Bylines
& Books
ESSAYS + JOURNALISM
Hippocampus magazine, Last Shot
(Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Welcome to My World
Brevity blog, Left-Swipe on a Literary Agent? I Did.
KQED Public Radio San Francisco, How My Mother Became Mexican
KQED Public Radio San Francisco, What Are you Doing With Your Life Listen to a radio essay about Joey’s unexpected response to a young man caught breaking into her home.
Comstock’s magazine, Retooling Tradition
Sacramento magazine, Sands Shifted
Sacramento magazine, Another Path to True Love
What Are You Doing With Your Life, Challenge textbook (Editora Moderna, Brazil)
Sacramento News & Review, Giving Up the Ghost
Sacramento News & Review, 20 Quick Hits from Two Decades of Lessons
Sacramento News & Review, Maternal Distinctions
Sacramento News & Review, Joey Garcia’s Leap Year Guide
Sacramento News & Review, Joey Garcia’s Guide to Being a Kinder Person Behind the Wheel
Sacramento News & Review, My Journey to Healing
Love Your Neighbor (limited edition art book by artist Gale Hart)
FICTION
POUi, The Killing Jars
POUi, Frank Sinatra Saved My Life
The Farallon Review, Thaw
Mslexia, Close
POETRY
Tule Review, Calyx, The Caribbean Writer, Presence journal, Poetry Now, Convergence Journal
Anthologies: Late Peaches: Poems by Sacramento Poets; New to North America: Writing by U.S. Immigrants, Their Children and Grandchildren; The Sacramento Anthology: 100 Poems; Perfect Thirst: Jeffers Room Poetry Series; Death and Transformation, and Bedside Prayers (HarperOne), among others.
AWARDS
Mslexia Short Story contest
Writer’s Digest fiction contest, 8th place (out of 5,000+) entries
2014 Pushcart nomination in poetry from The Tule Review. Poem featured on Capital Public Radio
Randall Jarrell International Poetry Prize (Lucille Clifton, judge)
Isadore Paiewonsky Poetry Prize
Soul-making Keats Literary Competition, Third Place
Sacramento Public Library Poetry Contest, First Place
Artists Embassy International Poetry Contest, First Place
Spoleto Poetry Fellowship
Paris Poetry Fellowship
Society of Professional Journalists, Enterprise Reporting award, First Place
Society of Professional Journalists, Feature Reporting award, Second Place
Reader’s Theater Performances of My Short Stories
Stories on Stage Sacramento
NowHearThis
It is possible to turn your heartbreak into happiness.
The warm, compassionate style of When Your Heart Breaks, It’s Opening to Love, will make you feel as though you’re talking with a close friend, one who understands heartbreak because she’s been there herself. A true friend who doesn’t sugarcoat the necessary steps for healing. The kind of friend who consistently delivers realistic advice.
Readers say this book helped them:
- Come to terms with the insecurities that caused a relationship to unravel.
- Manage the rollercoaster of emotions after a breakup.
- Avoid getting hooked into an ex’s drama.
- Find authentic closure.
- Develop the patience needed for genuine healing to root.
- Deepen self-worth and grow in self-love.
- Make wiser choices in future relationships.
If you have been cheated on, or had your heart broken, and you want to move forward, and if it feels like your world is disintegrating because the person you love has left, or if you simply want closure from your ex, this book will help you emerge from heartbreak stronger and happier than you thought possible.
“While searching for books on healing and forgiveness following marital infidelity, I discovered this gem… advice that can help a wide variety of those nurturing a broken heart or simply needing help in making decisions about relationships.” —W.W.
“This book can take someone out of a dark place.” —R.K.
“I’ve read a number of relationship advice-oriented books. Time after time, though, I have returned to Joey Garcia’s compassionate and down-to-earth wisdom…” M.S.
“This well-timed collection is as compelling as it is cathartic.” —Buzzfeed News
Essays by women who are first line responders and recovering patients; going out to work, staying home to work, and losing their jobs; living with multiple generations and living in isolation; women preparing to give birth and supporting the dying. While the location, age, race and health of these writers may differ, they share the unique capacity of women to bring their strength, ingenuity, and love—for others and for self—to an uncertain time. (Her)oics includes Joey’s essay, “Welcome to My World.”