We were lucky to catch up with Cecilia Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Cecilia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

I served eight years in the Army. I joined when I was 17, and the Army shaped me into the adult I am today. Probably the most important lesson I learned during those eight years was how important it is serving others. I initially joined to earn college money, but quickly realized that serving with my brothers and sisters in arms was more important. Keeping them safe and alive in combat was the main reason I stayed in. The Army also taught me that everything is a mindset. If I focus, and have discipline, any goal can be accomplished. I am constantly trying new ideas and skills for this reason.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am an indie author, writing what I know- contemporary/military fiction. I served eight years in the Army, which is where I draw my inspiration from for my novella series, Always Forward. The series has four books published, and the fifth book will be out in 2024. While I served in the Army, I was deployed to Iraq in 2004. I was a truck driver (88M) and was injured on 5/25/04 by an IED- improvised explosive device. I remained in Iraq for the full 12 months, and during this time, I would be part of several more attacks. Unfortunately, I developed post traumatic stress, which I still deal with today. Writing has been my ultimate form of therapy (I do go to therapy too! I highly recommend therapy.) for me, and being able to channel my traumas through Emily has been very cathartic.
Besides being a writer, I also work in the finance sector. I have my Bachelors and Master degrees in business management and finance. I develop financial products to assist people in their financial lives. I love the polar opposites of my day job to writing. By day, I work with a lot of numbers, writing business cases, and researching all things finance. By evening, I write my series, allowing my creative side to come to life.
I am also married to my husband of 23 years. We gave two daughters. 22 and 16. We all live in the West Michigan area.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal is to share my story with the world, but also the Always Forward series. I want to continue to educate the public on what life is like as a veteran, and how war impacts not just us, but our families too. I want to shed light on life with PTS- post traumatic stress, and navigating the VA healthcare system.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I previously mentioned that I was injured on 5/25/2004. My truck was the first semi truck after the gun truck in our convoy. We were returning to our base camp after running supplies to Al Taqqadum, a small town north of Fallujah. As we approached downtown Baghdad, our truck was hit by an IED. The explosion hit us hard. My assistant driver, who was also my battle buddy, has his right eye blown out by the explosion. Shrapnel carved it out of the socket. I was stop driving, although I could not see or hear anything. I was knocked out for several seconds before regaining consciousness. I was able to drive the truck up the ramp onto a bridge before getting my battle buddy and myself out. He was medically evacuated to Germanyabd survived! We are still close today, almost 20 years later. This day was the worst day of my life. I was 23, has a husband and four year old daughter back home. I truly thought I was going to die that day. My entire viewpoint in life changed that day. I have life’s my life by the motto of my books- Always Forward because that is the only way to live. I can’t change what happened to me, all I can do is move forward and live my life to its fullest.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authorceciliagarcia.com
• Instagram: Author Cecilia Garcia
• Facebook: Author Cecilia Garcia
• TikTok: Author Cecilia Garcia

Image Credits
Photographers- Joanna Oviedo(photos with books) and Sovereign Studios (photo with gold gilded chair)