In 1955, she married Albert Greenberg, who encouraged her to write her first book, The King's Persons, an account of the York Massacre at York Castle in 1190.

The novel received the Harry and Ethel Daroff Memorial Fiction Award as well as the Jewish Book Council of America award.

This has been followed by 15 novels and four collections of short stories. Her most famous work is the classic I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, which was adapted into a 1977 movie and a 2004 play of the same name.

Her novel In This Sign was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie called Love Is Never Silent.

Joanne lives in a mountaintop home near Lookout Mountain, Colorado. She and Albert were married for 67 years. Albert passed in 2022. Their two sons are grown.

Joanne writes daily, tutors in Latin and Hebrew, was a Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Fiction Writing at the Colorado School of Mines, and is active in the Beth Evergreen congregation, conducting Bar Mitzvah preparation as well as other involvements. She is a frequent participant in writers' seminars and workshops. Additionally, she performs as a storyteller, helping to keep this art-and the stories-alive.

In this memoir, she describes her years as a volunteer EMT with her local fire department in the Colorado Rockies.