How a Bible Major Became The Adventurous Author

The Dream Doer Story

On an overcast February day in 1999, I was months away from graduating college with a degree in Bible. As a single woman with big dreams and zero plan, I was staring into a black hole of uncertainty.

What do you do with a Bible degree when you're not going into ministry? When you've performed well in school but have no idea what comes next? When the only thing you've ever wanted to do—create stories—feels impossible?

I'd spent years chasing excellence in sports, pushing my body to run faster, train harder, compete better. I understood discipline. I knew how to show up when I didn't feel like it. But when it came to writing? I kept that dream hidden. It seemed too far-fetched. So I did nothing about it except scribble random stories in secret notebooks.

But in class that day, a professor divided the world into two kinds of people: Dreamers and Doers. Dreamers had ideas. Doers made things happen.

I sat there aching. I wanted to be a Doer. But I knew exactly which one I was. Dreamer.

All those half-written stories sitting in a drawer. All that training discipline from sports that somehow never translated to my creative life.

Then she quoted Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

My heart stopped. That was in the Bible? How had I never read that before?

What if my desires weren't accidents? What if God planted this dream in me on purpose? What if I could train as a writer the same way I trained as an athlete—with consistency, grit, and faith? What if I could become not just a Doer...but a Dream Doer?

So I made a choice. I would pursue writing. Not as a backup plan. As the only plan.

Turns out that wasn't a wise choice.

Because nine years of rewrites doesn't pay the bills. So I worked a string of entry-level jobs while creating that first novel and lived the classic struggling-writer life.

When I finally published my first novel in 2008, it sold approximately 13 copies.

I gave up on novels, started writing short stories, and got a job at Starbucks.

Cops, Robbers...and Dragons?

Years later, I was still there: apron on, milk steaming, training baristas while my unfinished manuscripts sat in a drawer at home.

But in the middle of all that noise—espresso machines hissing, one cop pestering me to write a story about cops, another challenging me to write about dragons—a short story called "Cops, Robbers…and Dragons?" took shape in my head.

That story morphed into The Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga, the fantasy series I write under the pen name D.K. Drake.

This time, my books sold thousands of copies despite my sporadic writing and almost non-existent marketing efforts.

Before I finished the fourth book in that saga, though, I outgrew my Starbucks job.

Or maybe it spit me out.

Either way, I had to escape before the endless mountain of coffee and customers crushed my spirit. I landed in the wonderful world of…car insurance.

I was making twice as much money, but talking to people about car accidents all day sucked the life from my introverted soul. I stopped writing altogether.

Then I switched to operations. Something loosened. I started writing again.

But by that time, AI had arrived. The game had changed. It could write faster, cleaner, smarter. I panicked. What if I'm replaceable?

The Creative Identity Crisis...and the Antidote

That crisis became my mission.

Because I realized something: we're not supposed to compete with machines. We're supposed to become irreplaceable, anchored in God-given identity, creating stories only we can tell.

I've published fantasy novels that readers binge in a weekend. Now I'm on a quest to publish 50 books by age 50. It's a two-year sprint starting on my 48th birthday: faith-based books that anchor belief, writer training that builds backbone, and children's stories so good kids hide under the covers with a flashlight to read them.

I've run the 101-Day Triple Crown Challenge: writing a story, publishing a podcast, and running daily for over three months straight. Not because I'm naturally disciplined. I'm not.

But I built frameworks like the WHO Anchors™ and Strong Year™ systems from surviving my own chaos. If I can become consistent, so can you.

Now I adventurize life: mine and yours. I help writers turn life, writing, and business into an adventure, one micro mission at a time. And I'm building a movement to revolutionize human storytellers through The League of Adventurous Authors™, secretly brilliant storytellers who refuse shortcuts, honor their design, and create with courage.

I don't promise ridiculous things like bestsellers in 3 minutes.

I do promise that if you anchor your identity, train with discipline, and respect how God made you, you'll finally win the Creative Fulfillment Game™.

Because the goal isn't speed. It's faithfulness. It's fruit. It's becoming the author God called you to be. And staying that way, no matter what storms come.

Let's adventurize your life together. One micro mission at a time.

A Few Random Things About Me

I'm an introvert who recharges on solo trail runs or hikes and gets overstimulated by too many people or too much noise.
Coffee is non-negotiable. I survived nearly a decade at Starbucks for a reason. But I like simple and bold: dark roast, no cream, no sugar.
I don't like scary movies, but I'll write about dragons and dark kings all day.
My favorite Bible verse (obviously): Psalm 37:4.
I've run 5Ks, 10Ks, half-marathons, marathons, and ultra-marathons, but I'm not fast. I just refuse to quit.
My pen name D.K. Drake came from combining... (I have to keep some secrets)
I'm single and live with two of my single sisters. Together we're raising four adopted kiddos. (I'm the aunt. My sis adopted them cause the kids don't need three moms!)
I unwind by putting puzzles together or organizing things in Notion. Yes, I'm that person.
My biggest fear? Disappointing God by wasting the gifts He gave me.
My secret weapon? I treat writing like athletic training: show up, do the reps, trust the process.

Gallery

Here are some highlights from my adventures in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Costa Rica...and home with the fam or on familiar trails I run.
And yes, I actually went to these places. AI was not used in the creation of these pics!