SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Neil Plakcy!

Joining me today in The Loft is author Neil Plakcy. A former college professor, Neil writes LGBTQ stories, including contemporary romance, cozy mysteries, thrillers, detective, and adventure stories. His books include The Golden Retriever Mystery series, Mahu Investigations, Angus Green Thrillers, and Have Body, Will Guard Adventures. Neil lives in south Florida with his husband and two golden retrievers. When not writing, Neil enjoys walking his dogs under the palm trees, and collecting Starbucks bearista bears, rubber ducks, and anything to do with dogs.

Author Neil Plakcy

S: Good morning, Neil. Welcome to The Loft!

What’s love got to do with writing romance?

N: One of the most important human emotions is love, and almost everyone longs for that feeling of connection to someone else. For me, writing a romance is about two characters falling in love and overcoming the obstacles that society, or their own natures, throw in their way.

S: Besides contemporary gay romance, what other genres do you write in?

N: I also write gay action and adventure, FBI thrillers, police procedurals, and a cozy mystery series in which the golden retriever is an important co-detective. The characters and situations intrigue me, and I want to follow the ideas in my head to their conclusion. The longer I spend at this writing game, the better I understand which stories really matter to me, and I focus on those.

S: I love the idea of a dog as a co-detective! I think we underestimate how much our pets know and understand.

What was your worst date ever?

N: Well, there are several in contention for that title. Was it the guy who ghosted me after I drove 45 minutes to meet him on a street corner? The psychologist who was suffering from severe depression? Or maybe the Orthodox Jewish guy who was struggling to understand his sexuality in the context of his religious beliefs, which said that man-on-man sex was a big no-no?

S: Wow. Sounds like you have plenty of fodder for a rom-com on dating.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

N: I arranged to meet the man who would become my husband at a coffee shop on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. We had corresponded by email, but never sent photos or met in person. I was a few minutes early and spotted a guy heading toward the coffee shop who was the approximate size and wearing the right clothes. I felt an immediate pang of interest. And we’ve been together now 25 years.

S: You are so lucky to have found "the one." So many are still searching.

What attracted you to your current partner?

N: I grew up with the idea that a man should be a mensch, a Yiddish word which to me meant someone you could rely on, who stood for the right things, who behaved well under pressure. After that initial meeting at the coffee shop, my husband and I had dinner together, and then walked along Lincoln Road until 2 a.m. By then, I knew he was a mensch.

S: That's actually great dating advice--look for a mensch.

What is the best or worst thing that has ever happened to you as a writer?

N: The best thing was probably winning an award from the Left Coast Crime mystery fan conference for my second book, "Mahu Surfer." It was validation from the mystery community that they could enjoy a police procedural about a gay cop, and that I’d written a book that my character deserved.

S: Congratulations on the award. Validation is so important. We all need it. Not all of us get it.

How do you get in the mood for writing?

N: For years, I stopped at Starbucks every morning on my way to work to write for an hour. I motivated myself to sit down at the laptop by rewarding myself with a large café mocha, often with raspberry syrup. COVID disrupted that, so I’ve had to become my own barista, but I still write every morning and anticipate that reward.

S: Have you ever shelved or thrown out a manuscript?

N: Early in my career, I hadn’t established my voice yet, and sometimes what I wrote sounded too much like an imitation of someone else--I'm looking at you, Vladimir Nabokov. I also didn’t understand story structure well enough, and I often wrote myself into a corner or ran out of inspiration.

S: What inspired "The Lord and the Frenchman?"

N: Two years ago, I wrote my first MM Victorian historical romance, because I found I loved reading that kind of book. I was gratified at the response to "The Gentleman and the Spy," and felt encouraged to write a second book with linked characters. I had to do a lot of research on the period and what the important questions were that might engage my characters. That research inspired me to address larger questions, like English-French relations and child labor laws, all in the context of a swoon-worthy romance.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "The Lord and the Frenchman?"

N: I’d like people to know that they can read this book without having read the first, and that the trope of found family plays a big part here. Life was tough for gay men in the Victorian era, and many of them faced rejection from family and friends in addition to the perils of arrest. Finding your own cohort is incredibly important, even today.

Here's the blurb--

Two wounded men discover true love and a found family in Victorian England.

In the opulent courts of Victorian England, John Seales, Lord Therkenwell, is a man of wealth and privilege, expected to marry a woman of his own social standing and produce an heir. But when he meets dashing French diplomat Raoul Desjardins at a soirée arranged by a politically-connected gay couple, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to the man despite the risks of their forbidden love.

John and Raoul struggle to keep their feelings for each other hidden while becoming ensnared in a web of international intrigue that threatens to ruin their careers and endanger their lives. As they navigate the dangerous political landscape of the time, they must also confront their own demons and make a choice: follow the expectations of society or follow their hearts. Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous era, "The Lord and the Frenchman" is a passionate and romantic tale of love that knows no bounds.