C.I. Jerez: On Tackling PTSD Authentically in Fiction

C.I. Jerez is a proud Latina who was born in Miami. Her mother, a native New Yorker, blessed her with both Puerto Rican and Irish roots, while her father, a Cuban immigrant, inspired her to embrace the culture of the Caribbean. These multicultural influences, including growing up on the West Texas border in El Paso, have shaped her desire to bring Latina and Latino characters to life in her stories. After graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso, she commissioned as a signal officer in the U.S. army and rose to the rank of Major before transitioning out of the military. She holds an MBA from Webster University and a doctorate in international business from Liberty University. When not writing, she serves as cofounder and vice president for Ashire Technologies & Services Inc., a cybersecurity firm specializing in securing federal information systems. She lives in central Florida. For more information, visit cijerezbooks.com, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

In this interview, C.I. discusses her desire to honor the women of the U.S. army in her debut novel, At the Island’s Edge, her hope for readers, and more.

Name: C.I. Jerez
Literary agent: Katie Reed, Andrea Hurst & Associates
Book title: At the Island’s Edge
Publisher: Lake Union
Release date: March 18, 2025
Genre/category: Women’s Fiction/Contemporary Fiction/Book Club Fiction
Elevator pitch: An Iraq War veteran and single mother returns to Puerto Rico to reconnect with—and confront—the past in a heart-wrenching novel about duty, motherhood, and the healing power of home.

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I signed up to serve in the U.S. Army in 2005 and served for a total of nine years. Over the last 19 years, I have not seen any commercial fiction or Hollywood films depicting women battling the return to normal life following their wartime experiences. I saw plenty of books and films focused on the male experience, but nothing for women who often return home and must resume their duties as wives and mothers despite the very real challenges of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. I knew I had an opportunity to honor the complexities of that journey, especially by incorporating cultural dynamics and a child with special needs into the storyline. This book is a tribute to honor the more than 300,000 women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan alone, in addition to all the women who came before in each of our nation’s wars.

I began writing in March 2022 and signed with my agent in March 2023. We went on submission in September 2023 and garnered interest in a little over a week by the acquiring publisher. My publishing date is March 18, 2025, so the journey has been exactly two years from start to finish.

The idea for the book did not change at all. When I began writing, I knew I wanted to tackle the topic of PTSD for a mother on the battlefield and honor the women who served in the military. A few weeks after I began writing the story, I decided that Puerto Rico would be a critical element in my protagonist’s healing. Everything else was a matter of filling in the blanks.

I was surprised at the overall timeline. From an industry perspective, mine has moved pretty quickly, but I had no idea the acquisition to publication timeline could span well over a year.

The entire developmental editing process with my publisher was one big masterclass from one of the industry’s best. I’m so thankful for everything I learned from her and her key insights into my novel.

I was pleasantly surprised by the camaraderie of other authors and their initiative to connect and support one another throughout the publication process. All my experiences in the literary world to date have shown that writers have some of the most generous hearts.

Yes, many of the detailed scenes that take place in the third act were constructed during the developmental editing process. In other words, my original manuscript had a lot of summation at the end, and the publisher challenged me to dig deeper and actually detail out those scenes on the page. I was surprised by how natural that came to me—even under deadline. It honestly felt like those scenes were meant to be written all along, and they simply flowed from my heart onto the page.

On the homepage of my website, you will see my tagline, Where Storytelling Makes an Impact. It’s important for me to write stories based on complex topics and themes. My goal is to entertain and possibly create a newfound perspective on things. I hope this novel gives readers a new insight into the realities of what wartime experiences might be like for women in combat. I also hope readers enjoy the journey with an entirely unique perspective of Puerto Rico and everything the island has to offer.

Writing is a craft, just like practicing law, medicine, or engineering. It merits a serious level of study and commitment. With my first couple of manuscripts, I assumed that multiple college degrees and a love of reading provided enough tools in my toolkit, but they didn’t. I couldn’t garner an agent's or a publisher's attention until I began to study the craft of writing and applied those principles to the manuscript that finally sold.