An Interview with Kathryn Butler, Author of The Dream Keeper Saga

We recently caught up with Kathryn Butler, author of The Dream Keeper Saga, to ask her all of the questions on our mind about the creatures and characters she created for the book series, what her writing process is like, and how to incorporate themes of Christian hope into a story.

How did you get started writing fiction? What compelled you to actually start writing?

As is true for many kids, stories were vital to me growing up. When tensions were high at home, I’d escape into imaginary worlds where bravery and light were commonplace. I started drawing stories on construction paper before I could write and continued dabbling in fiction until the demands of medicine edged out time for scribbling.

My love for stories was reawakened after a touching experience with my son during the COVID pandemic. I’d left practice a few years before to homeschool my kids, but when the virus hit Boston, my colleagues asked me to return to help in the ICU. My son Jack, who was seven at the time, was frightened for me, and in his anxiety, he started to question God’s goodness. We studied Job, John 11, Genesis 50:20, and similar passages to highlight God’s faithfulness in dark moments. Then, an unexpected moment, in an unexpected book, drove the point home.

We were cuddled on the couch reading The Return of the King before I went into the hospital for another night shift. We read about Minas Tirith under siege. Sauron’s armies swarmed toward the gates. Darkness swallowed the once-green hills. All seemed lost. Then, dawn broke. A wind swept from over the sea, and the Riders of Rohan galloped to the rescue!

My voice caught as I read Tolkien’s words, and Jack, with tears in his eyes, asked, “Can you please read that again?” We did, and then we talked about the hope to which the scene pointed. Even in the midst of darkness and grief, we have an assurance that a Savior will come. Light will dawn again. The cursed ring will burn up. We need not despair, because Jesus has assured us he is with us until the end of the age, and he is making all things new (Matt. 28:20, Rev. 21:5).

That evening, as I drove to the hospital, I reflected on the remarkable power of a well-told story to give weight, imagery, and color to the truths we teach our kids in Scripture. The very best stories, I contemplated, reflect the glittering light and hope of the gospel. And suddenly, daydreams struck me as important. C. S. Lewis wrote that his Chronicles of Narnia arose not from a grand apologetic exposition but from an image in his head of a faun holding an umbrella. Tolkien, too, suddenly had the first line of The Hobbit pop into his head. As shadows of the Creator who made us in his image, daydreams have value when stewarded well.

And so that evening, when an image of a girl stumbling upon a dragon in her kitchen popped into my head, I didn’t dismiss it and move on. Instead, I tucked it away. I spent hours caring for sick patients into the night. Then at 3 a.m., when all was quiet in the ICU, I pulled a sheet of paper from a printer, asked, “Who is this dragon?” and started to write.

How do you approach writing for middle-grade readers? Are there specific challenges in balancing adventure, depth, and accessibility?

Many times as I’m writing, I imagine reading the story to my own kids who are middle graders! If I can picture them tapping their feet impatiently, I know I need to quicken the pace. If I can envision the color draining from my daughter’s face, I know the scene is too intense! Having kids who are in the target age range—and having a depth of experience reading aloud to them—has provided more insight than any book I’ve read on craft.

Having said that, I think it’s important to respect the kids for whom you’re writing. Kids are capable of grappling with big issues, and they deal with real fears. They also have well-tuned alert systems for condescension and insincerity. The right balance, I think, is to acknowledge the fallenness of the world without celebrating it, and to always offer a counterpoint of light—namely, the gospel—to chase away the shadows. And the story has to be primary. Kids pick up a book hoping to tumble headlong into an adventure, not to sit through a lecture.

Have you found anything in common between being an author and being a doctor that surprised you?

Doctors are actually storytellers. Much of their work involves eliciting the history and details about someone’s condition, piecing all the information together such that it creates a cohesive narrative.

On a deeper level, however, I think medicine best informs writing because it unveils so many nuances of human nature. Those who work in medicine witness profound suffering firsthand. They have a front-row seat to grief and brokenness, as well as poignant glimpses of restoration and healing. When you daily interface with the hard realities of the human experience, you develop insight into how people behave, for what they long, how they love, and why the gospel is such good news.

For those who aren’t aware, what is the basic premise of The Dream Keeper Saga?

The Dream Keeper Saga is a middle-grade fantasy series with Christian themes. A girl named Lily, grieving for her late father, travels to a realm where dreams live on after we awaken. She learns she’s a dream steward with unique powers to create, and she soon stumbles into an adventure that confronts her with questions of courage, hope, and faith. Throughout the saga, she encounters Prince Pax, in whom she develops deepening trust as the stakes rise ever higher. Allegory waves throughout the stories, pointing kids to the promise of redemption through Christ.

What was the most challenging part of creating the characters, creatures, and world of The Dream Keeper Saga?

My writing process is at once a source of abundant joy and nagging headaches. I’m a “discovery” writer; instead of planning out each detail, character trait, and narrative beat ahead of time, I chase after images in my head, ask where they lead, and discover the story as I go. The process is more akin to brushing away dust from an artifact than assembling a building. It’s as if the story and the world already exist, and my job is to bring them into the light, rather than to construct them brick by brick.

This approach is a delight in the moment, as there’s always something new to gaze upon and wonder about. A downside, however, is that sometimes inconsistencies arise. Characters don’t behave the way you expect. Your ending suddenly hovers on the horizon in the north while you’re heading south. When such problems arise, I have to step away from the manuscript and spend a lot of time with a notebook and pencil in hand, brainstorming how it all fits together. These are the moments when my prayers about the work—about stewarding the story for his glory—are the most ardent!

Through the gospel, we have a hope that will never disappoint and an assurance that burns away the shadows to reveal the brilliant dawn.

Which fantasy creature or concept that you dreamed up for the book are you most proud of?

I wouldn’t call it pride. I view the stories and all their details as gifts that I’m to steward. I do, however, have a special affinity for Cedric. He’s the type of friend I’d love to have. As a kid I dreamed up many imaginary friends just like him, and would talk to them regularly. I think if I did the same thing now people might call the police.

Is there a particular character that you identified with the most? How much did you write yourself or other people you know into the characters in the story?

A few of the characters are composites of people I know. I relate to Lily’s awkwardness; as a kid I was teased for my height, and the anecdote in the first book about bananas smooshed in Lily’s hair was based on a real event (on school picture day!). Keisha’s gutsiness reminds me of my daughter, and my son is quirky like Lily. I’ve known lots of goofy kids like Adam, and Sprock vaguely reminds me of a mentor from surgery residency. Most of the characters, however, weren’t related to anyone in particular.

How did your own journey of faith shape the themes and messages found in The Dream Keeper Saga?

The Lord brought me to himself through suffering. I didn’t know the gospel growing up, and I mistook Christianity for “being a good person.” When I failed to save three dying kids in the emergency room in the same night, I wrestled with God’s goodness and ultimately fell into a dark night of the soul that persisted for a year. In a moment that often reminds me of Jonah, who ran from God and didn’t pray until steeped in the gloom of the fish’s belly, the Lord softened my heart while I was locked in that deep darkness. He opened my eyes to Christ, and especially to the truth that he works through all things—even death on a cross—for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28).

Given my own journey, when I set out to write The Dream Keeper Saga, I didn’t want to shy away from harsh realities. Suffering is real. Sin is real. And yet, through the gospel, we have a hope that will never disappoint and an assurance that burns away the shadows to reveal the brilliant dawn. After witnessing my own son’s need for that truth—for that clear contrast between the gloaming now, and the glory to come—I wanted to give kids the same image of gospel hope. I wanted to emphasize to kids that no matter what happens, our hope in Christ endures because his steadfast love and faithfulness endure forever.

Were there any characters or parts of the story that were particularly hard or emotional for you to write?

I cried multiple times when writing The Quest for the Guardians because as a parent, I sympathized with Lily’s father. It’s a sweet and yet difficult truth that our kids are not our own. They belong to the Lord, and sometimes the path down which he guides them—which is always the right path, given his sovereignty and grace—carries them away from us. Daniel’s desperation to protect Lily, and his realization that faithfulness meant letting her go, hit close to home.

Writing the conclusion to the series was also hard, especially the last few chapters. I grew to love these characters over time as if they were my kids. To thrust Lily into such danger at the end twisted my gut. I was grateful to reflect on the new heavens and the new earth in the final chapter!

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What did you discover about yourself as you wrote these books?

I discovered that any good I can affect is only by his grace and according to his work and will. I’ve received letters from readers who gleaned comfort and reassurance from these stories at just the right time, which I never could have orchestrated. Throughout the process, I’ve seen Ephesians 2:10 and 2 Corinthians 12:9 play out again and again. Writing is stewardship. My job is to walk faithfully in the task the Lord sets before me; the fruit is his, the good works are his, and the glory is his alone.

What did you discover about God as you wrote these books?

Lily’s journey is one of sanctification, and following her allowed me to reflect deeply on how God works in our hearts to shape us all our lives. I frequently mined Scripture and marveled at moments when his divine providence subverted the aims of sinful man, and when he brought healing and renewal from brokenness, like new growth from scorched soil. Most of all, I reflected on passages that show how he works in good, lovely, and beautiful ways at the most unexpected moments: Lazarus in the tomb; Joseph in the jail cell; Job in the dust; and most of all, Jesus on the cross. Lily frequently had to trust in Pax when all seemed bleak and when she didn’t understand his actions. God calls us to do the same—to trust that we remain in his grip and that he is sovereign, holy, and good, even when our limited minds cannot fathom our circumstances.

What do you hope children will walk away with after reading this series?

When I was a kid in a non-Christian home, my first glimpse of the gospel wasn’t in church or even in a storybook Bible, but it was in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I read about Aslan liberating Eustace from his dragonish form, and although I couldn’t articulate why, my soul thrilled. I knew I’d just beheld something wondrous, something with deep, marvelous, exquisite meaning that I couldn’t quite unpack.

My hope is that when kids read The Dream Keeper Saga, echoes of the gospel similarly follow them after they’ve closed the books. I hope they see parallels to the biblical narrative and that these images embolden them when life seems awash in gray. I hope when they read of Pax laying down his life, the image stirs their hearts in remembrance of Christ on the cross. I hope when they read of Lily’s hopelessness in the Sea of Oblivion, they rejoice that just as Pax rushed to her rescue, so also Christ has saved us. And when Pax makes all things new, I pray they think upon Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, who gave his life for us, who will wipe away every tear from every eye, and in whose house we will dwell forever.

Kathryn Butler is the author of The Dream Keeper Saga.

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