Carrie Gerlach Cecil is an American writer, television show producer, public speaker, and businessperson. She wrote the novel on which the television show ''

Emily's Reasons Why Not ''Emily's Reasons Why Not'' is a television series starring Heather Graham. The show, which was based on the novel of the same name by Carrie Gerlach, published in August 2004, was canceled by its broadcaster, ABC, after a single airing on Januar ...

'' was based.

Early life and education

Carrie Gerlach grew up in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. She attended

Sabino High School Sabino High is a public secondary education school located in Tucson, Arizona. Located on the northeast side of the city, it is a part of the Tucson Unified School District. The principal is Kevin Amidan. History The school was established in 1 ...

, where she was a cheerleader. She attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

in Tucson where she met her future husband,

Chuck Cecil Charles Douglas "Chuck" Cecil (born November 8, 1964) is an American football coach and former player in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently the safeties coach at the University of Arizona in Tucson, his alma mater. He previously ...

, however their relationship was not permanent at this point and she later transferred to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. She eventually relocated to New York, after visiting

The Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one o ...

. She was an intern at

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in the 1980s. Gerlach moved to Los Angeles and started working at a Hollywood public relations firm. She left that job and worked for

Turner Network Television TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is dist ...

. She also provided independent public relations work, providing support for the movies ''

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

'' and '' Return to Paradise'' in the 1990s. During that time, Gerlach and Chuck Cecil reestablished contact and their relationship. The two eventually married and moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

when Cecil got a coaching job for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Career

Gerlach Cecil is the CEO of a communications firm and founded a

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

training and education firm for athletes. She authored the 2004 ''

'', which was turned into an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television show and cancelled after one episode. She also wrote a Christian-themed book titled ''One Sunday''. She writes a football-related column for the ''

Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. History L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...

'' and did a feature on her husband

's legendary play intercepting a ball in the end zone and running it all the way back more than 100 yards for a touchdown to seal a team victory. She was involved in the proposed ''Divas for Jesus'' television show.

Personal life

She is married to

, a

football hall of fame player, NFL player, and coach. They have one daughter and have lived in Manhattan Beach, California when Chuck Cecil has not been coaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerlach Cecil, Carrie Living people 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American novelists American women sportswriters Arizona State University alumni Writers from Arizona Writers from Nashville, Tennessee American fiction writers Christian novelists American Christian writers Christians from Tennessee 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople American public relations people People from Manhattan Beach, California American women novelists Year of birth missing (living people)