About the author...
I am an indie author passionate about sharing my love of faith-filled fantasy through my stories. My first book, The Kairos Quest, made this dream a reality, but it was a long journey to get there. Continue reading to learn about my story!
Preliminary Info-Dump
I am Lauren Graves, twenty-one years old, student by day and fantasy author by night. I was born and raised in the beautiful state of Idaho, where I live with my parents and my younger sister. After being homeschooled and graduating in 2021, I studied English, business, and graphic design for the next three years. I've had a large variety of jobs for the last several years, including website development, jewelry-making, teaching at my local elementary school, and running my own hobby business through which I sell candy and wool animal sculptures. Meanwhile I have had a host of side-quests, like horseback riding, watercolor painting, and earning a black belt in martial arts.
I have been a Christian for my entire life, and remain devoted to pursuing God's calling for me, whatever that leads to. While I am making plans for the next few years, I know that it is ultimately up to God to decide what I end up doing!
The Call to Adventure
In 2018, I already knew that I wanted to write stories. But not just any old stories, like the mysteries and superhero cartoons I was messing around with. There was a story that I wished that I could read, but no one had written it. I wanted a high-flying fantasy adventure. Dragons were a must. I wanted lovable, relatable characters that I could root for. I wanted a story grounded in faith and without all of the other yucky stuff that middle-grade books were starting to have. No romance.
When I couldn't find this story, I decided that I had better write it myself. It was harder than I thought.
Way harder.
Five years, four complete re-writes, and many tears and sleepless nights later, I held the book that my fifteen-year-old self would have snatched from my hands. The Kairos Quest was published on October 26, 2023, and I became a real author.
"That is, I wrote the books I should have liked to read if only I could have got them. That’s always been my reason for writing. People won’t write the books I want, so I have to do it for myself." — C.S. Lewis
The Future is Coming
So, what does the future look like, you ask?
Well, it was fairly early in the process of The Kairos Quest that I realized it would need more than one book to tell the rest of the story. I decided to follow book one with two more, and so the Realm of Dragons Trilogy was born. But as I learned with my first book, stories take a long time to write. And then there's all the editing, and the cover design, and the formatting... so getting Book 2 published is taking a lot longer than I thought. However, be assured that two more books are in the works!... just in this series...
But Lauren, I hear you asking, are there going to be any more books after the Realm of Dragons Trilogy?
Well... let's just say that I'm definitely not going to stop writing books, unless God calls me to something else instead. For the time being, I can see myself writing books for years and decades to come. Perhaps something for younger kids is coming... something with... fabric... and mystery... and adventure...
Meanwhile, I like to constantly juggle multiple things at once, so I am also planning on starting an editing and formatting business. For more information, please take a look at the "Services" page of this website.
So, that's my story so far, and my vision for the future! I don't plan on winning any awards or making any headlines with my work, but that's not the purpose. My purpose in writing is to write the stories that I wished I had when I was young. Now I can share those stories with others.
Thank you for being here and supporting what I do. Now, as the dragons say, ero'ros! (let's go!)