So, uh, hi? I don't really know how to start this. It's kinda awkward to be honest. I haven't done this in a while. I guess this is a life update that I've been stalling on for at least 8 months, and it still feels weird to talk about now, but it's serious and something I need to get off my chest. 

Alright, so what's the big deal? Well, in May of 2015, my father was diagnosed with an ulcer in his stomach. Not a huge thing, it could be fixed. However, when doctors went to check out the ulcer for possible causes, they instead found signs of stomach cancer. This sounds bad, but it gets worse. After some pills, we thought it was all fine, until a second check was done. Under the first layer of mild stomach cancer, there was actually signs of Type-B lymphoma, a blood cancer which required chemotherapy to treat. We found this out about last September. When I found out, I was absolutely heartbroken. I broke out into tears in front of my entire freshmen class, I was so scared. For my entire freshmen year, I was constantly burdened not only with copious amounts of schoolwork but also with the likely possibility that my father could die. I was in the worst state in my life since 7th grade. I was also dealing with constant fights with both of my parents and a break-up with a girlfriend who I had to leave behind moving into high school. It was bad. 

Wattpad was a much-needed escape from this painful reality. From writing poems and short stories to just talking to all of the amazing friends I've made, this platform helped me to cope with the suffering of the outside world. However, there was one big problem. I didn't know how to explain my predicament to the people around me without coming off as needy or yearning for the limelight. I have always had a strong fear of rejection due to growing up with parents constantly seeking perfection to the point of verbal and emotional abuse. Every time I tried to sit down and write out an explanation for sudden absences or delayed chapters from these cancer problems, I ended up walking away and deleting the draft. Thus, I opted to live out these days in a state of fake bliss. The reason my online persona is so cheerful and optimistic mainly stems from me trying to hide all of my pain from the people I care about. This mask must have been more convincing then I thought, because no one suspected what was happening behind the scenes, with only one exception being Glitch. 

Now, what does that all have to do with the me now? Well, I'm happy to say that my dad is in remission and things are slowly getting better, but Wattpad has been this thorn in my side ever since I finally began to take control of my life again. Constant breaks and writing blocks told me that something wasn't working. So, in these past few weeks of summer, I have realized why I have tried to avoid Wattpad. To put it simply, I wasn't writing the kinds of books that I was interested in. I was only writing for the sole purpose of pleasing other people. I was so fixated on being accepted by this group of friends that I lost any desire to please myself. With that being said, I think the only true way for me to come back to Wattpad would be for me to pretty much start over.

What I mean by this is that I am permanently canceling any book that I stopped writing in the past up to this point. I won't delete anything I've already published, but there will be no new content for these stories. Instead, I will be writing the books and poems that I want, regardless of what the people around me say. I hope the fans of some of these canceled stories understand why I am doing this. I will also be recreating my entire bio and feel of my page to fit this change. The only thing that will remain after this change will be the username, which I refuse to alter for personal reasons. I won't completely abandon the persona of Veronica, but she won't be my main online personality anymore. I want to give all of the characters I've created a chance to shine rather than one character that I'm proud of gathering up all of the attention. 

Thank you everyone for supporting me all of these years and for the amazing things you've done for me in the past. I can never express how happy I am that people enjoy what I create when it comes to these stories. I hope this change will benefit all of my readers as well, seeing as this will provide more content that I'm proud of and am excited to produce for you all. 

Again, thank you, and it's time to say goodbye to VC, and hello to a new face. 

Sincerely,

Serina