12 SECRETS OF CREATIVE SUCCESS E-MAIL NEWSLETTER-Volume I - May 2000

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are pleased to welcome you to the first of 12 monthly newsletters on
the "12 Secrets of Creative Success" to celebrate the release of my book
The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor from Conari
Press. This book just sold out its first printing in less than two
months! To order the book, go to www.creativesuccess.com or call Conari
Press at 800-685-9595. Our newsletter will highlight ongoing ways for you
to cultivate your creative potential and leverage your uniqueness in your
work and your life! It is our intention that this newsletter be brief,
but potent enough to stimulate your activity for a month. We'll start
with Secret #1:

SECRET # ONE: ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR CREATIVE SELF

You are an original with the potential to innovate and create something
new and wonderful! We have lots of false myths in this culture that
creativity is an exclusive club for "geniuses" and the rest of us can
never participate. Not true! Your creative self is alive and waiting for
your invitation to evolve! It may be buried underneath fears of making
mistakes or being rejected, or suffering from lack of attention, but your
creativity lives! As it is springtime, this is a marvelous time to
uncover your self-expression and your creative dreams. Imagine raking the
leaves out of a flowerbed and discovering the bud of a stunning lady
slipper. That lady-slipper is your creative self. Get to know her and
watch her blossom-- big-time. This newsletter will help you expose and
nurture your creative self. It is meant to supplement our new and
ever-changing website www.creativesuccess.com.

EXERCISE #1: EXCITEMENT BOOK

Get yourself an incredible notebook. Not just an ordinary notebook but a
notebook that expresses colors and textures that resonate for you.
Consider buying a notebook that is absolutely gorgeous, just like your
creative ideas! Then for one month, write down everything that EXCITES
you--a word, a new kind of coffee, an antique, a magazine article, a
nuance, a person, etc. Don't filter or censor your ideas, no matter how
wild they may strike you at first. Cut out pictures from periodicals that
intrigue you and collect them in your notebook for later. Begin to notice
your patterns of attraction as the month continues and make note of them.
Keep asking yourself the following questions: What inspires me? What
beckons me to explore it? Tune in next month when we will give you some
guidelines for sorting through your discoveries. Until then, trust that
you are a creative soul scanning for a focus.

UPDATES ON THE 12 SECRETS WOMEN:

In writing 12 Secrets, I had the opportunity to interview 45 highly
creative women to serve as mentors for all of you. In this section of the
newsletter, I will continue to keep you abreast of the new accomplishments
of this remarkable group. Starting this summer, I will also be profiling
new creative women as well! Here are some updates on the original group!

Janet Hagberg's Silent Witness National Initiative has just published a
new book titled, Results, which details how each state and major city is
doing in reducing its' domestic violence homicide rates for women and the
news is good! To order this cutting edge book, email Janet at
info@silentwitness.net or call 612-377-6629.

Loretta LaRoche, our humorist, just played Boston's famed Symphony Hall on
April 13th and has a new book in the works.

Barbara Sher just appeared as a special guest of PBS taking about her
book, It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now, and she positively glowed!

Lucia Capacchione's new book, Visioning, takes you on an incredible
journey into your imagination. I highly recommend it! Amazon has our
books linked at each other's websites.

Miriam Nelson has a new book coming out titled, Strong Women, Strong
Bones. This book highlights everything women and men need to know to
prevent, treat, and beat osteoporosis.

Brenda Laurel has left Purple Moon and is now an independent consultant.
Check out her website at www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel.

Sigrid Olsen's company, Segrets Inc., was 84.5% purchased by Liz Claiborne
Inc. in February 1999. Sigrid is still the creative director of this new
organization. Sigrid and I will be appearing on "Family Matters" with
Suzanne Bates on May 19th between 5pm and 6pm on Channel 4, Boston TV.

Maureen Murdock is teaching at Pacifica Graduate Institute in California
and working on a new book titled,Telling Our Stories: Making Meaning From
Myth and Memoir.

Michele Cassou has 3 new videos about art and creativity: Creativity and
Passion, Birth of a Process, and a Wisdom Channel TV Interview. Check out
her website at www.michelecassou.com or call 800-806-3932.

Sidra Stone has a new book that she wrote with her husband Hal Stone
titled, Partnering: A New Kind of Relationship. Their website is
www.delos-inc.com.

Barrie Dolnick has a new book titled, Simple Spells for Hearth and Home,
and continues to write while enjoying her 2-year-old daughter.

Cathleen Rountree, the unstoppable chronicler of women by ages, has just
published two books. The titles of the books are: On Women Turning 70:
Honoring the Voices of Wisdom, and, On Women Turning 30: Making Choices,
Finding Meaning. I sure hope she goes for age 80 next! She is currently
writing another book titled, The Soul of Cinema: How the Movies Mirror our
Minds, and completing a Ph.D. in the Psychology of Mythological Studies at
Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Chris Madden just published another gorgeous book using her design
expertise and her photographic eye titled, Getaways.

C. Diane Ealy is presenting creativity workshops in Mexico during April to
two groups including the American Management Association. She can be
reached at Tuccre8@aol.com if you are interested in a presentation.

Rosette Gault is working on a musical and a children's book series with
adorable characters as well as continuing to promote her paper clay.

Alice Aspen March has a new version of her workbook, The Attention Factor,
in press. You can order it at www.theattentionfactor.com. Alice and I
will both be presenting workshops at Rancho La Puerto, the wonderful spa
in Mexico, during the week of May 20th.

LIMITED SPECIAL OFFER:

Are you or your colleagues/staff feeling too stressed out to be creative?
Order the highly acclaimed Positive Choices package which includes a 90
minute audiotape workshop and a guidebook packed with exercises to help
you cut through the stress in your life and open up creative space. Order
your copies by going to our website: www.creativesuccess.com. This is a
limited edition so don't delay. Order one for yourself and all the
creative souls you care about. Bulk discounts are available.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 20-27 Rancho La Puerta in Mexico--private workshops
June 24, 3:00pm - Yellow Umbrella Books, Chatham, MA 02633 Booksigning
July 8, 12:00pm - Barnes and Noble, Berwyn, PA Booksigning
October 15 International Women's Writing Guild Panel, NYC (time to be
posted later)

TELEVISION APPEARANCES:

Interview on "Family Matters" Channel 4 TV in Boston with Sigrid Olsen.
Air date is May 19th from 5-6 PM.
On June 15, I will be taping another TV segment for C3TV in Yarmouth, MA
We will keep you posted on this airdate!!