Author Cecilia A. Garcia

Fun fact about me: Cecilia is my pen name. When I decided to use a pen name, I immediately knew which name to choose. Although I’m not a practicing Catholic any longer (in fact, I refer to myself as a recovering Catholic!), I did select a confirmation name in high school. I remember that when we were picking our names, we were encouraged to choose a saint we had something in common with or were drawn to.

Recently, a reader asked me what or who inspired me as a child to write. This question made me pause and reflect on my childhood, and specifically on one person, my Dad, who was most known in our community as Nick the Welder. My dad was a welder my entire life. He was well known in Youngstown as the guy who could weld anything. -You needed your car worked on? My dad was your guy. - You needed some random piece of metal welded? My dad was your guy. -Couldn't afford to pay for

In a few short weeks, I will be heading to one of my favorite book events of the year. This year marks the fourth year I will be attending the Louisville Book Festival. You may be wondering- Cecilia, why is a book festival over five hours away so near and dear to your heart? To understand why this festival holds a special place in my heart, we must first go back to the summer of 2021. I was deep in the throes of releasing my debut novella, Always Forward. As an indie author,

As I sit here and reflect, I give gratitude for another year of circling the sun. It's hard to believe that just one year ago, I was in the final stages of publishing Always Forward, and now, I'm in the final stages of publishing book three- Carry On. It may have taken me seventeen years to get Always Forward out of my head and onto paper, but now it seems I may never stop writing!

2021 proved to be quite the adventure for me. After seventeen years of having Emily's story live in my head, I finally put the pedal to the medal and wrote the damn book. Initially, I envisioned writing this novel with three parts, but once I completed part one, I knew I needed to share it with the world. And that is how Always Forward, the novella, was published. Having Always Forward in my head for so long, I was nervous about how people would receive it. I had all the feel

I recently went to social media to ask people what they want to know about being a Veteran. I am an open book, and I know that sometimes it can be intimidating to ask a Veteran what it was like to serve in the military. So, today’s blog post is to answer the following question: What was a typical day like in Iraq?

I left for Army Basic Training when I was seventeen years old. I was equally excited and terrified of what the next sixteen weeks of Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training would bring. My father, being the ever realist, gave me this advice before leaving: “Keep your head down, and whatever you do, DO NOT VOLUNTEER.”

I grew up surrounded by men in my family who had served in combat and in peacetime. From my grandfather in WWII to my uncles and Dad in the Korean War to more uncles and cousins in the Vietnam War. I knew from a young age the true meaning of patriotism and service above one’s self. But I did not grow up dreaming of joining the military.

Every day as part of my morning routine, I journal and write down at least ten things I am grateful for. I have been practicing gratitude journaling for several years now, and it helps me start each day on a positive note. Today, I decided to take my gratitude journaling up a notch. I decided in honor of celebrating my forty-first turn around the sun, I would write down forty-one items that I am grateful for.

Since diving into writing more on a regular basis and self-publishing my first novella, I have had several people ask me how do I find time to write. In a perfect world, writing would be my full-time job, but it’s not. I have a career (aka- full time job), I am a mom to two daughters, a wife and the primary caretaker to three dogs and two cats.

If you have followed my author page on Facebook, you may remember seeing the posts introducing my creative team. After additional consultation, my team and I felt that it is important to dedicate an entire blog solely to my partners. Or dare I say, paw-tners? All jokes aside, I would like to introduce you to the two key creative geniuses behind Cecilia Garcia. Pictured above- Sajar, the larger and clearly more prestigious looking, and his little sister Stella. These two combi

Let me introduce myself! That first blog was bit intense, so allow me to share a little bit more about me.