From Publishers Weekly
Earnestly recounting how 45 successful women achieved their dreams, McMeekin aims to provide "mentors" who can help readers transcend creative blocks as they follow her program for personal transformation. Drawing heavily on the work of Shakti Gawain, the originator of "creative visualization," and Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance, McMeekin's approach rests on three "gateways": honoring one's creativity, assembling inner and outer resources, and maintaining "abundance" through "positive priorities." Within each area, McMeekin offers familiar "secrets" for tapping inner resources to reach one's goals, such as through building a team of empowering allies or facing down one's fear of criticism. Numerous case studies of remarkable women--ranging from Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Est?s and entrepreneur Joline Godfrey to children's book illustrator Jan Brett and restaurateur Lydia Shire, as well as McMeekin herself, who triumphed over chronic fatigue syndrome--illustrate each point. Unfortunately, the biographical profiles rarely convey the emotional highs and lows of each woman's transformative journey. In addition, readers who must contend with physical or financial barriers to success may also feel distanced from the women in the book, whose obstacles are addressed primarily in psychological terms. Still, McMeekin's practical guide will help highly motivated readers reflect on their past failures and successes in order to design their own road map for an inspired life. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Sparked by her long search for inspiration in her life and work, Gail McMeekin has worked closely with some of today's most highly creative women for her one-of-a-kind guide to maximizing creative energy. "For many women," she writes, "breaking free of our societal and psychological chains is a prerequisite to truly creating a life that expresses our genuineness and uniqueness." The dynamic women sharing their secrets for the first time include Sarah Ban Breathnach, who channeled her creativity into the book she was "born to write" (the best-selling Simple Abundance); interior designer Chris Madden; and software tycoon Brenda Laurel. From interviews and conversations, McMeekin distilled the common themes in these innovators' lives and work into practices any woman can use.


From the Inside Flap
From The Back Cover: "The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women is such a wonderful reading experience. I couldn't wait to hear each story and glean all the wit, humor, and wisdom from each woman's own experience - to me the most uplifting way to teach that I can think of. McMeekin's style is so readable and well paced, I felt I was sitting at her kitchen table getting all the best news about my own group of fiends." -- Carol Adrienne, co-author of The Celestine Prophecy: An Experiential Guide and author of The Purpose of Your Life. "Women who create are everywhere, but their success stories have been underreported. Gail McMeekin helps change that in her inspiring book for women - and men - who have the creative urge and the desire to live authentically." -- Eric Maisel, Ph.D., author of Deep Writing, Fearless Creating, and Living the Writer's Life. "An empowering book for those ready to confront self-defeating patterns related to creativity, and a great booster shot for those of us who have already faced and conquered some of the dragons." -- Caroll Michels, career coach, artist, advocate, author of How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From the author:

This book is designed to teach you the secrets of highly creative women. It is a guidebook meant to be read and reread over time, as you and your creative challenges change and blossom. My hope is that the wisdom of the 45 women who shared their stories in this book and the lessons you learn from the myriad of exercises called Challenges will encourage you to soar to new creative heights and joy. By the end of the book, you will have compelling goals and a plan of action steps to guide you on your creative path. I offer you this book as a celebration of your creative self-expression and as inspiration for when you encounter those inevitable rejections and roadblocks. Have faith and persevere. The world needs our collective creative feminine energies!

SYNOPSIS

Sparked by her long search for inspiration in her life and work, Gail McMeekin has worked closely with some of today's most highly creative women for her one-of-a-kind guide to maximizing creative energy. "For many women," she writes, "breaking free of our societal and psychological chains is a prerequisite to truly creating a life that expresses our genuineness and uniqueness."

The dynamic women sharing their secrets for the first time include Sarah Ban Breathnach, who channeled her creativity into the book she was "born to write" (the best-selling Simple Abundance); interior designer Chris Madden; and software tycoon Brenda Laurel. From interviews and conversations, McMeekin distilled the common themes in these innovators' lives and work into practices any woman can use.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Earnestly recounting how 45 successful women achieved their dreams, McMeekin aims to provide "mentors" who can help readers transcend creative blocks as they follow her program for personal transformation. Drawing heavily on the work of Shakti Gawain, the originator of "creative visualization," and Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance, McMeekin's approach rests on three "gateways": honoring one's creativity, assembling inner and outer resources, and maintaining "abundance" through "positive priorities." Within each area, McMeekin offers familiar "secrets" for tapping inner resources to reach one's goals, such as through building a team of empowering allies or facing down one's fear of criticism. Numerous case studies of remarkable women--ranging from Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Est s and entrepreneur Joline Godfrey to children's book illustrator Jan Brett and restaurateur Lydia Shire, as well as McMeekin herself, who triumphed over chronic fatigue syndrome--illustrate each point. Unfortunately, the biographical profiles rarely convey the emotional highs and lows of each woman's transformative journey. In addition, readers who must contend with physical or financial barriers to success may also feel distanced from the women in the book, whose obstacles are addressed primarily in psychological terms. Still, McMeekin's practical guide will help highly motivated readers reflect on their past failures and successes in order to design their own road map for an inspired life. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

jean & bolco Morris - Foreword

Designed to be a companion and mentor to women who seek to recognize, honor and free their creativity, The 12 Secrets of Highly Successful Women is a distillation of wisdom gathered from a wide-ranging sample of some of the most creative and successful women in the United States. McMeekin, M.S.W., has brought more than twenty years of experience as a licensed psychotherapist, career coach and human resources consultant to the creation of this guidebook to the creative life.
Presenting the creative path as a journey of self-discovery, McMeekin presents three "gateways" that give entrance to the various levels of development of one's creative gift: "Engaging Your Creativity"; "Mastering Your Challenges as a Creative Woman"; and "Actualizing Your Results: the Power of Positive Priorities." Upon entering each gateway, the reader is introduced to the "secrets" that are needed in order to arrive at the next stage of the journey together with the "keys" necessary to open and utilize the wisdom of each secret. Tools provided enable the reader to recognize and deal with the ever-present internal and external "saboteurs" and "serenity stealers" that threaten to stifle creativity.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Carol Adrienne, co-author of The Celestine Prophecy: An Experiential Guide and author of The Purpose of Your Life.

The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women is such a wonderful reading experience. I couldn't wait to hear each story and glean all the wit, humor, and wisdom from each woman's own experience -- to me the most uplifting way to teach that I can think of. McMeekin's style is so readable and well paced, I felt I was sitting at her kitchen table getting all the best news about my own group of fiends.  — Carol Adrienne

Eric Maisel, Ph.D., author of Deep Writing, Fearless Creating, and Living the Writer's Life:

Women who create are everywhere, but their success stories have been underreported. Gail McMeekin helps change that in her inspiring book for women -- and men -- who have the creative urge and the desire to live authentically.  — Eric Maisel

Caroll Michels, career coach, artist, advocate, author of How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist: