L. Lee Stout

Buckle Up: (Softcover: $20, 214pp, 6X9”: 978-1-68114-472-6; Hardcover: $35: 978-1-68114-473-3; EBook: $2.99: 978-1-68114-474-0; LCCN: 2018955589; Fiction—Sports; Release: December 1, 2018): Nate Jackson is a nationally recognized high school football coach living in Savannah, Georgia. His teams have consistently been at the top of the state and national rankings. He has always lived fast and hard. Now his personal demons have started to surface. Forces outside of his control and the perfect storm causes him to hit rock bottom with a sudden termination from his leadership role. For the first time in his life, he runs from his responsibilities and chases demons.

On the northern end of the state, a tragedy strikes a small town and their high school football team. A legendary Coach and his assistant are killed in a traffic accident. The tragedy creates a crisis for the town’s contending football team. Their season and the foreseeable future are in jeopardy, which sets the close-knit community reeling.

A State Trooper whose son is a rising star on the team attempts to help by bringing an old teammate, Nate Jackson, on board to coach the team. It’s Nate’s golden opportunity to redeem himself—if he can prove to himself and others that he’s up to the challenge.

After some contentious small-town politics, Nate gets the job and is faced with the momentous task of molding a winning team out of a football squad now suffering from low morale and motivation problems. Lots of careers and futures are on the line as what may at first seem like “just a game” reveals itself to be something much more serious.

This is a story of striving to overcome obstacles while discovering your own inner strength. Readers will fall in love with this down to earth tale that resonates with the reality of small-town American life.

L. Lee Stout was born and raised in Albany, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. His first writings appeared in the Georgia State Signal and Accent on Atlanta Magazine. He is the author of two books detailing humorous tales of life with an English Bulldog: Hey Bully Did You Really Do That? and Bully’s Back, What Did You Get into Now?