'The Rain Drinkers': A novel

Even though Gerry Finan lives in Florida, he still considers Bay Shore his home.

Finan, who grew up in Bay Shore, didn’t have to do much research on the town when it came to writing his novel “The Rain Drinkers,” which is set in Bay Shore. He knew the area like the back of his hand. The only aspect he came back to research was about duck hunting, which is the occupation of one of the characters in the novel.

In Finan’s own words, “Rain Drinkers” details the story of Jamie Gibson.

“When Jamie Gibson's mother, his sole surviving parent, passes away, he keeps a promise to her to go and live with an uncle he never knew he had,” Finan said. “Jamie travels to Bay Shore, N.Y., to live with this uncle and the uncle's much younger wife. Jamie soon learns his uncle has a very dark side to him. Along with lessons of love and loss, this coming-of-age story addresses other topics such as racism, spousal abuse, and the coming of a new age at the beginning of a century.”

As someone who is also an artist and a musician, Finan said “The Rain Drinkers” is the project he’s most proud of. He wrote the novel at night, one page a day, over a year and a half.

“I heard an interview where someone said, ‘If you want to write a book, write one page a day; no more, no less,’” Finan said of his philosophy.

Another ritual of his was listening to The Gloaming, a dark neo-Irish band, whenever he wrote. According to Finan, the entire book was written with it playing in the background.

“When I would sit down to write, I would turn it on and it automatically put me in the mind frame to work,” Finan said. 

The novel, which Finan self-published, currently has an amazing 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon, where it is available in hardcover, paperback as well as for Kindle.

Because of his experience as an artist, Finan was able to make the cover art for “The Rain Drinkers” himself.

Finan is currently working on a sequel to “The Rain Drinkers,” which he said wasn’t his initial plan, but he felt that the end of the book gives a perfect segue to the possibility of a sequel.

“When I sat down to write it, it was like hanging out with some old friends,” Finan said.

Where to find “The Rain Drinkers”?

“The Rain Drinkers” is available for purchase on Amazon in paperback, hardcover or Kindle. Simply search for “The Rain Drinkers” or G. Finan in the Amazon search bar.