A Map of Consciousness

When I was twenty years old, in 2007, I began translating my experiences into prose for a dual purpose. One—to glean their import so as to transcend my state of consciousness and rebirth myself, and two—because the novel has always been my refuge. I have not known how to define my movement in this life, but it seems it is almost invisible, below the world, of the underneath. Now I call myself a ‘traveler of the psyche,’ and in the novel I move as only an adept can move. In love and devotion have I committed my life to the form.

The novels, novellas, short stories, and narrative poems that make up the thirteen volumes of “A Map of Consciousness,” written between 2007 and 2024, constitute a Life’s Work. In these volumes, I go by many names—Una, Alice, Cassandra, Maris, Rebecca, or my given name, Jessy, either narrating the work or appearing within it at some point. The books are presently being presented completely as the author intends through Imum Press, with select excerpts occasionally made available on substack.

Diary of the Seduced, Written in 2007-2008—This novella transcribed from a diary served as the skeleton for the novel, “The Eyries.” It stands alone as an artifact of tragedy.

The Young Mother, Written in 2011—The author’s first novel written when she was 24 years old, introducing ‘Una’ who has a baby without resources, in a disturbing relationship, with only hope.

Minor Key, Written in 2013—A second novel in which ‘Una’ leaves behind all she and her little son own to follow her busking lover down south.

Black was the Underbelly, a Novella and Other Stories, Written in 2014, a novella which backtracks ‘Una’ to the streets of New York City, prior to motherhood; a period in which, ravaged by heartbreak, she calls destruction to herself in a thousand ways.

The Early Stories, Compiled in 2015, Short Stories of ‘Alice,’ which fill in the gaps in between the novels.

The Eyries, Written in 2016-2018, a novel of first love and the destructive force inherent in youth which breaks apart childhood and allows the adults to emerge who will weather the hard world.

Stories of Isadora and Poems of the Priestess, Compiled in 2020, Two stories which consider the impact of the death of the author’s mother and poems of an affair that became a container for the outpouring of her grief.

Meadowsweet by the Road, Written in 2019-2020, the novel of the death of the author’s mother and a subsequent hunger for the sacred.

The Secret of Geraniums, Written in 2020, an erotic novella about a woman who makes love to the counterparts of an estranged couple.

Vignettes of California, Written in 2021—A novella of a childhood summer spent at the author’s grandparents’ house in Bakersfield, California where the exploited state of the land and the apathetic whispers of her matrilineal line prefigured into the exploitation of her own body.

The Tree Planter, Written in 2022—A Short Novel which takes place in the beautiful Catskill mountains where a woman with a mysterious incurable condition gardens for a living that is a pittance and meets a man of shadowy temperament who exists as she does.

Light Locked Beneath the River, Written 2023-2024—A post-apocalyptic novel that is a metaphor for an unseen, and impossible to speak of, awakening of consciousness.

Retrieval, Written 2024—The author attempts to retrieve formative memories which a childhood practice of disassociation had obscured.

From Rain Taxi Review on “The Secret of Geraniums”: “Despite her traumatic past, Rebecca takes back power as she explores her sexuality through various intimate encounters. This exploration is raw and wanting, and it often veers into the erotic poetics of the earth, making The Secret of Geraniums a space for women to break free of social conditioning so as to reimagine and reclaim feminine sexuality.”

All the novels are meditations on the art form of autobiography in prose.