirty Game, went straight in at number one in the Bookseller’s Heatseeker Charts.

Last week she was at Waterstone's in Southampton signing copies of the latest of her Annie Carter series instalment, Stay Dead.

The Bursledon born writer, has not always written best-selling thrillers however, she began her career writing chick-flicks with little success. Thrillers however, suited her voice and she reveals a little bit of her is in her main character, Annie.

“I think Annie Carter is me but beefed up and exaggerated,”

“I think you cherry pick parts of everyone you know and meet when you are developing a character,” she said.

Jessie is a Sunday Times top ten bestselling author.

She has lived both ends of the social spectrum, from desperately poor to flourishing in her new carer.

Her fascination with London's gritty underworld led her to write Dirty Game, followed by bestsellers Black Widow, Scarlet Women, Jail Bird, The Make, Playing Dead, Nameless, Ruthless (the fifth book to feature Annie Carter), Lawless and Dangerous.

Jessie's books have sold more than 750,000 copies.

And she says that the thrill of hitting the literary big time will never ware off.

“I love meeting the fans, it makes a change from relentlessly typing away in the dark.

“I enjoy meeting fans who are aspiring writers, just like I was.

“I always tell them to follow their dreams.

“If you want to be a writer all you need to do is start writing.”