Page Created: 07/26/17. Last Update: 04/06/18.
COLIN GIGL
BOOKS
The Ferryman Institute
WEBSITE
SOCIAL MEDIA
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/colingigl/
Reddit Q & A: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/57y3x3/im_colin_gigl_debut_author_of_the_ferryman/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cgigl?lang=en
MEETING DETAIL
Meeting Date: October 14, 2017.
Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Attendance: 22.
Meeting Program: Talk w/Q & A by Contemporary Fantasy Writer.
NEWSLETTER ACCOUNT
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2017 Philip J De Parto:
The October 14, 2017 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Fantasy writer Colin Gigl, author of THE FERRYMAN INSTITUTE published by Simon and Schuster, was our speaker.
Both pre meeting events went well, with Carol Gyzander leading the Writers' Space Salon discussion about the critiquing process and Barry Weinberger leading the Ice Nine media discussion of Comic-Con, THE INHUMANS, THE ORVILLE, STAR TREK: DISCOVERY and other matters.
Colin Gigl was born, raised and lives in New Jersey. He always knew he wanted to be a writer. The germ of his book's idea came to him when he got to know someone who was battling depression. What, our speaker wondered, would happen if you were so depressed that you tried to commit suicide and someone stopped you. The title, THE FERRYMAN INSTITUTE, just popped into his mind. He wrote a draft of the book in 2010 and sat on it for three years before writing a second version. Draft Two was good enough to land him an agent, but it required another major overhaul before his agent believed it was strong enough to shop around. The book was acquired by editor Ed Schlessinger from S & S.
The hero of the book is Charles Ronald Dawson, the soul-weary number one operative of the Institute, a post-life organization charged with guiding the recent deceased to their personal afterlife. Those who do not move on become unquiet spirits who trouble the living in a variety of ways. The book kicks into gear when Charles thwarts the attempted suicide of Alice Spiegel, instead of permitting it and helping her move on. This action makes him an outlaw and the pair are soon on the run from the Institute. Along the way they discover hidden information about its operation and a sinister conspiracy.
The book received positive reviews everywhere except GoodReads, but sales were disappointing. While our speaker like the cover artistically, he did not feel it did a good job communicating what the book was about. To be continued on the club website at 2017 - 10/2017 Meeting.