Jumping on the Drips
Jumping on the Drips is a collection of intricately connected stories that navigate the thin line between reality, memory, and a near-future world of technological optimization. The journey begins with a misdirected letter meant for a woman named Cate, sparking a mystery that ripples through the lives of strangers across the globe—from a quiet yellow house by the rocks to a high-speed “Rhythm Adjustment Center”.
Connected Stories
In these pages, you will meet characters searching for their lost vestiges: a woman who discovers her body reacting to a strange tattoo, a man navigating a “Soul Escape” subscription that allows his spirit to travel while he sleeps, and a “Dream Center” patient caught in a glitch where his least-wanted memories repeat on a loop.
This debut work by Eda Kara explores how we attempt to “fix” our human experience through algorithms, only to find that the most profound truths often live in the glitches.
Listen to Jumping on the Drips
Editorial Reviews
🏆 Must Read
“An intriguing compendium of compelling, thought-provoking, and somewhat surreal short stories—modern in both writing style and outlook.”
— Deborah Murrell, Author and Editor,
“Snapshots of human experience with a hint of uncanny. Poetically written and layered with meaning, each story strikes a magical balance between clarity and ambiguity that causes them to linger in your mind well after you have read them.”
“Though they appear simple at first glance, you cannot shake the feeling that there is a lot more to be discovered. It is one of those rare pieces that can be experienced differently with each read-through.”
— Lauren Smith, Author
This Book Explores
- The Glitch in the System—examining how technology, like “Rhythm Adjustment” or “Soul Escape”—attempts to solve human “problems” like time management and grief, but often reveals deeper internal conflicts.
- Invisible Connections—how a single set of letters, a shared “squeaky” floor, or a common obsession with a “yellow house” can link strangers across continents.
- The Nature of Memory—the desire to curate our pasts through “Dream Centers” versus the reality of living with “eternal farewells”.
- Presence vs. Optimization—the tension between living a life “measured differently” by the sun and sky versus the “pressure to keep up” with life’s events.
- Mending Broken Pieces—drawing on the Japanese art of kintsugi, the stories explore how mending broken parts with “powdered gold” makes them more valuable than if they had never been damaged.
Who This Book Is For
- Fans of Surreal Contemporary Fiction—readers who enjoy stories that are “modern in both writing style and outlook,” blending the everyday with the thought-provoking and surreal.
- The “Digitally Weary”—anyone who has wondered if they could “catch up with their life” through an adjustment or wished for a temporary “soul escape” from their daily routine.
- Seekers of Connection—readers who appreciate literary “puzzle boxes” where characters and motifs (like the yellow house or the birdhouse) reappear in unexpected ways.
- Global Citizens—those who identify with living “between worlds,” from the East Village of New York to the shores of a faraway island.
Ripple Effects: What Readers are Saying:
Splashes from the Drips:
“The shared silence was deeper than words.”
“Their knees touched, eyes focused on the yellow house, their thoughts diverged without intersecting.”
“They left their adult lives packed in their suitcases when they arrived at their childhood home.”
“We have massive amounts of land and water in between us; we don’t even see the sun at the same time, but I feel close to you—more than ever.”
“I miss your deep sad look pulling me through an invisible rope to jump over the border that we circumvent without fear.”
“The filter on his window was just a reflection of his heart.”
“His days turned into fillers in between the sleep time that promised freedom and adventure.”
“It is the same sun and the same sky but everything else is different here. Even time is measured differently”.
“I close my eyes until I hear clearer and smell deeper. I open my eyes to be immersed in the vastness of blue. I cannot close my eyes again. It is too beautiful not to look at.”
“A broken bowl after being mended with precious metals is much more valuable than a bowl without any damage.”
“I realized that she had to prune her lower leaves but let her flowers seed on top.”
Critical Reflection:
“From Tolstoy and Gogol to Henry James, from Balzac and Dickens to Joyce, classic literature is the fountain of details: the fragrant descriptions of objects, instances and characters. These authors leave little room to imagination and make us watch intricate world they created for us ensuring we see every action, setting and person with their eyes. Reading Eda’s stories, you find yourself in a completely different literary experience – the world where you can be a reader and a writer at once. Her strokes are wide, her accents are captivating, her colours are in contrast to the setting you have room to imagine yourself. She writes in a way that whilst immersed into a story you, as a reader, end up fantasising a myriad of details, building your own vision merely using the guidance from the characters and ambiances that Eda’s stories offer. The book is not for the mainstream, it’s for those who are good at dreaming, at creating, at handling uncertainty with a thrill rather than anxiousness. “Jumping on the Drips” is for thinking and inspiration. Enjoy if your inner world allows!”
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