Cushite Press Presents S.M.I.L.E.–a novel by Kevin Reeves

Kevin Reeves: The Soul Storyteller, The Literacy Advocate

By: Eleanor L. Smith

Cherish the Soul Entertainment                                                                                                                             

Author Kevin Reeves

 

Writers have a love jones with words and the ultimate goal for them is to share their God given talent of expression with the world. And when that talent is met with praise, nothing compares to the joy he or she feels. “The fact that someone actually purchases your work is an extreme blessing,” said Kevin Reeves, self published author of the novel S.M.I.L.E.—Souls in Movement Illuminating and Loving Eternal; a brilliant work of art that takes readers on
a three part journey of love of self, deep love for another and discovery and deep love of God.

“Readers can expect very original characters who are Aisha and Aaron. They are the protagonists of the novel and there have never been any characters like them in literature,” said Reeves. “I would like for the readers to take away from it what they will because it’s so much there. You go along with Aisha and Aaron’s journey and become their friend…you develop a relationship with them by being pulled into their story…it’s more about the discovery of the relationship and ultimately a higher relationship with God.  Both characters are authentically represented and you feel their humanity throughout each page and a major shift occurs that many people don’t expect that changes the dynamic of the story. It’s not a plot driven book,” he continued.

Hailing from Chicago, IL, Kevin didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer, but he loved books and read anything that he could get his hands on. In 1997, he wrote his first poem trying to express himself to a young lady. He didn’t have the words to do it, so he attempted to speak his heart creatively. But it wasn’t until 2001 that he began to take his writing seriously while enrolled at Harvard University. After a friend encouraged him to take a creative writing class, Kevin found support for his talent of putting pen to paper. “I was writing all sorts of things at Harvard and I was competitive by nature and played sports in college. I remember going and seeing all of these people there who wanted to be writers and she (the professor) made this statement in a funny voice, ‘If you are not a good writer, do not apply to my class, but if you are a good writer, I can help you get to where you need to be’. And I said to myself, ‘Imma apply to this lady’s class!’ because I loved competition. She took a liking to me and was the first to really tell me that I had talent and gave meaning to what I was doing and she nurtured it. She would pull me to the side and told me great books to read,” said Reeves, who for the next 10 years submerged himself in ‘self study and apprenticeship’ by reading, writing and learning how to become a story teller.

“To become an artist, it takes time…reading and writing…I learned to tell stories and gained understanding into what goes into that. I call it my germination period. Before S.M.I.L.E., I wrote six books. Kevin considers his genre of writing to be literary fiction, however, it is hard for him to categorize his art. “Everything that I write, I wanna write stories that entertain, but also make you think and feel. I’m very spiritual and that is the undercurrent of all of my work, but I’m not gonna hit you over the head with it. So there’s a bit of suspense, thriller in there,” he said.

Like most artists, Kevin knows what he is going to write about before he even sits down in front of his computer. S.M.I.L.E. was conceived back in 2004 when the story dropped into his spirit as he was cutting his parents’ grass. Feeling that he hadn’t reached adult maturity at 25 years of age during that time, he allowed the story to grow in him and recalls doing a lot of praying until he eventually felt that he was ready to proceed.  “I was asking God to allow me to accomplish this feat because it’s a pretty ambitious book of its scope,” he said.

Published by his own company Cushite Press, Kevin feels humble that the novel is gaining buzz and more opportunities are coming his way while there are other works in the process. He was inspired to call his company ‘Cushite’ due to a sermon he heard one Sunday. “We all have something special to deliver, a special message and it was around the time that I was getting rejected, so the message was about gathering your own straw and learning how to make it,” he gleams. My vision, my hope and my dream years from now…I don’t care about accolades, money…I just want my art to make room for me to become an advocate and allow me more freedom to create and advocate for the have nots…in ten years, I want to be a successful philanthropist and advocate for anybody who is struggling in literacy…an advocate for little black boys, black girls..and anyone…giving back,” said Reeves.

S.M.I.L.E. is available in ebook and paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles. Visit www.thesmilestory.com  for more information and to purchase a copy.