KenDrell Collins becomes first-time author

2017 Oct 23

KenDrell Collins, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business graduate, recently released his first novel, "Be Steady, My Soul: Daily Practices for Peace and Positivity."

Collins, an Osceola, AR native, grew up as a country boy with dreams big enough to fill the Mississippi River. As a young man, he had aspirations of becoming the president of the United States, the governor of Arkansas, and the CEO of a company. Before he could obtain any of those positions, Collins took a detour and decided first to become an author.

"It was December of 2016," Collins said. "I would always post quotes and inspirational stuff on Facebook and people would suggest that I write a book. Ironically, during this time I was overcoming all the emotional impacts of law school and wanted to write something I could turn to for encouragement."

As a law student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Collins witnessed his peers turn to drugs and alcohol to cope with strenuous academic demands. Instead of following suit, Collins drew inspiration from the experiences around him and outlined them on the Microsoft Word pages of his laptop.

"Each chapter embodied a personal hurdle that I was overcoming," he said. "I figured I couldn't be the only person who had or would struggle with these things. My hope was that by sharing what worked for me, someone else would also be strengthened."

After eight months of writing, editing, and researching, Collins' journey to becoming a first-time author was complete.

"The fact that my dream came true shows me that we can have just about whatever we want in life, if we really want it," Collins said. "We don't have to sit around and wait for someone to give us permission to do what we feel called to do. It removes a lot of the fear and hesitation. I actually believe anything is possible now."

Collins' novel is available on Amazon.