Synopsis – Head Fake
Mikey makes everything a joke, even the clinical depression he’s struggled with for years. After a run of failed jobs, he becomes the unlikely basketball coach at a high school for high-risk offenders who are experiencing mental illness. The position becomes suddenly available after the team tried to strangle their last coach.
Every instinct tells Mikey to get as far away from this school as possible. Coaching these kids, who have been arrested for who-knows-what, would be difficult for a normie. For Mikey, it could cause another breakdown and force him right back to living on the street. But he knows that if he has any chance to make his twenty-sixth birthday, he needs to keep this job, even if the school board wants him fired, and the students would rather fight each other than play ball.
This poignant, hilarious, and sometimes uncomfortable novel proves that even the most damaged of us can emerge victorious.
Author Bio
Scott Gordon’s fiction has appeared in the Green Hills Literary Lantern (GHLL), Modern Times Magazine, Pennsylvania Literary Journal, The Satirist, and Mobius Magazine. In addition to writing fiction, he has written and directed films and television series, including A History of Black Achievement in America, Great American Authors, and more.
Originally from New Jersey, Scott lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Samantha, and their two rescue pups, Mel Brooks and Khaleesi Bee.
Website: https://scottgordonbooks.com/
Facebook: @ScottGordonBooks
Instagram: @scottgordonbooks
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KJsjzE
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/212338254-head-fake
Author Q&A
How did you do research for your book?
I worked as a Youth Advocate for juvenile offenders with mental illness for about seven years, a profoundly rewarding experience. The experience left me with enough material to write ten books.
In your book you refer to the importance of laughter in the face of adversity.
Life can be incredibly hard, but it can also be laugh-out-loud funny. It’s important to appreciate and remember the times that made you laugh. You never know when they might come in handy.
Where do you get inspiration for your stories?
I get inspiration for my stories from my life. There are events in my life that stay with me long after they occurred. These incidents serve as a starting point for what becomes a story. By the time I am done writing the first draft, they usually have very little to do with the actual event from my life. Stories take on a life of their own.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing for 30 years. Short stories, plays, films, TV shows, to-do lists. Head Fake is my first novel.
What is your next project?
I am working on my next novel, The Legend of Adam Finkelstein, a comedic story set in the 1980s about a filmmaker on a journey through India where religion and myth collide.
