The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor by Gail McMeekin

If you're looking for inspiration along the writer's road, The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women is a great source.

Author Gail McMeekin interviewed 45 highly creative women from a variety of fields--artists, painters, CEO's, writers, small business owners, designers--to discover twelve traits they held in common. She dives into each secret in detail, using examples from the lives of these very different and inspiring women.

What I like about it:

• The wonderful women she interviews have inspiring stories to share!


• ...and these 45 different women harness creativity and integrate it into their lives in many different, personal ways. This isn't a "one-size-fits-all" solution manual


• McMeekin uses a series of "Challenges" in each chapter to help the reader explore the topic as it applies to her own life


• It goes beyond the standard inspirational book, in that the ideas and exercises can help a writer out of many different ruts along the road

I borrowed the book through interlibrary loan several months ago, and have referred to my notes so many times since then that I should just buy the book. When I'm stuck, I look back at the "Mastering Challenges" section; when my writing feels flat, I pick up an exercise from the "Engaging Your Creativity" section. McMeekin calls the book a portable mentor. It doesn't quite measure up to my local critique group, but it's as great a mentor as a book can be.

Maybe I'll promise it to myself as a reward for the next risk I take--like sending my book out again!

~Cheryl