Neptune Skies
Brooklyn is “home" to Dell and Rebe, two humans searching, whether they know it or not. Dell searches through his art while Rebe searches through her body as a fine art model. An evening life drawing class sparks a connection between the two, sending them on parallel journeys of self-discovery through sexual awakening and an unspoken embodiment of a unique type of love.
From New York to the scenic mountains of central Portugal, then through Lisbon, Oaxaca, and back to Brooklyn, Rebe finds herself questioning her truth, and Dell his sanity. In this tale of love, enchantment, passion, and delusion, the human and the mystical coalesce to birth a profundity of transformation, healing, and clarity that the two have never known before.
Written in her signature soulful and poetic prose, Nkem Chukwumerije engages the visceral, subtle, and erotic senses to make sense of mystery and mingle, indulgently, with the unknown in Neptune Skies.
Words from the “Author’s Note”
“The writing of this book has been an introduction to my personal mythology. I use the power of storytelling to make sense of my personal and intimate life experiences, longings, soul-rememberings, and of course, of course, to have fun with language and poetics.
The characters in this story have experiences with others who mirror and reflect, or refract, certain aspects of themselves in multifarious ways; ways that conjure the spirit, stir the soul, invigorate the mind and the sexual palace, and activate the spiritual journey inward, and then outward through artistic expression or craft.
As I’ve written and edited this story over the span of four-and-a-half years, it has evolved with me. In each of the several rounds of edits, I’ve updated my language, imagery, references; I’ve changed the way my characters see themselves and engage in the act of sex—at first, something to hedonistically attain, and later, something to savor as a means to deeper, truer, more passionate connection with self and with other. It requires courage to be a fully erotic creature, which is what Dell and Rebe teach me each time I journey through Neptune Skies. Through the writing of this story, my own erotic being awakened, revealing to me psychological programming of sexual shame, abuse, and capitulation existing in the layers of my psyche. Where pleasure existed, so did the inky tentacles of shame. But as I channeled this story, and through each round of editing, I was guided to move through the shame I’ve carried in my body, my mind, my concept of love and connection, to eventually see that sexual awakening is an inherent and fundamental part of spiritual awakening. We are sexual creatures—our progeny depend on our sexual health, clarity, vitality, and vibrancy.
In the final edit of this novel, I was transformed, yet again, realizing how, to finally share this work, this sacred story, with the world, I would need to prepare myself to be as open and honest as Dell and Rebe are. I would need to prepare myself to be as human as is required of the sacred storyteller. I hope this work facilitates your own healing and awakening, too.
Neptune Skies as a title for this story emerged sometime in year two of writing. Neptune Skies is Dell’s story; a story about his mind. Not just the mind, as represented by the sky, but the psychic, intuitive, mysterious, cosmic, illusive, far-out, and sometimes hopeless and delusional nature of the mind as represented by Neptune. My understanding of the planet Neptune’s astrological archetype inspired the name for this tale. As someone who has significant energy in the sign of Pisces, which is ruled by the planet Neptune, it became clear to me after some time of writing that this particular nature of the intuitive mind not only wanted to be explored through this storytelling but also respected. Logic and the conscious mind play their roles, but they comprise only a fraction of the human experience. ‘Neptune Skies’ as a name signifies a deeper psychological, emotional, and somatic experience often overlooked in both mundane and extraordinary life events in the collective consciousness.”
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When you receive your copy of Neptune Skies, please take a photo and tag me on Instagram @a.more.nuanced.way so I can share the Love. :)
Contact me if you would like to order this book in bulk for your classroom, writing group, or community.
Surrender to the magic of mystery…
Xx
Nkem Chukwumerije