Name: The Light After
Author: C. Maria DeLaLuz

01 · The Book

About the Book

There was a room, there was silence, there was a sliver of light beneath the door, and there was a girl who waited for someone, anyone, to come. For a long time, no one did.

C. Maria DeLaLuz writes from the other side of that room, offering the very book she once needed and never had. Across fourteen weeks she walks unflinchingly through the silence she was ordered to keep, the betrayal that arrived through hands she trusted, and the generational cycles she had to learn to name before she could ever hope to break them. Her story is told without softening or smoothing the edges into something easier to hold.

But it was never written to stay hers alone. Each week begins where she once stood and opens space for wherever you are standing now, through reflection questions that ask nothing of you but honesty, prayers written for the exact shape of your ache, and healing statements meant to be spoken aloud, even on the days belief hasn't caught up yet. There is no pace required here, and no version of this journey more sacred than another.

This is not a book of easy answers. It is evidence, hard-won and page by page, that something steady can meet you in the middle of your own wreckage, something that has never once called you too broken to be found.

You are not behind. You are not broken. You are becoming.The Light After

The same Light that reached her in the dark has not stopped moving. It is already reaching for you.

02 · The Author

About C. Maria DeLaLuz

I wrote The Light After because I know what it feels like to survive experiences you once believed might destroy you, and to wonder whether healing is truly possible.

For many years I carried the effects of childhood trauma, abuse, abandonment, broken relationships, depression, and the pressure to appear strong when I was quietly falling apart. I became skilled at surviving, achieving, and caring for everyone around me. Beneath that strength was a woman still searching for safety, identity, and peace.

This book grew from my decision to stop merely surviving and begin healing. It tells the honest story of confronting the past, breaking unhealthy patterns, setting boundaries, learning to forgive without excusing harm, and allowing faith, counseling, love, and grace to rebuild what trauma had fractured. It is not a story of a perfect or painless transformation. It is a story of choosing the light: one prayer, one truth, one boundary, and one courageous step at a time.

Today I'm married to my husband, Brian, and we share a blended family of six children. With over 25 years of experience leading in industries centered on care and human connection, including senior living, hospice, and community-based support, I've spent my life alongside people navigating their most vulnerable moments. My hope is that every reader closes this book feeling seen, less alone, and more willing to believe there is still life, purpose, peace, and light waiting for them.

There is light after, and you are worthy of finding it.

03 · Is this for you?

This Book Is for You If…

01

You have walked through something you were told to keep quiet about

The silence was never yours to carry. This book names it plainly, without asking you to perform your pain for anyone.

02

You survived, and you barely recognize yourself now

You know how to be strong for everyone else. This is space to ask who you were before survival started making your choices for you.

03

You are learning to trust again, slowly

Fourteen weeks, no required pace. Reflection questions that ask nothing of you but honesty, on the days you can manage honesty.

04

You wonder whether your trauma was "bad enough" to deserve healing

It was. That question is answered on the first page and never asked of you again.

05

You want to forgive without staying available for harm

Forgiveness and boundaries are treated as the separate things they are: one frees you, the other protects what is being restored.

06

You are ready to move from surviving toward healing and purpose

Not a triumphant moment. A series of choices, and a companion for making them.

04 · Get the book

Launching December 8, 2026

The Light After isn’t available to order yet. Join the waitlist and I’ll email you the day it is, with every place you can find it.

Join the Waitlist Join the Team

Planned for launch: paperback and Kindle on Amazon.

05 · Speaking

Book C. Maria for Speaking Engagements

For churches, conferences, retreats, and communities walking alongside survivors. C. Maria speaks from lived experience and more than 25 years of leading in care-centered work, and she is known for creating safe, grounded spaces where people can begin to process their own stories.

Keynotes
Workshops & breakouts
Retreat sessions
Panels & conversations
In person or virtual

Book C. Maria to Speak Download Speaker Sheet

01

Breaking the Cycle: Overcoming Generational Trauma

How trauma travels through families, and what it takes to interrupt the cycle, with practical, faith-based guidance for breaking destructive patterns.

02

From Victim to Survivor: Claiming Your Identity in God

A personal journey from abuse to healing, and how others can embrace their God-given identity and resilience.

03

Finding Light in the Darkness: God's Presence Through Trauma

How faith and moments of spiritual insight provide guidance amid suffering, and how to notice the slivers of light in the darkest experiences.

04

Healing Through Faith and Forgiveness

The role of faith, prayer, and forgiveness in recovery, and how forgiveness frees the survivor without excusing the abuse.

05

Practical Steps for Emotional and Spiritual Restoration

Actionable guidance for journaling, prayer, self-reflection, and rebuilding trust, hope, and a renewed sense of purpose.

06

Empowering Women and Families to Protect and Nurture

Healthy boundaries, emotional awareness, and protective parenting, and how faith and community foster healing and safety.

06 · For hosts & press

Media & Podcasts

C. Maria DeLaLuz speaks candidly about trauma, faith, forgiveness, and the long work of becoming. Everything a host needs is below. Take what you need, no request required.

Book C. Maria for an Interview Download Speaker Sheet

Finding Your Voice
with Jason Carrasco, LMFTAired Transformed for LifeScheduled The Forgivve PodcastScheduled

07 · Praise

Praise for The Light After

This author beautifully shares her own trauma without asking the reader to carry it. Instead, she shows us that we can work through our own pain and find the light again. A wonderful reminder that even after trauma, there is hope, healing, and light.

Delee Brown

M.Ed.

A soulful and awakening memoir. At the deepest levels, gently invites the reader to make peace with their past. Be courageous…make room for the light!

Sylvia M. Panter

M.Ed.

Even in its heaviest moments, it never leaves you feeling alone in the darkness. There is such a sense of companionship woven through every chapter, as if someone is reaching back through their own healing to remind you that you are seen, you are understood, and you don't have to walk through your own story alone. Powerful. Vulnerable. Hopeful. Transformative.

Kylee Porter

CEO & Founder, Amati Life · 10 years in mental health

This book perfectly outlines the journey of how someone can take their story, hold it up against the light of Truth, and patiently stay there until a new story is created inside them. Cami masterfully outlines the process and path she walked to heal the story that haunted her family for generations. This book is for the courageous ones willing to do that work.

Daniel Pacatte

LPC, Certified ART Trauma Therapist

I started reading the book and then the book started reading me. I would recommend this book to everyone, wherever they are in their journey to recover. I loved how it covers generational trauma and the patterns that we learn to live with. It is also a book of hope and redemption.

Dr. Deb Gold

Trauma Specialist, EMDR Certified · Author & Conference Speaker

Some books inform. Others transform. This is one of those books. She does not hide her wounds; instead she offers them to God and allows Him to use them as a beacon of hope for others. That kind of vulnerability is both courageous and sacred.

Dr. Charli Brown

EdD · Author, It's Not My Weed To Pull · wrote the Foreword

08 · Stay close

Join the Waitlist

Be the first to know the day The Light After is available. You’ll also get encouragement, healing reflections, book updates, events, and new releases, sent only when there is something worth saying.

When you join, you’ll get my free 30-Day Healing and Reflection Journal, a gentle place to begin.

No spam. Unsubscribe any time. Your story stays yours.

Prefer to follow along? Find The Light After on Facebook →

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09 · What's next

What's Next

The Light After is the beginning, not the whole of it. A second book, Becoming: Stepping Into Purpose, is underway, carrying the same question further: who are you once survival is no longer the job?

Becoming: Stepping Into Purpose

The next book. Identity, purpose, and the long work of living a life rather than surviving one.

In progress

The Launch Team

Help The Light After reach the people who need it, with a virtual launch party and early access to the digital edition.

Open

Speaking & Retreats

Churches, conferences, and survivor communities. Six topics, in person or virtual.

Booking now

The Community

Reflections and reader letters, delivered by email. The first place anything new is announced.

Open