Hail from the frozen North!

[Vincent Lakes]

Good day to everybody.

I've been a writer my whole life, although most of it I've been working in my native language, Finnish, which is why I'm just now popping up on international forums. The reason why I made the switch to English is my dear wife and my most important critic, who happens to be American. I don't have words to describe the meaning of her input, the continuous support and encouragement that eventually led me to open my website and begin to push my stories out in the public. I worked for 6 years to hone my skill in English, for I wanted to treat the language I'm writing in with utmost respect and care. I'm still working hard to improve, but then again, aren't we all? For the last 4 years or so I've been releasing stories on different writing sites, and the feedback has been mostly positive, which encouraged me to continue.

I'm not really sure how to describe my writing style or genres they tap into, but some kind of dark, medieval, low fantasy comes to mind. I've done a lot of world building, and as a result all my fantasy stories take place in the same setting. I've also written some horror and post-apocalyptic short stories in the heat of the moment, but never truly dived any deeper into those genres.

This seems like a great forum for ambitious writers constantly working to become better at the craft, so I'm really excited to be an active and contributing part of it.

Best regards,
Vincent

 

[Russ]

Welcome aboard VL! It is always great to have a new member from the nation that has produced just about every rally driver worth mentioning.

It is great to hear you have strong support from your wife. My wife is a professional writer and I think working together and encouraging each other has been very good for both of us.

I look forward to hearing more about your work and finding out what you think about the various issues that get discussed around here. Feel free to jump right in to anything that interests you, and if you don't see what interests you feel free to start a new topic that does.

 

[Geo]

Welcome, and good day to you too. I recently visit your country (Helsinki), great place and not as colder and frozen as I expected.

I hope soon you share some of the stories with us ad that you find this place useful and inspiring (as I do).

 

[Caged Maiden]

Welcome! This is an awesome place to find feedback, critique, and people to trade work with. We have a lot of people here from around the world and though most are very competent at English, you might find support in your challenge with English as a second language. OMG I'm always so amazed with people who choose to write in a non-native language. I'm "fluent" at German, but I'd never dare write it. Or even speak it around a native-speaker for fear of looking a complete idiot!

It's nice to have spousal support. My husband (he's British, so no language barrier to speak of, HA!) is very supportive of me, too, and I know how much that means to any writer. I'm glad you've joined us, and best wishes on your journey!

 

[Vincent Lakes]

Thank you for the warm welcomes.

Caged Maiden, it surely was not an easy decision to switch languages. I was very concerned over things like how well I would be able to tell a story, capture the mood, describe the environments - all of it - in a language I didn't grow up speaking, but rather learned in bits and pieces throughout school. I usually don't even mention it because I don't want any pity points for it. Harsh critique, although it can be a little hurtful at times, helps me to grow and improve the most, or at least that's how I look at it. Just bring it on!

Geo, Helsinki is nice, but can get pretty freezing in the winter, mostly because of the piercing wind blowing from the sea. I live up north close to the arctic circle, so it's considerable colder here. It's -12ºC right now (10F). The lowest temperature this winter was -31ºC (-24F). Spring is on the way, but it sure seems to take its time - again.

I forgot to tell about my name in the original post as it is a pen name. Figured my real name would have looked a little weird, so I picked Vincent from one of my favorite hockey players in the NHL and Lakes from the name I've seen often used for Finland, "the land of thousand lakes". I have used this name ever since I made the transition from Finnish to English.

Thank you again for your kind replies. I've found myself checking around here quite often when not writing because a guy who used to run this one writing site I thought best in the world (Necrotania - RIP), recommended this site. I've been a quiet lurker for about a year here, and just now decided to participate a little more. I'm not sure why right now, but I'm glad I did.

 

[CupofJoe]

Hail and well met Vincent Lakes
Good to have you here.
Why you de-lurked is less important than you decided to de-lurk.

 

[HellionHeloise]

Welcome, Vincent!

I too hail from a cold, frozen place, Chicago, IL. We experienced a horrible winter last year with -40F with the windchill and coined the name Chiberia. Although I have a feeling Finland is a bit colder, I think you'll find this a great place to spend your time in the cold months.

Cheers!