Events

Joan will be attending the virtual U.S. Book Show running from May 25th to the 27th. A worthy event for those in publishing.

April is Autism awareness month. Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Let’s give a round of applause to all of the valiant “A” team.

Joan Ramirez

Jamie is Autistic; Learning in a Special Way

Today we sit down for a chat with Margo Simmons, heroine of author

J.L. Regen’s Secret Desires. 

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

Before my author started pulling my strings, I was living with my Mom in a protector role, afraid to go out on my own for fear of what my stepfather would do to her. I will always love my mother, but I need my own life and space.

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

The one trait I like most about myself is being able to reinvent myself. I see change as growth, and I want to grow into a woman of independent means with a purpose.

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

I decided to adopt a young girl whose Mom died. I don’t know if it’s strange, but I think it was a gutsy thing to do when I’d just started in a full-time teaching job right out of college.

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

I don’t argue with my author. Sometimes she knows me better than I know myself.

 What is your greatest fear?

My greatest fear is never having a place of my own and never finding a man who isn’t insensitive and uncaring like my stepfather.

What makes you happy?

Children make me happy. Seeing the smiles on their faces when I help them solve a problem and the way their eyes light up when they see me in class in the morning. It makes my world richer.

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

If I could rewrite a part of my story, I’d eliminate the pain my Mom had in raising me, and my struggles with Edward to make him see how much I love him.

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

The characters who bug me the most are people who feel they possess all the knowledge in their world and only their way is the right way.

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

Before I met Edward, I wanted to trade places with my girlfriend because she had a warm, caring family life and found a man who adores her to share her life.

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

My author is an elementary school teacher and Adjunct professor of English as a Second Language, an award-winning photographer, she was runner up for the 2019 Readers Choice Award for best Contemporary Romance Novel, and she has opened her own enterprise to train people in the nuances of going out on their own. Her students are her pride and joy.

What’s next for you?

For me? You’d have to ask my author What’s next for her? A family saga with intrigue set in WWII and then a Middle Grade novel that deals with bullying and keeping a friendship.

Secret Desires

Nothing in Margo Simmons’s life comes easy. She can’t claim the inheritance on a condo apartment her uncle has left to her until she is gainfully employed in a job for a year. She meets the man of her dreams but anguishes over a loving relationship because he is still emotionally tied to his deceased wife. With great difficulty, she becomes the guardian to a recently orphaned child she had been tutoring.   Margo evolves from an insecure, newbie elementary teacher into a woman determined to fulfill the secret desires locked in her heart. My story speaks to anyone who has suffered a loss and had to start over.