Author Cecilia A. Garcia

Disclaimer: The following content is solely my point of view. I do not speak for any other Veteran or Veterans Organizations. I have a love/hate relationship with the Fourth of July. I know as an American I should be proud to celebrate our Nation’s Independence Day; however, as a Veteran who has found her moral compass, it’s a very complex day to celebrate. Most Americans honor this day with fireworks. Setting off big, colorful ones and loud, booming cannon-like ones. But fir

Memorial Day is always a solemn day for me, but this year, it has an even deeper meaning, as it’s the 22nd anniversary of my Alive Day. As I pay my respects to all my fallen brothers and sisters, I also take a moment to reflect on what I have learned about my own journey of surviving war and a roadside bomb attack. If I could go back to the afternoon of May 25, 2004, and face my blood-soaked self, these are the 22 things I would tell her: 1. The person you were before today i

When I published Always Forward in September of 2021 with a cliff hanger, I knew readers would want, no, demand Chasing Ghosts as soon as possible! Fortunately, I was one step ahead and had Chasing Ghosts ready to publish by February 2022. Having written a total of five novellas, sometimes Chasing Ghosts gets lost in the mix when I talk about the series. In some ways, Chasing Ghosts is the middle child of the Always Forward family. Sandwiched between the intensity and rawness

For days leading up to May 25, I have been trying to think of something meaningful to write. With the impending 20th anniversary of the explosion, I felt I should have a well-written, thoughtful statement to share with the world.

May 25, 2004, is a date that has permanent residence in my brain. Throughout the years, I have tried hiding from the events of this day, I have tried out running the traumas, I have spoken out about them, and finally, I have faced those memories.

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!

Last night, I went through photos from my time in Iraq, trying to gain some inspiration for a blog post. If you haven’t noticed, I have been a little behind with my writing and figured a stroll down memory lane might be good for the creative brain.

My eight years of service in the Army shaped me into the woman I am today. I was seventeen years old when I left home, flying for the first time to basic training. While my friends partied before leaving for college, I was in South Carolina, being called Pizza and stripped down and built back up into a fighting soldier.

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.

When I first came home from my deployment to Iraq, I would dream about Iraq almost every single night. Some nights it was that we were engaged in small arms fire, and some nights it was another IED (improvised explosive device) blowing up around me. For those first few months, I didn’t know how to cope with what was happening when I was asleep. I didn’t share with anyone, not even my partner, that I was having these dreams.

Like countless Americans, I remember exactly what I was doing when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center Towers on September 11th, 2001. Both my spouse and I had the day off since it was our one-year wedding anniversary and we planned to relax and spend time with our daughter, who was seven months old at the time. We woke up to the phone ringing and my mother-in-law told us we needed to turn on the news right away. All she knew was that a plane had crashed into

In light of the recent events in Afghanistan, several family and friends have reached out to check in with my partner and me, as well as to ask my opinion on what's been unfolding over the last few days.

After my battle buddy was flown out of Iraq to Germany, I was in shock. The first night back, I sat in my camping chair and just stared straight ahead as fellow soldiers and my roommate tried to talk to me. I couldn’t tell you one word they said, or if I said anything back to them. All I could think about was my battle buddy, lying in my lap, repeating over and over again that he would never see his unborn son.

I love hiking in Arizona, and while on this trip in 2021, the ending to Carry On came to me!

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

Since my last five years of blogs mysteriously disappeared, we are going all the way back to 2021 and reposting every single one again. In this post, I share what it was like right after I was injured by an improvised explosive device.