Interview with novelist Scott Gordon

Novelist Scott Gordon chats with me today about his new upmarket fiction, Head Fake.

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. Scott spent years working as a Youth Advocate for juvenile offenders with mental illness. Head Fake is inspired by the strength and courage of the kids he worked with. Originally from New Jersey, Scott lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Samantha, and their two rescue pups, Mel Brooks, and Khaleesi Bee.

Welcome, Scott. Please tell us about your current release.
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.

What inspired you to write this book?
I worked as a Youth Advocate for juvenile offenders with mental illness for about seven years, a profoundly rewarding experience. The county was in desperate need of males to work with the boys, some of whom were violent offenders. I had zero experience with children, but I hoped to make a difference for some of these boys.

After a week of training, I picked up my first client, a fifteen-year-old boy with bipolar disorder and a history of violence. Upon entering my old Nissan, he slammed the door and glared at me. “I could make you disappear,” he threatened, holding my gaze. He was clearly testing me. I knew if I showed any sign of fear, it would be impossible to earn his trust. I clapped my hands together and proclaimed, “Wonderful. I love magicians.” My response caught him off guard, and he cracked a smile. I had found my way in. Humor. I knew that if I could make these kids laugh, I could reach them.

I ended up with a full case load and some of the hardest cases in the county. Head Fake is inspired by the courage of the kids I worked with, who taught me much more about life than I ever could’ve taught them.

Excerpt from Head Fake:
As soon as I exited the school, the relief of getting the job was replaced by the fear of losing it. I’d never kept a job longer than three months. Driving mentally ill kids who had been arrested for God knows what would be difficult for a normie. For me, it would be impossible. I had no idea what to do if a kid had a violent outburst. What if a student attacked me while I was driving? What if I lost control and veered into oncoming traffic and killed the kids? I couldn’t live with that.

A police car raced by, to the emergency entrance of the Friedman Psychiatric Hospital, which shared a parking lot with the school. The officer got out and led a cursing, handcuffed man inside. The familiar odor of disinfectant and iodoform escaped through the automatic doors and reached across the parked cars and ambulances with memories of my time spent there. I was admitted to Friedman at sixteen, nine years ago, before The Mary Friedman Alternative High School existed.

My hand wandered up to my hair and I forced it back to my side. Every instinct was telling me to get as far away from this school as possible, but I knew down in my bones that if I had any chance to make my twenty-sixth birthday, I needed to keep this job.

What exciting project are you working on next?
A TV show called 5150 about a psychiatric hospital in South Central LA. It’s a project I’m working on with Gil Bellows, who starred in the Shawshank Redemption and Ally McBeal. I wrote the pilot, which is being passed around the studios. Fingers crossed!

I am also 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.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
In my young twenties, I moved to NYC to write the great American novel. And I did. It was about a young writer who moves to NYC to write the great American novel. Upon its completion, I considered myself a writer, even if nobody else did. I still have it in a filing cabinet in my garage.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
My writing time: I wake up promptly at 5am and hit the snooze, which I do until my wife kicks me out of bed—usually around 5:30am. I write until 8am, when our dogs climb up my legs ready for a walk. That’s my writing window.

I have been a filmmaker and managed a boutique hotel.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’m a discovery writer. I don’t outline, at least not in the first draft. The second draft is where structure and theme begin to elbow their way into the writing.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A professional basketball player. I come from a family of short Jews so not a very realistic dream, I’m afraid.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you for reading this far. I truly appreciate it. For those of you who read Head Fake, I promise it will be your favorite book. Or your money back. Not really. I mean, I hope it will be your favorite novel, but no take backs.  

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