Am I a Writer?

Over the years I have struggled with this question--Am I a Writer?--even though I have done quite a bit of writing. When I finished my new novel, Forever People, I still did not feel yet that I could call myself a writer. Then today I received an email from GoodReads titled, "Welcome to the GoodReads Authors Program", and I finally felt comfortable calling myself a writer! Was I simply waiting for validation? I'd like to think I didn't really need validation, but I guess I did. This is a new chapter for me and I am thrilled!