Valerie Toh graduated with a degree in psychology from Curtin University (WA) and later moved to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) where she established herself as both a writer and a psychologist. Since the early 2000s she has worked primarily in the area of organisational psychology area, with a particular focus on selection, and has been employed as Senior Psychologist for Defence Force Recruitment in Canberra.

Toh's career as a published author dates back to the early 1990s when two of her stories, “Fitting Farewell” and “Glass Castles,” contributed to her winning the 1991 Tharunka Award for a Literature Contribution (university of New South wales student magazine). Both were subsequently included in the anthology Oranges and Lemmings (1992). During her time in in the ACT Toh has been associated with the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild in various capacities, including author and presenter. To date her stories have appeared in the Guild's anthologies Machinations (2002), Gastronomicon (2005), Masques (2009) and Winds of Change (2001). Her publication credits also include Andromedia Spaceways Inflight Magazine.