The Joy of Less

by Amy Newmark

  Phyllis McKinley has one house, two citizenships, three step-grandchildren, four children, five grandchildren, and soon-to-be six books published. She has lived in seven houses in eight years and nine cities in ten years. She collects books, quotes and friends wherever she goes. E-mail her at leafybough@hotmail.com.

  Heidi McLaughlin is an international speaker and author of five books. She inspires women to become beautiful from the inside out. Heidi lives with her husband Jack among the beautiful vineyards of Kelowna, British Columbia. She loves her eclectic family of five children and nine grandchildren. Learn more at www.heartconnection.ca.

  Dee Dee McNeil, educator/singer/songwriter/poet/journalist/producer and playwright has received several national commendations and awards for her journalism and music contributions. She has a column at musicalmemoirs.wordpress.com and has contributed to www.lajazz.com for the past six years. Learn more at www.deedeemac.co.

  Marybeth Mitcham holds a B.S. degree in biology, is completing her MPH in nutrition, and currently works as a community educator. A contributor to The Mighty website, she is a freelance author whose writings have been published online, in Celebrate Life Magazine, and in several printed and e-book anthologies.

  Geri Moran is a technical writer and craft artist who lives in New York. She loves to make people smile with the handcrafted products she sells at EmeraldGreetings.com. Geri is thankful daily for her wonderful friends and family, and is especially grateful for her son, Paul.

  Marya Morin is a freelance writer. Her stories and poems have appeared in publications such as Woman’s World and Hallmark. Marya also penned a weekly humorous column for an online newsletter, and writes custom poetry on request. She lives in the country with her husband. E-mail her at Akushla514@hotmail.com.

  Nicole L.V. Mullis is the author of the novel A Teacher Named Faith (Cairn Press 2015). Her work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies, including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Her plays have been produced in New York, California and Michigan. She lives in Michigan with her husband and three children.

  Kaitlin Murray loves to travel, write, and volunteer. She was born in Holland and has also lived in Germany, France, the USA, and Italy. For the past two years, Kaitlin has been traveling full-time and volunteering all over the world. She also founded a charity called Kids Unite 4 Hope to help children in need. Read her blog at travelinkait.com.

  Leah Shearer Noonan is a two-time cancer survivor, writer and wife who has worked both in non-profit and education. Leah graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 2000 and has worked with teens with disabilities for over a decade. She speaks nationally on behalf of young adult cancer survivors.

  Cindy O’Leary has been in education for thirty years. She is married to her college sweetheart, has three daughters and three grandchildren. Cindy enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, scrapbooking, and painting. She has also written a children’s chapter book, Leprechauns on the Loose.

  Nancy Panko is a retired pediatric RN who has had the honor of contributing to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series several times. A member of the Cary Senior Writing Circle and The Light of Carolina Christian Writers group, Nancy plans to publish a novel, Guiding Missal, in 2016. She lives with her husband in beautiful North Carolina.

  Ava Pennington is a writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. She authored Daily Reflections on the Names of God, a devotional endorsed by Kay Arthur. Ava has written for magazines such as Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse, and contributed to twenty-one Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Visit www.AvaWrites.com.

  Mary C. M. Phillips is a caffeinated wife, working mom, and writer. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Cup of Comfort series, Bad Austen: The Worst Stories Jane Never Wrote, and various other anthologies. She blogs at CaffeineEpiphanies.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryCMPhil.

  Connie Pombo is an inspirational author, speaker, and freelance writer. She is a regular contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and is currently touring South America with her husband. When not traveling or writing, she enjoys spending time with her granddaughter. Learn more at www.conniepombo.com.

  Marsha Porter co-authored a movie review guide for twenty years and taught a class on foreign films. She’s published hundreds of articles and written a monthly column. Her attempts to finish a great American novel have repeatedly failed but left a variety of short stories in their wake.

  Kris Reece is a licensed counselor, speaker, and author of the book Build a Beautiful Life Out of Broken Pieces. Kris devotes her time to helping others heal from brokenness and become all they were created to be. She lives with her husband and their three children in New Jersey, and loves cycling and animal rescue.

  Natalie June Reilly is an author and a mother of two good men. She is also an empty nester who graduated cum laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication. She has written two children’s books: My Stick Family: Helping Children Cope with Divorce and Pax the Polar Bear: Breaking the Ice.

  Mark Rickerby is a writer, singer and contributor to multiple Chicken Soup for the Soul books. His proudest achievements are co-authoring his father’s memoir, The Other Belfast: An Irish Youth; and Great Big World, a CD of fifteen original songs he wrote and sang for his daughters, Marli and Emma. He’s currently writing a children’s book series.

  Louisa Rogers has been an international business trainer, workshop leader and writer for thirty years. She divides her time between California and Mexico. Her articles on personal/professional development have appeared in over 200 publications, including Glamour, Entrepreneur and Yoga Journal. E-mail her at louisarogers51@gmail.com.

  Liz Rolland lives on a small farm with her husband, two daughters, and two rescued Akitas. Her blog, Balance Salad, features healthy recipes, weight loss tips, spiritual musings, and occasional restaurant reviews. She collects sea glass, shark’s teeth, and unpublished novels.

  Kimberly Ross earned her Master of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology. After a career in ministry, she enjoys sharing her gifts as an intuitive, teacher, writer and energy healer. She recently moved from the Midwest to Arizona, where she enjoys delightful times with her small grandson and the warm winters.

  Julie Sanderson has focused her career on helping people. She taught fifth grade before becoming a police officer. She is involved with a church camp and foster care. She now works with alcoholics and veterans on probation. She loves to hike and snowshoe with her black Lab, Brady. E-mail her at juliesanderson70@gmail.com.

  April Serock earned an M.A. degree in writing from Seton Hill University. She lives with her husband and son where she can see the sun rise over the Appalachians each morning. She’s published romantic short stories with Woman’s World magazine and writes nonfiction articles for money-saving websites.

  Paula Sherwin received her Master of Education degree from Utah State University. She adores her two adopted daughters, three cats and dog. Paula enjoys traveling, illustrating, and writing. She is currently writing and illustrating several children’s books.

  Selena Singh earned her Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, from McMaster University in 2014. When she isn’t writing, doing crafts or baking, you can find her traveling and spending time with family. She plans to write children’s science books and become a healthcare professional. E-mail her at selena.singh9@gmail.com.

  Gene Smillie received a bachelor’s degree in three stages at Wheaton College, with intervals of several years in between. Then, master’s degrees at Princeton and Wheaton, and after years of missionary work in Africa, South America, and Europe, a Ph.D. at age fifty-one. Since then he has alternated between pastor and college professor.

  Sheila Sowder and her husband Jimmy still live in an RV, but they recently traded in their small RV for a really large model with lots more storage room, which they immediately filled up with things they don’t need. She continues to write ab
out their experiences while living on wheels.

  Diane Stark is a wife, mother, and freelance writer. She loves to write about the important things in life: her family and her faith. She is a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. E-mail her at Dianestark19@yahoo.com.

  W. Bradford Swift has written several true-life stories for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He and his wife co-founded Life On Purpose Institute in 1996 (www.lifeonpurpose.com). He also writes speculative fiction under the pen name of Orrin Jason Bradford. Learn more at www.wbradfordswift.com.

  Kamia Taylor is a real estate paralegal who changed her life by moving from Los Angeles, CA to a small organic farm in the Midwest. She began writing professionally and doing large black dog rescue after becoming disabled because a drunk driver hit her truck head-on at 70 mph. E-mail her at bigblackdogrescue@gmail.com.

  Stacy Thibodeaux lives in San Antonio, TX, where she writes a weekly column for the Hill Country Weekly. She enjoys running, reading, wine tasting and spending time with her husband and four children. This story is dedicated to all those who asked Stacy: “What in the world are you going to do with a degree in English?”

  Author Julia M. Toto shares stories of hope, forgiveness, and second chances. Both City Sidewalks and Wait for Morning (Pelican Books) have earned five-star reviews on Amazon. “A Letter to Daddy” appeared in It’s a God Thing (Worthy Publishing), and “Home Free” in Family Fiction’s The Story 2014. Learn more at www.juliamtoto.com.

  Miriam Van Scott works in a variety of media ranging from magazine articles to television projects. Her books include Song of Old: An Advent Calendar for the Spirit, Candy Canes in Bethlehem, Encyclopedia of Hell and the Shakespeare Goes Pop series. For clips, photos and more information, visit miriamvanscott.com.

  Vidya lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband, two children and her octogenarian father-in-law. She enjoys writing, dancing and cooking for her food-loving family. She is currently learning to be a Reiki practitioner and hopes that someday she will be able to touch plenty of lives through her healing and inspirational writing.

  Pat Wahler is a retired grant writer and proud contributor to eleven previous Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Pat resides in Missouri and draws writing inspiration from family, friends, and the critters that tirelessly supervise each moment she spends at the keyboard. Visit her at www.critteralley.blogspot.com.

  Joan Wasson received her Bachelor of Arts degree, with an emphasis in Accounting, from California State University, Fullerton in 1979. She lives with her husband Charlie in Orange, CA and enjoys teaching children.

  Marjorie Woodall works as a freelance copy editor and lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills with her husband. E-mail her at marjoriewoodall@hotmail.com.

  Dallas Woodburn is a writer, editor and teacher living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has contributed to more than two dozen Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Connect with her at her blogs DayByDayMasterpiece.com and DallasWoodburn.blogspot.com.

  Following a fifteen-year career in nuclear medicine, Melissa Wootan is finding her joy by exploring her creative side. She enjoys refurbishing old furniture but is most passionate about writing. Her stories have appeared in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and Guideposts. Contact her at facebook.com/chicvintique.

  Susan Wright lives (and writes) in an old farmhouse, along with her husband, a dog, three cats, and the current foster dog. Learning to want less has opened the door to a beautiful life, filled with the things money can’t buy. E-mail her at wereallwright@gmail.com.

  Susan Yanguas is a five-time contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She plans to embark on a major purge over the next year to simplify her life and make room for new opportunities. Susan hopes her de-cluttering campaign will result in more time for writing her mystery series.

  Meet Amy Newmark

  Amy Newmark is the bestselling author, editor-in-chief, and publisher of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. Since 2008, she has published 125 new books, most of them national bestsellers in the U.S. and Canada, more than doubling the number of Chicken Soup for the Soul titles in print today.

  Amy is credited with revitalizing the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand, which has been a publishing industry phenomenon since the first book came out in 1993. By compiling inspirational and aspirational true stories curated from ordinary people who have had extraordinary experiences, Amy has kept the 23-year-old Chicken Soup for the Soul brand fresh and relevant.

  Amy graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University where she majored in Portuguese and minored in French. She then embarked on a three-decade career as a Wall Street analyst, a hedge fund manager, and a corporate executive in the technology field. Her return to literary pursuits was inevitable, as her honors thesis in college involved traveling throughout Brazil’s impoverished northeast region, collecting stories from regular people. She is delighted to have come full circle in her writing career — from collecting stories “from the people” in Brazil as a twenty-year-old to, three decades later, collecting stories “from the people” for Chicken Soup for the Soul.

  When Amy and her husband Bill, the CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul, are not working, they are visiting their four grown children. Follow her on Twitter @amynewmark and @chickensoupsoul.

  Meet Brooke Burke-Charvet

  Brooke Burke-Charvet is above all a wife, mother, and philanthropist. She is one of social media’s most influential moms and a constant source of information regarding health and fitness, with an outreach of almost four million followers via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Her blog is published on the ModernMom.com website. Forbes recognized her as one of America’s top ten moms to follow. She has also written an autobiography: The Naked Mom, A Mother’s Fearless Revelations.

  Brooke is recognized for first winning, and then going on to co-host eight seasons of Dancing with the Stars. Last year Brooke joined the CBS Dream Team to host the educational Saturday morning show, Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Hidden Heroes.

  Brooke also co-created, produces and stars in Breaking Bread with Brooke Burke, a food-oriented lifestyle talk show with celebrity guests. She is a contestant on the 2016 Celebrity Apprentice, as well as being a frequent guest and host on a variety of other television shows.

  Brooke has a fitness DVD series with Sony Home Entertainment, a line of fitness clothing, and she even teaches classes in her hometown of Malibu. She has graced the cover of every major fitness magazine.

  Brooke beat cancer in 2013, and she continues to bring awareness and inspire people to support a variety of cancer organizations. She became the face of the American Cancer Society’s “Bucket List” campaign in 2014, and she continues to share her story through speaking engagements across the country. She sits on the boards of cancer related charities as well. Brooke is also a “Smile Ambassador” for Operation Smile.

  Brooke enjoys her blended family life in Malibu with her beloved husband David Charvet and their four beautiful children, dogs, cats, lizards, and other creatures.

  Thank You

  We owe huge thanks to all of our contributors and fans, who shared thousands of stories about de-cluttering their lives. We loved reading all the submissions and choosing the 101 that would appear in the book. We have perhaps never turned away so many excellent stories. All of us on the editorial staff were so inspired by the stories that we all began our own cleanup projects.

  We owe special thanks to Ronelle Frankel, who read all the submissions. She narrowed it down to more than 300 finalists for Amy to choose from. Assistant Publisher D’ette Corona then did the initial editing of the stories and picked the wonderful quotations that appear at the top of them. This paved the way for Amy to edit them, choose the “pop-up” phrases that we highlighted (a first for us) and shape the chapters. Our editors Barbara LoMonaco and Kristiana Pastir, along with outside proofreader Elaine Kimbler, jumped in at the end to proof, proof, proof. And yes, there will always be typos anyway, so feel free to let us know
about them at webmaster@chickensoupforthesoul.com.

  The whole publishing team deserves a hand, including Executive Assistant Mary Fisher, Director of Production Victor Cataldo, and our graphic designer, Daniel Zaccari, who turned our manuscript into this beautiful book.

  Sharing Happiness, Inspiration, and Wellness

  Real people sharing real stories, every day, all over the world. In 2007, USA Today named Chicken Soup for the Soul one of the five most memorable books in the last quarter-century. With over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada alone, more than 200 titles in print, and translations into more than forty languages, “chicken soup for the soul” is one of the world’s best-known phrases.

  Today, twenty-three years after we first began sharing happiness, inspiration and wellness through our books, we continue to delight our readers with new titles, but have also evolved beyond the bookstore, with super premium pet food, a line of high quality soups, and a variety of licensed products and digital offerings, all inspired by stories. Chicken Soup for the Soul has recently expanded into visual storytelling through movies and television. Chicken Soup for the Soul is “changing the world one story at a time®.” Thanks for reading!

  Share with Us

  We all have had Chicken Soup for the Soul moments in our lives. If you would like to share your story or poem with millions of people around the world, go to chickensoup.com and click on “Submit Your Story.” You may be able to help another reader and become a published author at the same time. Some of our past contributors have launched writing and speaking careers from the publication of their stories in our books!