My Creative Partners

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 combined help me manage my social media platforms, website and blog content. They also are my sounding boards when writing Always Forward series. When I am not sure which direction to go with the plot, I can always count on these two to tell it to me straight.

Now, you may be reading this and thinking, ‘Has Cecilia completely lost her mind?’ which the answer of course is yes. I mean, I write about combat and share my own personal experiences about combat, so yes, I am technically off my rocker a bit.

Cue in why I have these two four-legged partners. I have had a dog as a pet ever since I was a little girl. Other than my time on active duty in the Army, I've always had a dog as a companion. They bring me comfort and have shown me what true unconditional love is like.

Sajar and Stella are Australian Cattle Dogs, also known as Blue Heelers. They are high-energy, working dogs. They literally need a job to do all the time. Which is why they are the perfect breed for me. I also always need a job to do and work probably more than one human should. But they also are my unofficial support animals. Sajar especially can detect when I am on the verge of a PTSD episode or flashback. Because this breed is very protective of their humans, he follows me everywhere I go. And when we brought Stella home last year, she learned from her brother. So now I have the awesome pleasure of having two attached Blue Heelers join me in everything I do.

We walk every single morning, no matter what the weather may be like, and we discuss the book. Sometimes they help me find ideas in nature. This happens quite often since they typically need to stop at every tree for a sniff or a quick potty break. They teach me that it’s okay to stop and enjoy my surroundings, which in turn has helped keep my creative juices flowing. And when I have writer’s block, Sajar encourages me to have a good porch sit on our front porch and to just be.

They drive me nuts with their blue heeler banter (aka- howling) but that has also taught me that sometimes it’s healthy to let out a good solid howl during the day.

I can say without a doubt that I would be even more off my rocker if it wasn’t for my creative partners. Their dedication, love and loyalty to me is something I am truly not worthy of. I can only hope that our daily walks, howling sessions and my unlimited supply of treats keeps them happy for however long I may be blessed to have them with me.