You know him from 'S My Dad Says.' Now, his sardonic debut novel is here

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Set us as preferred Justin Halpern had a best-selling nonfiction book, co-created “Harley Quinn,” is co-showrunner for “Abbott Elementary” and has recently published his first novel, “Get Lost.”But today he wants to mostly talk baseball.He recalls rooting for the Mets as a child in San Diego because he was so enamored with Dwight Gooden’s “electric” fastball and his disappearing curve.

He spills about the big game he blew as a tween when a simple throw to first went horribly awry, about the two no-hitters he threw at Point Loma High School, how his dreams of stardom went south while at San Diego State, about feeling bitter toward the game and then rediscovering his love for it.This wasn’t just idle chatter.Baseball is integral to Halpern’s own character arc and to “Get Lost” both on the page and behind the scenes.

Take that terrible error when Halpern was 12.Afterward, his father didn’t console him with platitudes.

He told the boy to dismiss the “it’s just a game” pity from his coach and accept that for Justin it was a big deal and it made sense to feel awful, but that also meant he had something he felt passionate about.On the Shelf Get Lost By Justin Halpern Cardinal: 256 pages, $29If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.That paternal talk helped less in the moment than down the road: Halpern’s struggling writing career exploded when he started tweeting his dad’s life advice and then, with his writing partner, Patrick Schumacker, turned those “S—My Dad Says” tweets into a best-selling book.

(He’s acutely aware of how lucky he got but also says he and Schumacker were well prepared to capitalize on that opportunity.)And that particular story, Halpern says, was “foundational” for “Get Lost.” The novel follows Lila Dixon, an acerbic, cynical baseball scout living a drea...