For many college students, a 10-page research paper is a terrifying task. But for 18-year-old UK student Lauren Hudson, that’s a lot less daunting than writing a novel. She would know— she’s written two.

The freshman double majoring in neuroscience and biology is currently working on her third novel, part of the trilogy that began with her debut novel “The Ascension” and was followed by “The Deception.” Though the first book in the trilogy was published in 2016, Hudson had been thinking about the story for much longer than that.

“I technically wrote the first chapter in sixth grade. I wrote the first chapter and that was it, and then I put it down for three years. And picked it back up, read the first chapter and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is horrible’ and completely scrapped it and began writing it more seriously when I was 15.”

Though “The Ascension” was Hudson’s first novel written on her own, it wasn’t her first experience with being published. She co-authored the non-fiction book “Our Best Tomorrow: Students Teaching Capitalism to America” with her father Robert Hudson when she was 13. Hudson said she loved writing long before her father brought the project to her and jumped at the opportunity.

“He came to me and said, ‘I have a book I’m writing, and I want you to write a fiction section to go along with it.’ And I said, ‘I will write anything you want me to write, as long as it means that I get to write and be published,’” Hudson said.

Now, Hudson balances her time between classes and homework and has plans to go to medical school with a focus on surgery or oncology. Yet she still finds ways to integrate a little writing time into her daily schedule, even if it’s just 200 words a day.

Hudson said that unlike some writers, she doesn’t methodically plan out everything that will go into her books. She has the beginning and the end, but lets the middle happen as it happens. And like many writers, and college students for that matter, she’s not immune to writer’s block. But it’s her love for her characters that keeps her plugged into the process.

“I love to fall in love in with my characters. They’re kind of like my friends. When I was writing the first book in the Ascension series, my editor told me to kill off one of my main characters, and I was like ‘I can’t do that, I love them,’” she said.

“The Ascension” trilogy is a science fiction series that follows the story of three triplets who are members of Asterians, a guardian angel race. A fan of the “Harry Potter” and “Percy Jackson” series, it is her own love for this genre that led Hudson to write science fiction novels.

“I’ve always loved science fiction fantasy because it takes me to a completely different world,” Hudson said. “It’s made me think that there’s something different than this world, and I love how it just sucks me in and makes me forget where I am for a little bit.”

Hudson has been awarded for her work on multiple occasions, receiving a Mom’s Choice Gold Award, E-Lit Silver Award and a Great Southeast Book Festival Award. Her work has also appeared at multiple book festivals, and Hudson holds her own book signings. The success, she said, just drives her keep writing.

“I had two signings recently and I had someone come up to me and say, ‘I bought your first book at one of your signings, and now I’m here to buy your second,’ and that’s a really amazing feeling,” she said.

She said knowing people are “reading and enjoying” her books is what drives her to continue writing and working on the third novel.