Making Out Like a Virgin: Sex, Desire, & Intimacy After Sexual Trauma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Tavia Gilbert, Publisher

animalmineralpress@gmail.com

animalmineralpress.com

207.558.1708

MAKING OUT LIKE

A VIRGIN
Sex, Desire & Intimacy

After Sexual Trauma

Edited by Catriona McHardy and Cathy Plourde

GROUNDBREAKING NEW BOOK EXPLORES PERSONAL STORIES OF RECLAIMING LIFE AFTER SEXUAL TRAUMA

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network):

• Every 2 minutes an American is sexually assaulted.
• 1 out of every 6 women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.
• Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years for rape and sexual assault.
• 90% of all rape victims are female.
• Approximately 70% of rape and sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress, a larger percentage than for any other violent crime.

There are many helpful resources available to victims of sexual trauma, but there is little information about how to move beyond mere survival. Animal Mineral Press—a new publishing company that focuses on books promoting healthy aspects of sex, sexuality and relationships—hopes to change that with the release of premiere title, MAKING OUT LIKE A VIRGIN: Sex, Desire & Intimacy After Sexual Trauma (Portlyn Media Trade Paperback Original; October 18, 2016; $16.99). In this new book, editors Catronia McHardy and Cathy Plourde provide an inspiring, moving collection of personal nonfiction essays that detail how writers from around the world have moved beyond mere survival of sexual trauma to unapologetically discover sexually and emotionally thriving lives.

The survivors in this bold, new book do not recount their individual traumas. Instead, they do something much more profound; they reveal how they reclaimed their bodies and their sexual desires. By telling their stories, these writers share their strength and successes found somewhere between the big shifts and small intimate moments, inspiring others while furthering their own healing.

The title MAKING OUT LIKE A VIRGIN reflects the idea of a rich and full life after trauma—something that can be difficult to imagine while busy surviving. Reclaiming life after trauma means relearning to think about sexuality in positive ways, exploring, affirming, and safe. The editors looked for contributors who could explore their sexuality as exciting and lustful, with desire and intimacy that was open and mutual. These narratives are an invitation for survivors who have been wounded to come back, try it again, love your body, and to say it is possible to get back to that place.

The anthology features contributions from 17 people: women, men, and transgender; ranging in age from their mid 20s to their late 60s; hailing from 6 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

The voices in this book are a start. None of the writers offer up the usual magazine headlines or “ten secrets” or “best tips” or “quick results” because there aren’t any. There are common threads that unite them as people who have retrieved and embraced feelings for lustful sex, desire, and intimacy. Each of them challenges the notion that survivors of sexual violence are not "supposed" to be sexual beings; they decline to be shamed or pitied, refuse to retreat as damaged. Instead, they define what is expected and accepted for victims and survivors after trauma on their own terms.

Edited and introduced by Catriona McHardy and Cathy Plourde with a foreword by Sue William Silverman, author of LOVE SICK: One Woman’s Journey Through Sexual Addiction. Paperback, audio and eBook formats will release simultaneously. Tavia Gilbert, the award-winning narrator and Co-Publisher of Animal Mineral Press, will perform the audiobook edition of the book.

MAKING OUT LIKE A VIRGIN is the book that everyone who has been directly been affected by sexual violence--survivors, their loved ones, practitioners in the field, educators, and social scientists alike--will reach for when they want to hear from those who have found a way out from under labels and limitations.

To receive a review copy, arrange an interview, or obtain additional information, please contact Tavia Gilbert: Animalmineralpress@gmail.com, 207-558-1708. animalmineralpress.com

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Portlyn Media is an imprint Animal Mineral Press – a new publishing company that covers different aspects of sex, sexuality, and relationships, including non-fiction, faith-based romance, erotica, and other fiction for youth, new adults, and adults.

MAKING OUT LIKE A VIRGIN: Sex, Desire & Intimacy After Sexual Trauma

Portlyn Media Trade Paperback Original; October 18, 2016

(Memoir/Sexual Abuse/Recovery, ISBN# 978-1-944568-00-9, 186, $16.99)

Portlyn Media Ebook, October 18, 2016, ISBN# 978-1-944568-01-6

Portlyn Media AudioBook, October 18, 2016