Dear TOE:
Way of the Currents is a semi-autobiographical work of literary fiction that concerns a family of three living in their natal Pascua, a touristy town on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
Against this backdrop, Maribelle, a fickle seventh grader making her way to womanhood, forgets about her long-time infatuation with the pitcher on the baseball team after being wooed by an older boy; her father, Pablo, while caddying on the golf course for a cuckold, remembers the day when he returned home only to discover his own mother on the sofa with another man; and her mother, Camila, deals with the boredom and suffering that comes with being a housewife. Through it all, faith is undermined by an inner demon, lovemaking digresses into episodes of pornography, and a jealous husband, after a day of spying, falls from the girders.
Although I currently live in the States, I spent my formative years growing up in surroundings similar to those in Way of the Currents – equatorial ocean climate, country club weekends, vallenato music, bilingual school – in Barranquilla, Colombia, where my mother and her family were born and reared. Based on these firsthand experiences, as well as my heritage, I have acquired a personal understanding of the increasingly popular Hispanic culture that has allowed me to translate into writing its energies and idiosyncrasies. To date, my short stories have been published in the following print journals: Literary Potpourri’s Debuts 2002, Whistling Shade, and Snow Monkey.
Enclosed is the manuscript that you requested to read on an exclusive basis. I am looking forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Ernest Pipe