Today, I have award-winning author Neil S. Plakcy in the interview chair. We’re discussing his latest release, Driven Together, a m/m contemporary sports romance.
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1. Hi, Neil. First off, readers have an idea of the writer you, but what about the everyday you? Can you share about your personal life?
Neil: My husband and I have been together for 27 years, married since it became legal. We live in south Florida with our two elderly golden retrievers, Brody and Griffin. My everyday life is pretty dull—writing most of the day, interrupted periodically as the dogs want water, food, treats, toys, belly rubs or walks. I have an elaborate coffee ritual involving hot chocolate mix, espresso, raspberry syrup, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and some powdered chocolate on top. Yes, it’s a lot of sugar, but it keeps me going all day!
2. I’ve been perusing your Goodreads page and see that you are drawn to writing mysteries and suspense. This time you are focusing on a sports romance. Can you share why you changed genres?
Neil: I’ve been writing MM romance for a long time. I used to focus on young adults, because as a college professor that’s who I associated with every day. Now I’m thinking more about older men and established couples. I love both mystery and romance equally, but lately I’ve been getting more romance ideas.
3. You are dealing with Formula 1 racing. Do you enjoy this sport? And how much research was involved?
Neil: I wasn’t a fan of Formula 1 until I started doing the research for this book. Now I love the excitement and adrenalin and want to get tickets for the Miami Grand Prix this year. I did a ton of research and had a fan who helped me tremendously.
4. How did you come up with the title?
Neil: Just brainstorming about titles that had some connection to racing.
5. Let’s talk about the main characters, Wally and Jonathan. What do you love most about them, and what makes you want to shake him?
Neil: It’s no secret that I gave Wally and Jonathan my own undergraduate education—it’s the kind of small detail that helps me connect to the characters. Wally in particular is close to me: an English major, and a sometime journalist. I connect most to their drive to succeed, which pushed me through college, two graduate degrees, and all the work that goes into writing and publishing. And both of them have strong and interesting relationships with their fathers, as I did. I can’t say I want to shake them that much—I understand why they do what they do, why they break up and then struggle to stay together.
6. Without giving away any spoilers, what was your favourite scene to write?
Neil: When they’re in college, Wally interviews Jonathan at a local coffee shop. Jonathan thinks he’s being surreptitious by dropping a $20 bill in the tip jar—but Wally sees that, and it changes his opinion of Jonathan. I love how that small detail can carry meaning.
7. If a reader asked you why they should read “Driven Together,” what would you tell them?
Neil: Well, right now, I’m loving Heated Rivalry, so I’d say if you like that kind of testosterone-driven, fast-paced, sexy MM romance, I hope you’ll give Driven Together a try.
8. What can we expect from you in the future?
Neil: My next MM romance is in my Have Body, Will Guard series. Bodyguards Aidan and Liam are hired to protect a male K-pop star who is in danger, and secretly in love with his makeup male artist. I read and watched a lot of K-drama and I’ve been learning about structure and cliffhangers expected in that world. It was a lot of fun to write—but I still have to edit and polish it!
9. I enjoy doing random questions, so humour me:
- What’s your favourite movie?
If you can call a 6-episode series a movie, then it’s Heated Rivalry. Almost finished with my second viewing and I’m still catching things I didn’t see the first time around, like Kip’s father in the stands with him right before Scott calls to him. - What book is currently in your e-reader?
“The Scene Trope Solution” by Michelle Pennington. And “We Could Be So Good” by Cat Sebastian. - Who’s your favourite musical group?
Jimmy Buffett. I live in South Florida—his music is the soundtrack to my life. Also Israel Kamakawiwo’ole when I’m working on any of my Hawai’i-set books. - What song puts a smile on your face?
“Wake Me Up” by Avici. So sad he never got to “wake up” when his song means so much.
10. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Neil: I want to write a follow-up to Driven Together. If it really catches on with readers, that’ll be another book, possibly a Christmas one. Otherwise just a short epilogue.
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Title: Driven Together
Author and Cover Artist: Neil S. Plakcy
Tense/POV: First person/past tense
Genres: Contemporary MM Sports Romance
Tropes: Slow burn
Themes: Second chance at love, coming out
Heat Rating: 3 out of 5 flames
Length: 81,000 words/301 pages
Release Date: February 23, 2026
Publisher: Samwise Books
They were each other’s first love—and the one that got away.
Blurb: When journalist Wally Pulaski reunites with his college sweetheart Jonathan Hirsch, now a Formula 1 driver, old feelings ignite with dangerous speed. Jonathan is fighting for the championship of his life. Wally is assigned to cover the season, reporting every triumph and failure to a global audience that demands objectivity. Falling in love again could cost them everything they’ve built.
As the Formula 1 circus sweeps from Monaco’s glittering streets to historic European circuits and roaring modern tracks, Wally is pulled deeper into a world of precision engineering, split-second decisions, and relentless scrutiny. Behind the glamour lies a sport where careers are made and broken in fractions of a second, where every personal choice is magnified under the spotlight.
Balancing professional integrity with unresolved passion becomes a high-wire act. Media pressure mounts. Rivalries intensify. And the closer Jonathan comes to his dream, the harder it is for either man to pretend their hearts aren’t still in the race.
Driven Together is a second-chance MM romance set against the adrenaline and international spectacle of Formula 1. Combining the emotional depth of Tal Bauer and the sports-romance energy loved by readers of Rachel Reid, it delivers an intimate story of ambition, identity, and the courage to choose love in a world that never slows down.
As the season intensifies and the spotlight grows harsher, Wally and Jonathan must decide what they’re willing to risk for a second chance at the love they never forgot. Because in Formula 1, every fraction of a second matters—and so does every choice of the heart.
Ten years after losing each other, they have one chance to get it right—and this time, the stakes are higher than ever.
Note: It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited and Paperback
I looked at him, really looked. Jonathan Hirsch, Monaco Grand Prix finalist, sitting in a dive bar in Monte Carlo at midnight, asking me to take a chance on something that might be wonderful or might be a complete disaster.
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
“Okay, let’s see where this goes. Barcelona to Spa, five races to figure out if we’re brave enough to make this work.”
Jonathan’s smile was radiant. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
He kissed me across the small table, soft and sweet and tasting like beer and possibility. Around us, the bar continued its late-night rhythm, oblivious to the fact that a Formula 1 driver and a motorsports journalist had just decided to rewrite their carefully planned lives.
When we broke apart, Jonathan was grinning.
“What?” I asked.
“I was just thinking,” he said. “Once, we were too practical to try long distance. Now we’re going to try dating while you cover my races. We’ve either gotten much braver or much stupider.”
“Probably both,” I admitted. “But you know what? I’m okay with that.”
We finished our beers and walked back toward the harbor, where the parties still buzzed. Jonathan tugged me toward the paddock. Behind the glitter, the Monaco Grand Prix was already vanishing, piece by piece. Crews swarmed over the cars with military precision, wiping them down, draining fluids, and sliding them into padded crates as if they were Fabergé eggs instead of machines built for speed.
The air still vibrated with leftover adrenaline. The sharp tang of fuel, the sweet stink of rubber ground into the asphalt, the faint bite of hot brakes cooling in the night mixed with the briny breeze from the harbor, a perfume of glamour and grit all at once. Everywhere I turned, there was motion and sound: the staccato crack of impact wrenches, the slap of gloves on metal, the hollow thud of crates sealing shut. Cables coiled like sleeping snakes at the workers’ feet as garage walls folded into flat panels and tool chests slammed closed, the paddock dissolving from carnival into pure efficiency.
I couldn’t look away. One moment it had been champagne and music and color; now it was stripped to bare bones. Somehow that made it even more impressive. The glamour was temporary, but the precision and the discipline was permanent.
I breathed it in, dizzy with the noise and smells and sheer scale of it all. My first Grand Prix was ending, but even in its aftermath I felt the pulse of something bigger than myself, alive and relentless.
“By morning, you won’t even know we were here,” Jonathan said beside me in his Meridian jacket. “Barcelona’s only a few hundred miles. The trucks will drive overnight, and the setup crew will already be waiting.”
I nodded, picturing cars cocooned in trailers, engineers and mechanics scattering onto buses and budget flights while Jonathan and his teammates slipped onto a private jet with their race engineers.
The Monaco Grand Prix was over, but the season stretched ahead. Twenty-two more races, five more chances to figure out if second chances were worth the risk.
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Neil S. Plakcy is an award-winning author of sexy, fast-paced MM romances including The Big Race, about which Joyfully Jay wrote “A truly enjoyable read.” He also writes the Ormond Yard series of Victorian MM romances, and the Love on series of sun-kissed South Beach romps. His website is www.mahubooks.com.
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Maggie Blackbird 