News 12 spoke with Alisha Gorder, of Easton about her book “Joy! A Modern Fable” - a fictional story about towns in Connecticut and how one person's positive actions transformed others.

"A smile matters or picking up the phone and calling someone matters or letting someone go ahead of you in line when we're all so stressed out…these are big human connections and they pass kindness on," she says.

Gorder has also contributed to the New York Times and the Hartford Courant for many years as a reporter.