Hello you Kick-Ass Creators!  
Hello you wishful, excited, know-you've-got-it-in-you types....and to you too, already-rockin'-it-and-wanting-more folks!  Welcome.  We're all family here.  Up, down.  Rollin', reeling.  Flowing, slow.  Thanks for coming.  'Glad you made it,' as my Dad would say.  

I'm so excited that you're here.  You've been telling me fascinating things on the road as we've done mini-workshops and readings in getting ready for the book to be released.  You have great ideas.  You have passion and enthusiasm and thrilling energy.   I'm psyched to be your friend.  I'm already planning to brag about you.

Maybe you've come looking for some info about the book.  (Cool, we've got that.)  Maybe you've got questions.  Or you're looking to share your responses to some of the Project Recs and Open the Flow tasks.  Awesome.  I can't WAIT to see what you're doing, and how you'll connect with other people doing really great things too.  We have all that too. And more.  

Please, join the creative conversation (let's talk to ourselves together!) and if you're inclined, help spread the word! Tweet it up!  Profess that you "Like" this ("you really LIKE this!") on Facebook.  Link to us, comment on blogs, share your images and victories and frustrations.  It's why we're here.  

Finally, I'm an artist myself, which is why I hope to have some worthwhile insights to share.   If you've come by looking for my music, or with all this yukking up about it in the book, you're interested in checking it out, you'll find a music-palooza at my dedicated music site:  www.marybethmusic.com. 

Thank you for coming!  Now let's go create something amazing.    
~ mb

From The Introduction:

You have somehow found yourself here because you are ready to take your art and creativity to a new level, a greater place in your life. This is exciting and significant. You are already further along in your creative journey than you were just moments ago! Get ready and hold on tight, ’cause it’s gonna be a rockin’ trip. We’re going to have fun. You’re going to be shocked at what you can accomplish and how quickly the sense of forward motion will start feeling like a regular part of your art and life.
     You may have suspected that there’s more to your abilities and creative impact than you’ve been able to demonstrate, which is why there’s that nagging ache to devote more time, more page, more thought to the sparks of inspiration that touch you. You know you have contributions to make, innovations to birth, light to shine. You sense there’s a kick-ass artist/adventurer/discoverer inside of you, and it’s dying to get out. I agree! Let’s not waste a single second. Let’s set that sucker free! There’s amazing work to be done, inventions to be released, delight to find in both process and result. You are a big, wild, fantastic powerhouse with important work to do! And in case you’re concerned, please trust that you already have everything you need to get exactly where you want to go. (You’ve actually had it all along—remember those wise words from the Good Witch of Oz?) It may be that you just need a little reminding, a little guidance here and there, to nudge you onto the gorgeous currents of the creative jet stream that’s right there waiting for you. Let’s build enough momentum to lift you off the ground and up into the big creative flow where you can really fly.

[Excerpted from Kick-Ass Creativity: An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers, and Creative Professionals. Copyright © 2010 by Mary Beth Maziarz. Excerpted by permission of Hampton Roads Publishing, a division of Red Wheel Weiser / Conari Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.]