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When Morgan Hill resident Daniel Reyes would tell his friends and family that he was a writer, some would respond with skepticism and ask for a sample of one of his published works.
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“You tell everyone you’re a writer, but until you have anything published you’re not a writer,” said the 28-year-old Live Oak High School and Santa Clara University alumnus who can now direct them to amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com to view his first published work, The Essences.
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Through publishing company Xlibris, Reyes was able to publish his first novel (available in hardcover and paperback) five months ago. The theology-based thriller follows the narrative of Uriel, an angel commissioned by God to follow four Archangels to “document what’s going to come.” One of those angels is Satan, who starts a fictional civil war in heaven.
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“It’s basically the story of how the devil became the devil. There have been stories about after he became the devil but not any before he did,” said Reyes, a faith-driven man who regularly attends St. Catherine Parish in Morgan Hill.
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“The Essences are four unique weapons of incredible power and good, created by God, and given to His four Generals, the Archangels, to reign over His creations,” the book summary says. “A dark prophecy exists, stating that if the Essences become separated from the bond of their four owners, then a dark time of great strife would ensue.”
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Reyes, who moved to Morgan Hill from his native Bolivia in his sophomore year of high school and played soccer for the Acorns, mixed religious tales he heard and researched over the years with his passion for creative writing.
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“Little by little [Satan] thinks he’s equal to God,” as the story progresses in The Essences, Reyes continued. “He’s God’s most beautiful angel. But he rebels against God’s plan to create earth and humans because they will be his favorite, and they can procreate and he can’t.”
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Reyes wrote “The Essences” as a trilogy and, while only the first volume has been released, he already has the sequel written and is working on the third volume.
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“I’d written so much for the first one that I figured I’d split it into three,” said Reyes, a fan of best-selling authors J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of Rings), C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter).
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“The book is very well written. I was entertained from start to finish,” read one review by Champ Avecilla on Amazon.com. “The writer is ingenious in writing the story. I like the hidden messages throughout the book, as if they are meant for us in our daily lives. And I am sure they are.”
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Another reviewer, Karen Rennert, wrote: “I loved this book. The only problem was it ended. I can’t wait for the next book.”
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Reyes graduated in 2011 with a biology degree from Santa Clara University—and he injects that scientific knowledge into his fiction—but the written word has been a passion of his since high school.
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Now employed in the sales and service department with Gilroy-based Cintas, Reyes spent the last three years finely crafting the story of Satan’s shift from favorite archangel to the devil.
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“I always had an idea for a book, so I just started writing,” said Reyes, who wrote articles for the school newspapers at Live Oak and Santa Clara. “I’ve always had an aptitude for creative writing.”
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Taking breaks in writing for varying periods of time throughout the last three years, Reyes hunted for a book publishing company to recognize his work and help get it on the bookshelves. Even after countless rejection letters, he never doubted his talents, and then he received an email from Xlibris wanting to help publish his novel.
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“I was so happy. I never gave up hope,” said Reyes, who is in the process of scheduling a book launch with Morgan Hill’s BookSmart to present The Essences to local readers.
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“I knew it was going to come,” said his sister and publicist, Nicole Reyes. “It’s a good story. It’s complex, but it’s easy to understand.”
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Being bilingual, Daniel Reyes plans to translate the book into Spanish to expand his readership. The front page was designed by digital artist Carlos Quevedo and the inside sketches were done by local artist Antonia Lowe.
“It’s surreal,” said Reyes of being a published author. “It’s a very witty book.”
