Starhawk Author

About Starhawk

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism. She is the author or co-author of thirteen books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess and the ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing, and its sequel City of Refuge.

Her most recent non-fiction book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, on group dynamics, power, conflict and communications.

Mack Maloney is a well-established author who is widely known for the Wingman book series, Starhawk book series, ChopperOps series and Pirate Hunters book series. Born and raised in Boston, Mark Maloney attended Suffolk University where he received a Bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Starhawkfounded Earth Activist Training, teaching permaculture design grounded in spirituality and with a focus on activism. She travels internationally, lecturing and teaching on earth-based spirituality, the tools of ritual, and the skills of activism.

Starhawk’s Books

Starhawk’s book The Spiral Dance has been continuously in print for thirty years and revised twice; in 1999 HarperSanFrancisco published the Twentieth Anniversary Edition.

Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery won the Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award for nonfiction in 1988.

Starhawk’s first novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing, won the Lambda award for best Gay and Lesbian Science Fiction in 1994. It was released as an audiobook in 2016.

Many of Starhawk’s political essays were collected into her book Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising, which won a 2003 Nautilus Award from the trade association NAPRA.

Her first picture book for children, The Last Wild Witch, won a silver Nautilus from NAPRA in 2010.

Film & Video Projects

In the late ’80s, Starhawk consulted on and co-wrote the popular trio of films known as the Women’s Spirituality Series, directed by Donna Read Cooper for the National Film Board of Canada: Goddess Remembered, The Burning Times, and Full Circle. The trilogy was in the top ten of sales and rentals for the Film Board for over a decade. Starhawk and Donna Read Cooper formed their own film company, Belili Productions, to make documentaries on women and the earth.

Their first release was Signs Out of Time (2004), a documentary on the life of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, the scholar who made major discoveries about the Goddess cultures of Old Europe.

Starhawk and Donna’s second documentary, Permaculture: The Growing Edge, was released in 2010.

Starhawk has also made several short documentaries which can be found on YouTube: The Spiral Dance Ritual, Reclaiming’s Spiral Dance: Three Decades of Magic, and Permaculture Principles at Work, with nearly 200,000 views.

Activism and Permaculture Projects

Starhawk is a veteran of progressive movements, from anti-war to anti-nukes, and is deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism.

She is a founder of Earth Activist Trainings (EAT), teaching permaculture design grounded in spirit and with a focus on organizing and activism. Together with Charles Williams and others, she co-teaches EAT courses in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. She also champions ‘social permaculture’: the application of permaculture principles to social organizations, policy and strategy.

Since its first course in May of 2001, Earth Activist Trainings has graduated over 1000 students who now shepherd projects that range from community power-down strategies in Iowa City to water catchment programs in Bolivia, from inner city gardens in San Francisco to programs in the West Bank of Palestine.

Pagan & Goddess

Starhawk is one of the prominent leaders in the revival of earth-based spirituality and Goddess religion. She is a cofounder of Reclaiming, an activist branch of modern Pagan religion, and continues to work closely with the Reclaiming Community. Her archives are maintained at the Graduate Theological Union library in Berkeley, California.

Starhawk’s tapes and CDs include “Wicca for Beginners” (2002), “Wiccan Rituals and Blessings” (2003), and a four-CD set “Earth Magic” (2006), all produced by Sounds True.

Early Life & Career

Starhawk was born on June 17, 1951. She holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from U.C.L.A. In 1973, as a graduate student in Film at U.C.L.A, Starhawk won the prestigious Samuel Goldwyn Creative Writing Award. She received an M.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Feminist Therapy from Antioch University West in 1982. She has taught in many Bay Area colleges and universities, including John F. Kennedy University, Antioch West, the Institute of Culture and Creation Spirituality at Holy Names College, and Wisdom University. She is presently adjunct faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

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Bibliography: Starhawk’s Books

The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 1979, 1989, and 1999 editions. German, Danish, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, and Greek editions.

Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics. Boston, Beacon, 1982, 1988, 1997 editions. French and German editions.

Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco,1988. German edition.

The Fifth Sacred Thing (novel). New York, Bantam, 1993. German, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese editions. Released as an Audiobook, narrated by Maya Lilly, in 2016.

Walking to Mercury (novel). New York, Bantam, 1997.

City of Refuge (novel): The Sequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing. Self-published through a successful Kickstarter campaign in Winter 2015.

The Pagan Book of Living and Dying.Co-written with M. Macha NightMare and the Reclaiming Collective. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 1997. Czech edition.

Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition. Cowritten with Anne Hill and Diane Baker. Illustrated by Sara Ceres Boore. New York, Bantam, 1998.

The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey to the Realm of Magic, Healing, and Action. Cowritten with Hilary Valentine. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 2000. Dutch, Spanish, and German editions.

Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising. Gabriola Island, BC; New Society Publishers, 2002. Essays translated into Burmese, French, and Italian.

The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco, 2004. Italian edition.

The Last Wild Witch. Illustrated by Lindy Kehoe. Portland, Oregon: Mother Tongue Ink. 2009. Adapted into a stage musical for children’s ensemble by EmilyKion for the Marsh Youth Theater, San Francisco, 2012.

The Empowerment Manual:A Guide for Collaborative Groups. Victoria, Canada; New Society Publishers, November 2011.

Karen Kay … the leading author voice in American Indian romance.

Author Karen Kay’s love of writing is combined only with her love of the American Indian culture and this is most evident in her writings by her depiction of the Indian way of life, incorporating little known facts with the overall picture of the way the Indian truly lived.
“Hollywood in the 50’s and many cowboy/western novels of that time,” says Kay, “did not paint a true picture of the American Indian. And anyone who will spend any time researching, will discover this for himself.

“The American Indian was a gentleman, in the true sense of the word. Roaming the prairies, he did not fight or kill the white man until so betrayed and driven by the incoming culture, the Indian had no choice but to turn and defend his homeland.

“My books center upon the American Indian culture as it was–a true picture–not colored with the sensationalism of death and destruction as was depicted by the newspapers and ‘eyewitnesses’ of the time, who often carried more political ambition, than truth.

I do exhaustive research,” says Karen Kay, who prefers to be called Kay. “Even to the extent of spending my honeymoon on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana.”

If you have a Karen Kay book you’d like autographed, please send her an email.

The Eagle and the Flame

The Eagle and the Flame – Karen Kay
Wild West Series, Book # 1
ASIN: B084LTQGWV
February, 2020
Historical Romance

A vision foretold his tribe’s doom. Is the flame-haired beauty the trickster or his true love?

Lucinda Glenforest’s father, a general who’d fought in the Indian Wars, taught his flame-haired daughter to out-shoot even the best men the military could put up against her. When Luci’s sister is seduced and abandoned, it’s up to Luci to defend her honor in a duel. Although she wins, the humiliated captain and his powerful family vow vengeance. The sister’s only hope is to flee and hide until their father returns from his overseas mission. Out of money, Luci hatches a plan to disguise herself as a boy and use her sharpshooting skills in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
The chief of the Assiniboine tribe has a terrifying vision, that someone called the deceiver, or trickster, spells doom for the children of his tribe. He enlists Charles Wind Eagle to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, in hopes of appealing to the President of the United States for help, and to find and stop the deceiver. When Wind Eagle is paired with a girl whom he knows is disguised as a boy, he believes she might be the deceiver. Still, she stirs his heart in ways he must resist, for he has a secret that can never be told, nor ignored. And Luci can never forget that her father would destroy Wind Eagle if she were to fall in love with him.
Forced to work together, they can’t deny their growing attraction. Will Luci and Wind Eagle find a way through the lies to find true love? Or will they be consumed by the passion of deception and slander?
Warning: A sensuous romance that might cause a girl to join the rodeo in order to find true love.

What People Are Saying…

“Oh my word I can’t believe how much this story touched my heart ?.”

“Author Karen Kay has carefully researched the culture of the Assiniboine tribe. She brings Wind Eagle and his friend Iron Wolf to life. I enjoyed her emphasis on the spirituality and traditions of the tribes, and the respect she shows for the culture. It is a thoughtful juxtaposition of the native culture against the white American culture of the 1880s.”

“No one writes Indian romance better than Karen Kay.”

Lakota Surrender

Lakota Surrender – Karen Kay
Lakota Warrior Series, Book # 1 – 25th Anniversary Special Edition
ASIN: B07ZW9FSLG
October, 2019
Historical Romance

Forbidden Love…

As she travels west to join her cavalry officer father at his Kansas outpost, Kristina Bogard eagerly anticipates new adventures—and her first glimpse of wild Indians. She has long dreamed of flashing black eyes, skin-covered lodges and buckskin and leather.

What she finds in Fort Leavenworth, though, is a far cry from her Indian nanny’s thrilling stories. What few natives she’s encountered have been broken shadows of their proud past. All except one. A handsome warrior who stands tall and proud. A warrior who stirs up an entirely new set of dreams and emotions for Kristina.

Tahiska can’t take his eyes off the green-eyed beauty whose graceful hands are fluent in his native sign language. But he can’t afford to let anything distract him from avenging his father, who was murdered by two white soldiers.

Though anger fills his mind, Kristina steals into his heart, igniting a wildfire passion that must remain their desperate secret. For soon comes the day of reckoning, when justice will be served…or a travesty will shatter their love.

This is the 25th Year Anniversary Edition of this book

What People Are Saying

A potent tale of love’s triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. Karen Kay vividly demonstrates everyday life on the plains for the Lakota and the white. The power of love underscores the beauty of it in this unforgettable story. – MB Rendezvous

Rich in historical detail…LAKOTA SURRENDER goes beyond the typical Indian romance adventure. Bittersweet, entrancing and astonishingly introspective, its depth is immensely gratifying. The caring between Kristina and Tahiska evolves into a love that can take on the world. Karen Kay’s upbeat read cannot fail to carve a special niche and will leave readers with a warm glow. – Gail Collins, Romantic Times

A hard hitting story of prejudice and hate that will touch your soul. A well written debut for Karen Kay…a touching and memorable read. – Wanda Handley, Affaire deCoeur

Brave Wolf and the Lady

Brave Wolf and the Lady – Karen Kay
The Clan of the Wolf, Book # 2
ASIN: B07DV7TTWY
June, 2018
Historical Romance

He saved her life, then stole her heart…

To escape an arranged marriage, Mia Carlson, daughter of a U.S. senator, instead elopes with the man she loves. As they are escaping from her Virginia home, heading west, their wagon train is brutally attacked, leaving Mia alone and in grave danger. Rescue comes from a most unlikely source, a passing Lakota scouting party, led by the darkly handsome Indian, Brave Wolf.

Although Brave Wolf has consented to guide Mia to the nearest trading post, he holds himself apart from her, for his commitments lie elsewhere. But long days on the trail lead to a deep connection with the red-haired beauty. Yet, he can’t stop wondering why death and danger stalk this beautiful woman, forcing him to rescue her time and again. Who is doing this, and why?

One thing is clear, however: Amid the flurry of dodging assassin bullets, Brave Wolf and Mia come into possession of a powerful love. But is it all for naught? Will Brave Wolf’s obligations and Mia’s secret enemy from the past finally succeed in the sinister plot to destroy their love forever?

What People Are Saying

Gripping, heart-wrenching and beautiful “Brave Wolf and the Lady,” tells the tale of a young woman who falls into the hands of a handsome Indian brave. I very much liked Mia’s character. I felt compassion for her given the tragedies that Mia was forced to face. Mia did her best to keep her courage but I think Brave Wolf was able to provide her with the safety and the love that she needed the most. – Night Owl Reviews Top Pick

Warning: Sensuous romance and cameo appearances of Tahiska and Kristina from the book, Lakota Surrender, might cause a happily-ever-after to warm your heart.

The Princess and the Wolf

The Princess and the Wolf – Karen Kay
The Clan of the Wolf, Book # 1
ASIN: B079QPW33V
February, 2018
Historical Romance

Two Hearts Betrayed

Refusing to believe the rumors that the European prince she was forced to marry had died in a far-off land, the princess, Sierra, sets sail to America, bent on revenge and determined to learn the truth. Because she will require a scout to guide her through the wilderness, she calls in a favor from the man who had betrayed her long ago, the man she had once loved deeply and had hoped to wed, the noble Cheyenne scout, High Wolf.

Many years before, a European prince had invited High Wolf to travel an ocean and as a brother, to live as a member of the royal family. There High Wolf had fallen in love with the princess, Sierra. But instead of an engagement and the planned wedding, the princess had treacherously married his friend, the prince. Betrayed and broken-hearted, High Wolf sailed back to America, determined to forget the princess. But a promise given to her years earlier brings her back into his life, igniting a desire he must resist, for to surrender to her again is unthinkable.

Forced into one another’s company, with the threat of life or death around every corner, overcoming their prejudice might be their only means of survival. But can either of them trust in a love, once betrayed? Or will their past force them apart again, this time forever?…

This book has been previously published.

Warning: Sensuous romance that might renew a love that was written in the stars. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Seneca Surrender

Seneca Surrender – Karen Kay writing as Gen Bailey
Warriors of the Iroquois, Book # 2
ASIN: B07HXTN4B1
October, 2018
Historical Romance

Against All Odds

Their hearts must become one…or a deadly mission could destroy them.

When indentured servant Sarah Strong is set upon by war parties and tossed about by river rapids, two thoughts crowd her mind as she sails over the edge of a mountain-high waterfall. That she and her young charge will never make it to New Hampshire. And she will never know what it’s like to be deeply loved by a man who would give his life to protect her.

For fifteen years, White Thunder has searched fruitlessly for the man who murdered his beloved wife and unborn child. The European invaders have brought his people nothing but misery, but when he stumbles across an unconscious white woman washed up on the shore, his Seneca heart tells him that like it or not, her fate rests in his hands.

As he holds the thrashing woman through her fever, his body reminds him he’s been celibate far too long. If this is a test of devotion to his quest, it’s a test double-edged with duty and desire. And no matter which way it cuts, one of them will bleed…

Warning: Sensuous Romance that may cause a strong desire to tumble over a waterfall in search of true love.

Wolf Shadow’s Promise

Wolf Shadow’s Promise – Karen Kay
Legendary Warriors, Book # 4
ASIN: B075YC2T3X
October, 2017
Historical Romance

She saved his life. The only way he can save hers is to deny their forbidden passion…

When eight-year-old Alys Clayton saved the life of a young Blackfeet Indian, she had no idea her own life would be forever changed. To honor her bravery, Moon Wolf pledged his heart to her, vowing to marry her. But they were both too young…then.

Returning to Fort Benton in the Northwest Territory fifteen years later, Alys again encounters the deeply handsome hero who had once set her heart afire. Ancient warfare 3 for ps4. But Moon Wolf has changed. He has become the legendary Wolf Shadow, a warrior intent on helping his people’s struggle against those who would destroy them.

Because a precious jewel like Alys warrants more from a man than risking death at every turn, Moon Wolf battles his desire for her, denying her what she needs most. But Alys has other ideas. She is determined he will not walk his chosen path alone.

Yet, how can their love survive when they are surrounded by enemies determined to destroy them, in a world where their love is forbidden?

This book has been previously published.

Warning: Sensuous romance that might renew a love that was written in the stars. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

BLACK EAGLE

Black Eagle – Karen Kay
The Warriors of the Iroquois, Book 1
ISBN: 978-1-61922-102-4
November, 2015
Historical Romance

A woman on the run…a warrior’s vow…an assassin on their trail.

With the English and the French at each other’s throats, struggling for control of the North American continent, the battle lines have been drawn. But Marisa Jameson is witness to treachery closer to home.

After she overhears her uncle’s plot to destroy a Dutch town for his own gain, she threatens to expose him—and is forced to run for her life.

When the mesmerizing beauty says she needs a guide to visit a friend, Mohawk warrior Black Eagle volunteers. He knows the wild forests of New England like the back of his hand, but soon senses danger is dogging their heels and suspects there’s more to Marisa’s anxiety to move swiftly than her eagerness to “visit a friend”.

Caught in the crossfire of a war and with a deadly assassin hot on their trail, Marisa and Black Eagle discover that trusting each other is the only way to outrun the enemy—and that love may be the only way to survive.

This book has been previously published under the author’s pseudonym of Gen Bailey, but has been substantially revised and expanded.

THE LAST WARRIOR

The Last Warrior– Karen Kay
The Lost Clan, Book 4
Samhain Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61922-101-7
November, 2015
Historical Romance

Their sweet harmony could tame the wrath of a god…or separate them forever.

Black Lion was sent into the real world to break the curse that dooms his clan to a half life in the mists. Yet no matter how many times he has shown an enemy mercy, the Thunderer’s spell remains intact.

In his beseeching prayers, he hears a song that leads him to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show on its travels to London. There he encounters the daughter of two opera singers—the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. A woman already engaged to another man.

Months later, Suzette Joselyn travels to America, a woman changed. Friendless, abandoned by her former fiancé—and pregnant—she finds it impossible to refuse the gentle Lakota Sioux’s proposal to save her child from being born a bastard. Even if it means flashing a pistol to force a reluctant parson to marry them.

Yet her brave new husband is consumed with a mission that may force him to choose between his people and the woman he loves. For the Thunderer is waiting, watching for the perfect time to work his evil deed.

THE ANGEL AND THE WARRIOR

The Angel and the Warrior – Karen Kay
The Lost Clan, Book 1
Samhain Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61922-098-0
April, 2014
Historical Romance

A hunted woman, a forbidden love…and time ticking down on an ancient curse.

Eighteen years ago, Swift Hawk was sent to the earthly realm to try to break an enchantment that curses his clan to a half-life in the mists. As his allotted time runs short, a vision gives him a glimpse of his last chance to free his people. A delicate young woman with translucent white skin and star-like hair.

He never thought his sacred vision would possess the tongue of a shrew.

Angelia Honeywell and her brother Julian fled Mississippi amid a hail of rotten tomatoes and flying bullets. She only fired back in self-defense, but now they are on the run as their father pleads their case to the governor.

With Julian trying to pass himself off as a wagon train scout, Angel knows they need help. When the handsome, black-eyed Swift Hawk agrees to save their skins, she can’t help but be drawn to his compelling gaze. But as they come together in a blaze of desire, the dark shadows of the curse descend, threatening to divide them forever.

What People Are Saying

This book proves what many readers have long suspected — Karen Kay is one of today’s topnotch authors. She knows how to weave a tale that not only touches your heart, but changes your soul for the better. – Lori Soard, author of THE LIPSTICK DIARIES

My heart is always full when I finish a Karen Kay story. That’s one reason I never miss anything she writes. Do yourself a big favor and read this book. It’s a treasure. – Fresh Fiction

Ms. Kay paints a loving picture of America’s first people. Pick up THE ANGEL AND THE WARRIOR and get caught up in the passion and excitement of her well researched and imaginative world. – Romance Reviews Today

Karen blogs every other Tuesday at: www.petticoatsandpistols.com

RED HAWK’S WOMAN

Red Hawk’s Woman – Karen Kayhttps://www.amazon.com/SPIRIT-WOLF-LOST-CLAN-Book-ebook/dp/B075Q76CYJ
The Lost Clan, Book 3
Samhain Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61922-100-0
September, 2014
Historical Romance

Their passion is thunder and lightning. Their fate could be a flood of sorrow.

Red Hawk’s most precious childhood memory is of a single morning with a girl whose beauty seemed lit from within with magic. Now, years later, she could very well hold the key to a centuries-old curse—but when his visions lead him to her again, no recognition lights her eyes.

At age twenty-five, Effie Rutledge has missed her chance for marriage, but the daughter of a renowned archaeologist would rather get her hands dirty on a dig than cleaning up after some man.

She is determined to finish her father’s quest to recover four precious artifacts that could free a lost clan from a half life in the mists, but with her expedition reported as jinxed, there are no guides to be had. Except one tall, enigmatic native who draws her as naturally as water flows to the sea.

Even when memories reconnect, they struggle to trust each other. Worse, their once-in-a-lifetime passion risks the Thunder god’s wrath—and the future of the entire Lost Clan.

THE SPIRIT OF THE WOLF

The Spirit of the Wolf – Karen Kay
The Lost Clan, Book 2
Samhain Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61922-099-7
July, 2014
Historical Romance

The end of a curse hides behind a riddle—and the final clue in the heart of a woman.

Grey Coyote stands on the knife edge of desperation. An ancient curse dooms his people to a half-life in the mists, neither living nor dead—unless he can solve a deceptively simple riddle. As time runs short, he’s sure the answer lies in beating a white trapper in a game of chance.

Among the trapper’s possessions, though, is a prize he never expected. A golden-haired woman as beautiful, delicate and stubborn as a prairie rose.

One moment Marietta Welsford is wondering how long it will take her hired guide to finish his game so she can hurry home to Rosemead, the English estate to which she hopes to lay claim. The next, she is abandoned with a man whose magnetism tugs at her body and soul, and makes her heart out-thunder the storm.

With so little time to lift the enchantment, Grey Coyote at first views Marietta as a trickster-sent distraction. But as sure as the star that guides him, it soon becomes clear she is the clue that could ultimately free his people…and capture his heart.

Other Books by Karen Kay

Legendary Warriors Series

Blackfoot Warriors Series

Lakota Series

Reviews of The Princess and the Wolf

An adventure of the heart, this story will carry you to the heights of excitement as two old friends meet and the depths of despair when they acknowledge what they’ve lost. Set in the days when the Missouri River was largely an unknown, untamed territory, the reader will thrill to the danger and joys the two share as they travel toward Fort Clark on their mission to learn the truth of Prince Alathom’s disappearance.

Highly recommended as a rewarding way to spend pleasant hours. A trip back in time with descriptions so clear, you will feel as though you’ve been inside the homes and forts of the day; A tale written by an author who knows her subject and writes from the heart. Enjoy. – Anne K. Edwards, Reviewer

Karen Kay does a masterful job of weaving the past and the present together so that the two stories seem destined to connect. The fierce passion and sensuality makes the story sparkle. The characters dance off the page and come to life, remaining long after the end of the story. – Lori Soard, Reviewer

Karen Kay captures the hearts of her readers. With beauty and elegance we become one with the Indian scout, with nature, with our senses. We walk in their shoes, smell the damp leaves on the forest floor and visualize all the colors in a sunrise. – TheBestReviews.com

Karen Kay has a talent to pull you into the story and not let you go until it’s finished. Even then, the story stays with you long after the last page. High Wolf not only takes Princess Sierra on a journey, he takes the reader on one as well. – RomanceJunkies.com

The Princess and the Wolf gives readers a new thrill, taking one Princess and a Cheyenne brave, and turning what is forbidden into a fiery passion that was meant to be. – Writers and Readers Network