Mikaya Heart (www.mikayaheart.org) grew up in a rural part of Scotland. She developed a deep love of nature from an early age, which sustained her through a difficult childhood. At York University, long before the environmental movement had started, she studied ecology. Unable to accept how disrespectfully our planet is being treated, she dropped out, finding herself most at home in the radical hippie culture of the seventies. In 1978, she came out as a lesbian, and in the same year, trained as an agricultural mechanic. Disillusioned with the homophobia and sexism in the UK, she immigrated to Northern California, where she ran an organic market garden, raised pigs, and built her own house out of recycled lumber in the backwoods. She is a keen writer and has always worked hard at her personal healing, often using shamanic methods. Since she was sexually abused as a child, this led to a book on women's sexuality, When the Earth Moves: Women and Orgasm ,published in 1998. Sex, at its best, is a profoundly shamanic activity, so this fitted well with the belief systems she was developing. Several of her short stories, and one other book, The Straight Woman's Guide to Lesbianism, have also been published. She has two books coming out this year, one on the art of being human, and the other on her travels in Indonesia and Thailand. A horse riding accident at the age of 48 led to profound changes. She sold all her property, in order to be absolutely free, and took off traveling on her own, visiting Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, North America, the Caribbean and Brazil. She finds it essential to spend time alone in nature, feeling the being-ness of a place, and consequently her traveling is usually about camping in the wilderness. One of her most memorable experiences was an eight day solo kayak trip in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Her favorite pastimes are dancing, singing, horse-riding, and kitesurfing, all of which she experiences as deeply spiritual. She now identifies most strongly as a marveling mystic, since she has a very powerful awareness of herself as a being of spirit, and is constantly amazed at the extraordinary beauty of this world. Kitesurfing is her greatest passion. She has become the woman who follows the wind, intent on experiencing the delight of dancing with water and air whenever she can. She built a house from all recycled materials and lives happily in Northern California. The Ultimate Guide to Orgasm for Women "The author, Mikaya Heart, definitely tried to cover a plethora of information and did a fabulous job of presenting things with an attitude of open acceptance. So many women don’t discuss many of the personal and intimate details of our sexual selves. This book helped me to recognize that I wasn’t alone in some of the things I have personally experienced. It also helped me understand why some women don’t appreciate sex as much as others. One of the most important things that I am taking away from this book is that we must express our desires and needs. If we do not voice our needs and ask for what want in a loving but direct way we are preventing ourselves from enjoying one of the most pleasurable things our bodies, minds and spirit can experience." —Romancing the Book "This guide shows women how to ask for what they need and embrace their complexity." —AVN "This book as a whole is an engaging mixture of practical advice and spiritual (in a broad sense) discussion." —Kissed By Venus "The book... offer[s] freedom to self-define what a healthy sexuality means for each of us, as individuals, without necessarily referencing a "norm." Is it worth buying? Absolutely!" —Fresh Fiction
Violet Blue is a best-selling author of sex manuals and editor of erotica. She writes for and has been interviewed by O: The Oprah Magazine, The History Channel, and Penthouse, and in 2013 was named one of the Best Sex Educators in San Francisco by SF Weekly. She lives in San Francisco.