Colorado Teen Who Beat Odds to Become a Hit Songwriter in NYC Writes New Memoir

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hit songwriter turned English grad and author Jennifer Y. Johnson-Garcia is releasing her debut memoir Growing Up Between Stops on the A-train on November 7, 2019. GUBSOTAT is Johnson-Garcia's true story about going from having a respectable childhood in Colorado to enduring a suddenly broken home with a single father, subsequent near-deadly type 1 diabetes diagnosis, and her defiant departure from home at 17 before clawing her way to the top of the music industry. 

At 17 years old, Johnson-Garcia supported herself with a file clerk job at a car dealership in Fort Collins, Colorado through her senior year of high school before setting off on a one-way trip to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer. Once in the city, Johnson-Garcia "hit the ground hustling" in her words, selling beepers on the street for a living and singing for strangers every chance she got until being discovered by a music producer on the A-train.

After two failed record deals and constant hard knocks including poverty and an unplanned pregnancy (and loss), Johnson-Garcia persisted for several years before landing a chance audition with platinum-selling producers, Full Force, who signed her.

Once signed, Johnson-Garcia was catapulted into the major leagues, eventually songwriting for stars such as Brandy, Usher, and Nick Cannon and scoring several songs on the radio, including Japanese superstar Namie Amuro's single "So Crazy," which was picked up as the theme song to a TV series, used in a cosmetic campaign, served as the title to one of Amuro's tours, and hit #3 on the Oricon Daily Singles chart in Japan.

However, as Johnson-Garcia embarked on new dreams, including starting a family through adoption and completing two college degrees as a nontraditional adult student, an unexpected personal tragedy threatened to destroy everything she had worked so hard to accomplish, putting to the ultimate test the grit she developed in the music industry as she overcame yet another life challenge.

Growing Up Between Stops on the A-train: A Memoir is currently available for pre-order at online bookstores worldwide, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The title will be released in eBook, paperback, and hardcover versions on November 7th. Currently, the book is Amazon's #1 Best Seller and #1 New Release in multiple categories, including Biographies of RnB Artists.

Johnson-Garcia also wrote and directed a narrative short film based on the memoir with the help of New York Emmy®-nominated videographer Dave Moncion, platinum-selling music producer Gerry "Gee" Charles, and over 35 actors and crew members in Colorado, New York, and New Jersey, respectively. The film was released worldwide on October 15, 2019.

Above all, Johnson-Garcia hopes her long-planned book and short film will serve as an inspiring example of the capacity of the human spirit to not only survive and overcome hardships, but to grow and thrive thereafter. Johnson-Garcia states, "releasing a memoir is nerve-wracking because it requires a great deal of vulnerability in sharing your most private life moments. But if readers are able to draw from my experience to better their own lives, it will be worth it."

For more information, please visit www.jyjohnsongarcia.com.

SOURCE Jennifer Y. Johnson-Garcia