How Much Joy

Suzanne Falter-Barns Narrative Bio

Suzanne Falter-Barns is an expert at helping anyone get on with their creative dreams.

Her web site, howmuchjoy.com, and the book that inspired it, How Much Joy Can You Stand? (Ballantine Wellspring; 2000) were born of Suzanne’s own creative meltdowns.

She is a veteran creative stalwart who has weathered more than a thousand rejections.

Suzanne received her first rejections at age eleven with a novel, “The Chick From Fresno“; from there, she moved straight into a failed career as a cabaret singer. She did better with fiction, though her first published novel,”Doin’ The Box Step” (Random House), sold fewer than 3000 copies, mostly to close friends of her mother’s.

A second and third novel failed to find a publisher, which resulted in a hardened case of writer’s block and some very depressing temp jobs.

This forced Suzanne to take stock and get a grip, and the result was a book of inspiration she wrote mainly for herself. This subsequently became her first self-help book.

These days, things are going considerably better. The aforementioned self-help book, How Much Joy Can You Stand? (Ballantine Wellspring) has been read by more than 75,000 people, and was a Publisher’s Weekly Hot Pick and a Main Selection of the One Spirit Book Club.

Suzanne’s website, www.howmuchjoy.com and the book have been featured in Self Magazine, Fitness Magazine, Real Woman, I-village, msn.com, Writer’s Digest, and on more than 100 radio and television programs.

More than 20,000 people read Suzanne’s bi-weekly ezine, The Joy Letter. Even kind authors like SARK and Cheryl Richardson say nice things about her work.

Suzanne has also written for The New York Times, More, New Woman, Prevention, Parents, Cosmo Girl, and New Age Journal. And since old dreams never really die, she still appears from time to time as a cabaret singer.

Suzanne is an expert at helping people:

  • find energy after or before work to pursue their dream
  • determine how, when and if to leave their job
  • set up an office that’s truly conducive to creating
  • keep a more creative computer
  • find the money to pursue their dream work
  • create a truly effective support network
  • balance dream work with home, family and relationships
  • set up a schedule they can stick to