Books

Me! Me! Me! (2023)

Life On The Stand (2022)

What do artist models think about while posing nude on the stand? Do they watch you as much as you watch them? Are they musing about their misadventures or what they want to do when they put their clothes back on and go home? Is it possible that they are living, breathing bodies who may be reminiscing about their trips to Europe, Morocco or New York City? Are they perhaps cold, itchy or trying not to sneeze? Was it different for artist models in the 1970’s in Los Angeles or San Francisco? What were the union rules for those in the San Francisco Model’s Guild? What about the world of theatre? Is it very different from the world of artist modeling?

The answers to all these pressing questions are in this memoir, Life on the Stand.

Turn Left at the Gorilla and Go Down the Hall (2020)

The stories in Turn Left at the Gorilla and Go Down the Hall range from humor to tragedy, taking the reader on a ride within the human, and sometimes not-so-human, experience. The journey is so much about isolating the moment and what the author leaves out, allowing the reader to use his or her imagination. There’s an intensity, a flicker in the darkness that may be breathtaking.

Some of these stories have been previously published in literary journals.

True Doll Stories We Remember (2020)

True Doll Stories We Remember is an anthology of stories people have told me about their experiences with dolls. The original idea came to me when I interviewed my Mexican mother-in-law, who used to make clothes for naked Barbies and sell them for five pesos at the flea market in Guadalajara. Hearing her story was very poignant for me.

When I would tell people about it, oftentimes their eyes would go off to one side and they would either look off into the distance or down to the floor, recollecting their own childhood and the dolls they had.

Because I Had To (2014)

Because I Had To is the first collection of my award-winning short stories, poems, monologues and plays. It was an Amazon Kindle bestseller in 2014.

‘Because I Had To is a great read by Ms. Jara. Every story, every poem is a work of art that comes straight from her heart.
Can’t wait for her next book.’
 – Amazon Customer Review

‘Helene Jara’s book Because I Had To is hilariously funny and shockingly delightful … She is truly a wonderful writer. I highly recommend it.’
 – Amazon Customer Review

‘Much of Simkin Jara’s material is autobiographical and bravely revealing,
with tales of childhood, young adulthood and motherhood,
some of which are over-the-top hilarious.’ 
– Amazon Customer Review”