Fairy Tails Rock

Tarpon Springs

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727-430-7031

Nikki Karis, author, inspirational speaker and founder of Zeni Says, whose given name is Nikki Marie Kavouklis, grew up in Tarpon Springs, a small town on the west coast of Florida. As a child, many people, including her parents and teachers, recognized that Karis possessed a special gift for connecting with people via the written and spoken word.

Karis spent her youth with her nose buried in a book, studying or reading for pleasure, her foot on a soccer ball, or her mind focused on whatever creative endeavor she was involved with at the time. In high school, Karis excelled in journalism working as a stringer for a local newspaper and winning numerous awards as editor of her high school’s newspaper.

After high school, Karis went on to obtain her BA degree and later, her juris doctorate degree, both from the University of Florida. After graduating from law school, Karis returned to her hometown to practice law. Karis started her own law firm in 1999, which has grown into a successful practice with several locations in Florida.

In 2009, Karis dusted off her Toad Chronicles notebook, which she started in early 2000. She began putting her fingers to her laptop on April 24, 2009, finishing the rewrite of book one in Fall 2017.

Karis’ idea for the series was born from her own experiences trekking through the swamps of life. After suffering years and years of personal and professional heartache and hardship, she finally discovered the key to successfully navigating the swamps of life.

This is the message Karis delivers to readers via Zeni, her protagonist, in book one of the series:

"Once the lightbulb went off in my head, so to speak, and I realized the fairytale story was a lie, well, I was finally set free from all those unrealistic expectations implanted in my subconscious during my childhood. I was finally able to see and accept others for exactly who they are, full of warts and imperfections, and to see and accept life for exactly what it is, a swamp, if you will, fraught will all sort sorts of difficulties and imponderables. I became a much happier person because I no longer clung to unreasonable expectations of people or life in general.”

Karis still practices law as she works on launching her book series and inspirational company, Finding Zeni. She recently rebirthed her law firm, renaming it Zen 4 Law, bringing her inspirational concepts into her practice.

Besides writing and speaking, Karis enjoys spending time with her rescue animals, who inspire her as she writes, reading, traveling, collecting art and decorating the circa 1925 home she has been renovating for almost a decade.

Her future plans include owning a farm to work on the weekends and building a home on Eleuthera in the Bahamas, where she frequently retreats to write.