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-three years old, elementary school para by day and fantasy author by night. I was born and raised in the beautiful state of Idaho, and I moved to southern Idaho in 2025. After graduating high school in 2021, I studied English, business, and graphic design through Liberty University for the next three years, graduating in 2024 with a Bachelor's of Science in English and Writing. I've had a large variety of jobs over the last several years, but I currently support elementary school students as a special education paraprofessional, while also freelancing as a natural medicine research writer. I've had a whole host of side-quests along the way, including horseback riding, getting a black belt in martial arts, and exploring nature.
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
Fairly early in the process of writing The Kairos Quest, I realized that it would need more than one book to tell the rest of the story. I decided to follow it up with two more, and the Realm of Dragons trilogy was born. Book 2, Return to the Realm, took a lot longer than I thought it would. But after going through all the writing, re-writing, editing, cover design, and formatting all over again, Return to the Realm was published in April, 2025.
As I write this now, the first two books of the Realm of Dragons trilogy have been far more successful than I ever expected them to be, finding their way into the hands of readers all over the place. I have received dozens of emails from young fans asking me questions, commenting on the story, and sending me beautiful fan art of my characters and their dragons. Part of me wants to stay here forever, because I have grown so attached to the story, I don't want it to end. But the other part of me knows my readers, and my characters, deserve an epic, satisfying ending to the story that has now (as of summer 2026) been eight years in the making.
The conclusion to the Realm of Dragons trilogy, End of the Reign, will come to readers in fall/winter 2026. To stay updated on the official release date and all the festivities associated with release, make sure to subscribe to my email newsletter. I don't send a lot of emails (sometimes I go a whole year without sending one) but the ones I do send are always for important announcements.
The Future is Coming
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 as for now, I'm not going to stop writing. I have something in the works. It won't be related to the Realm of Dragons, it will be a new story, and one geared toward a slightly younger audience. That's all I'll say for now, but keep your eyes out for announcements coming in the future!
Meanwhile, since my favorite thing is to juggle multiple things at once, I am honing my skills in non-fiction research writing and taking on just slightly more projects than I can easily do at once—as usual!
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!)