Award Winning Author, Valerie Ryan was born in Columbus, Ohio but moved away from there at the age of 2 with her parents and two older sisters. They moved two more times before landing in Marion, Indiana. She attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana for a few years but soon discovered that college was more difficult for her than most. The realization that she had ADHD came slowly, however the diagnosis explained many things about her life. Not being one to be told she cannot do something, she swiftly applied to and was accepted into a trade school and graduated with an Executive Secretarial Management degree. Unfortunately, computers were taking over the secretarial field when she graduated leaving her with little to do career wise.
Not being one to stop moving, literally, she soon found herself living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her oldest sister working in an office. It didn't take too long to realize that office work and sitting in one spot every day was not for her. She moved back to Indiana and began working in an animal hospital where she excelled. She swiftly moved from one job title to another, going from receptionist, kennel worker, groomer, veterinary aid to veterinary technician. Later she began to work as a dog trainer. Working with animals was a great career and one she enjoyed immensely.
It wasn't until her first son was born nine weeks prematurely that she discovered she had also been living with Major Depressive Disorder and Anxiety. This marked a turning point in her life that not only helped her live a more complete life, but also helped her writing. Before this diagnosis her writings always bothered her. What would begin as a happy tale of two friends going out for a walk would eventually lead to disastrous events where everyone would die horrible deaths. She never understood why her mind would inevitably lead to such horrible storytelling and this would make the depression worst. In reaction, she stopped writing. Now that her mind was healing, she decided to try writing again. It started out slowly, just diary entries, for fear of the violent endings however those endings were now a thing of the past.
The first book in the Seven of I series, The Keeper of the Words, was a 5 year writing process. The research took over 3 years and the writing almost 2 years. She takes great pride in her work now and instead of throwing them away disgusted at herself, she now gladly waves her pages in front of anyone who will read them. Good thing she didn't give up because her book, The Keeper of the Words, won the 2015 Books of the Year in the Science Fiction/Fantasy Genre with Booksandauthor.com.
She now lives in the Tampa Bay area with her husband, son, daughter, two cats and an eyelash crested gecko. The children and cats have her well trained.
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