Noticing Newbies

I'm a gamer and an avid reader. I used to write, and have always dreamed of being a writer. I suppose I got bit with a writing bug this past year. I bought books on writing - Stephen King's "On Writing" being the one that I felt finally made something click in me. It made writing a whole novel seem possible even though I'm more of a character and world creator rather than a plot weaver.

I read all kinds of books so I'm not sure what my niche will be. My favorites are dystopian futures and urban fantasies. But I also love the Victorian writers such as Wharton and the Austens, classic novels like Grapes of Wrath, the somewhat subversive classics written by Vonnegut, Burroughs, and Bradbury ... horror, and complex sci-fi such as the Dune novels and Tad Williams' Otherland series.Ironically I didn't get into young adult authors until my 30's but I am now shamlessly enamored with the genre (but again, in the dystopian future and urban fantasy realm), and for what I call a brain massage, I'll read Jackie Collins. Oh, and I used to be anti-romance until I started downloading free books on my Kindle and discovered that if the love interest is a Viking or a Gaelic clansman, I want to know what happens!

So I plan on reading a lot, reviewing a lot, and entering all sorts of contests to get back into writing (and out of my comfort zone as far as subject and setting), and see what themes start to stand out. I think that's how I'm really going to find what style I fall into.

I look forward to meeting you all and learning from everyone here of all levels of experience!