Noticing Newbies

Hello, I'm Valerie. I've been writing for many years. And basically making up stories my whole life. I'm always working on multiple projects because I can't help getting distracted. I mostly write YA Fantasy, and all of my stories are connected in a larger universe. I focus mainly on my characters and their relationships and emotional details. Magic, for me, is the bending of emotions. It's usually meant to serve the characters and their growth/changes rather than being the main draw of the books.

I recently self-published my first novel, Magic Inc., and I'm now in the weird place where I don't know how to proceed from here. Marketing is a completely foreign concept for me, especially as an extreme introvert and Social Anxiety sufferer. (Even writing this post scares me.) I'm also working on my next book(s), and wanting so much to be able to concentrate on that, but not wanting Magic Inc. to drown on its own.

I love books, video games, TV shows, anime, and manga. Basically anything with a good story. I also practically could not live without music. I love a wide variety of genres. I create soundtracks for all my stories as I form my ideas, and those songs are part of the very life of the story.

I'm mostly here to meet other writers who write similar things and/or are in similar situations. I know a few other writers who are as serious about their craft as I am, but they are writing really different kinds of stories in very different ways. I've always craved having a (small) group of people I could relate to, but I've failed at finding it time and time again. Maybe this will be the place to find it.