Interview With Author Neil Plakcy
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing since I was a teenager, and publishing for the last fifteen years. I’ve written over 70 novels in mystery, romance, adventure, and healing fiction.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My new book is The Big Race, which was inspired by years of watching The Amazing Race on TV and knowing I could never make it as a contestant. But I let my imagination run wild and came up with Jeffrey and Ray, a married couple of 25 years whose relationship has reached a crossroads after Ray’s affair threatens to end their marriage. In a last-ditch effort to save what they’ve built together, they apply for a reality TV competition that sends teams racing around the world. What begins as a test of their partnership becomes a journey of rediscovery, forgiveness, and the hard work of rebuilding trust.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Only that I am constantly negotiating around two large golden retrievers, who often sprawl behind my writing chair, and frequently need attention.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac and Jimmy Buffett. All of them write prose that inspires me and lived in a way I’d love to emulate.
What are you working on now?
My next big project is After the Party: A Jewish Teen’s Guide to Finding Your Path. For most kids, Jewish education stops at the bar or bat mitzvah. My book is my way of keeping them engaged in ways that our centuries-old religion can help them.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a Substack newsletter with about 5,000 fans, and I write to them weekly about the intersection between creativity and business. They like the behind-the-scenes look, and are kind enough to buy my books in return.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Find the genre you love and read heavily in it. Analyze the way the books you love are written– how many chapters, how many characters, how does time pass. Get those routines in your head when you sit down to write.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
That a story is about someone who wants something, and what stands in his or her way of getting it.
What are you reading now?
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson. I love his books and miss the TV show!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m just starting to rough out an outline for a second-chance romance set in the world of F1 Racing.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Ulysses, by James Joyce, because there’s so much there to read. And probably a compendium of some of my favorite writers like Laurie Colwin and KJ Charles.
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