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Maya Heath Maya Heath was born in Denton, Texas, 24 March, 1948. Growing up in Dallas, she had ample opportunity to explore her love of art and music at the museum arts complex at Fair Park. Her grandfather was a collector of Asian arts and introduced her to the fascinating world of imports and exotic designs. A summer trip to Europe when in high school further broadened her fascination with arts and ancient history. In 1967, she moved to Houston and it was while studying at the University of Houston that she discovered the metaphysical community. As she pursued a degree in English and Linguistics, she also delved into tarot, Kaballah, and Eastern philosophy. She graduated in 1970.

In 1972, she moved to New Mexico. During her time there she became more involved in the arts. She worked extensively in the jewelry industry, eventually becoming a master model maker. In 1978 she returned to Texas for a short time, then moved to Kansas when her husband was offered a job working as an engineer in the oil fields. It was there that she met Pam Steele. Their mutual love of fantasy art struck an instant spark and the two of them began to travel doing art shows and conventions, often with Pam's two young sons, Jason and Orion. When Pam moved to Ohio in 1982, Maya renewed her fascination with history when she joined the Society for Creative Anachronism. She moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1985, where her daughter Adrienne was born.

In 1986, Maya realized that fantasy and metaphysics provided the perfect niche market for the jewelry making skills she had learned in New Mexico and started her own business, Dragonscale Jewelry, focusing on specialty historical and metaphysical designs not available on the current market. Her interests expanded to crystals and energy work as she traveled to various shows and exhibits, meeting with other dealers and practitioners. By 1995, she had written her first book, The Egyptian Oracle, a divination system based on Egyptian mythology and numerology, published by Bear & Co. This was soon followed in 1996 by Ceridwen's Book of Incense, Oils and Candles, exploring the power of sympathetic magic, published by Merlin Press. Energies, A Book of Basics, followed in 1997, also published by Merlin Press; then The Book of Stones & Metals in 1998 – both books dealing with energy mechanics and personal spirituality.

In 2003, she moved to Florida. Her book, Magical Oils by Moonlight, which she also fully illustrated, was published in 2004 by New Page Books. In Florida, she continued to expand Dragonscale Jewelry with her partner, horn and bone carver, Philip Montgomery. She also published, A Practical Guide to Medieval Adhesives, a monograph in the Compleat Anachronist series for the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).

By 2010, Maya was looking for ways to expand her artistic interests and returned to an old personal love, embroidery. While in the SCA she had won numerous awards for her historical recreation embroidery and research. It was time to bring that skill to more contemporary work. As with Dragonscale Jewelry, she wanted to bring a new and inventive eye to needlework design, mixing her love of history and exotic arts with traditional techniques. It was with this in mind that, working in partnership with Pam Steele, she launched Athena's Needle Stitchery. Then, at the request of her daughter, they began working on a joint children's book project, writing and illustrating the stories she created for Adrienne when she was little – bringing to life the Fred the Rat books to amuse their grandchildren.