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Neil S. Plakcy is an American writer whose works range from mystery to romance to anthologies and collections of gay erotica. Plakcy is a retired Professor of English at Broward College.[1]
Plakcy studied creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania with Philip Roth and Carlos Fuentes. He went on to graduate from Columbia University's graduate school of business with an MBA in real estate and operations management.[citation needed]
While working as a producer for a computer game company in South Florida, Plakcy studied for his MFA degree in creative writing at Florida International University. He graduated in 1992, as a member of the university's first class to receive that degree. His instructors were Lynne Barrett, James W. Hall and Les Standiford, and his classmates included Vicki Hendricks, Christine Kling, Dennis Lehane and Barbara Parker. His thesis was a comic novel about Jewish family relationships and shopping mall construction, Invasion of the Blatnicks.[citation needed]
Plakcy began his professional publishing career with the first of his Hawaiian mysteries, Mahu, acquired and edited for Haworth Press by mystery author Greg Herren. With the second book in the series, Mahu Surfer, Plakcy moved to Alyson Books, which continued the series with Mahu Fire and Mahu Vice, and published their own edition of Mahu in 2009. After the close of Alyson, MLR Books picked up the series, publishing new editions of the first three and then continuing the series.[citation needed]
Plakcy and long-time friend Sharon Sakson co-edited a collection of stories by gay men about their experiences with their dogs, entitled Paws and Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog. A frequent contributor to gay anthologies, Plakcy has also edited numerous collections of gay erotica.[citation needed]
With the publication of GayLife.com in 2009, Plakcy entered the M/M romance genre, basing the book on his own experiences in software and web development and his familiarity with Miami Beach.[citation needed]
Plakcy has been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award three times: twice in gay mystery, and once in gay romance. He won the "Hawaii Five-O" award given by attendees at the Left Coast Crime fan conference and his work has been enthusiastically reviewed by mainstream and specialty publications as well as by many fans. He has twice been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery Novel.[citation needed]
The Golden Retriever Mysteries are also available as audio books.
