29 Jul Welcome message–The Bad Boy Next Door

Welcome to my updated website!

I wanted to bring you up to date on what I’ve been doing.   Besides the brand new website: http://mindyneff.com/, I have a new electronic book available, The Bad Boy Next Door.   I was able to get the rights reverted back to me on this title from Harlequin.  I’ve updated the book and added a new cover and it’s now available wherever electronic books are sold–Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble Nook, Kobo….

As you might have noticed, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from writing.  I was publishing steadily with Harlequin when life suddenly intruded.  My mom got sick and when I finished my last contract, I decided to take time off to care for her.  We made a valiant effort to get her back on the road to recovery, but God had other plans for her.  I’m just so grateful and blessed that I was able to have her and my dad in my home, to enjoy their company on a daily basis right up until the end.  After Mom passed, Dad stayed with us, and that was another blessing.  We had him for another six years then lost him to cancer this past April.   I cannot tell you how much I hate that horrible disease!

Meanwhile, about the time I lost Mom, my daughter called and asked for my help.  The salon she owns was in crisis.  She had a manager who’d embezzled money and had instigated a stylists walk out; the economy had crashed right in the middle of a remodel; and she was pregnant with our youngest grandchild.  So, what do you do when family needs you?  If you’re me, you put your own life on hold for a while and wade into the fray. Since my background is in corporate finance and bookkeeping, I went to work at my daughter’s salon, revamped her finances and her business model, and I’m happy to say that within three years, Medusa Full Service Salon in Huntington Beach, California has grown to 40 employees, and she’s on the verge of opening another salon.  Whew!  It was a lot of twelve and fourteen hour days for me, but it was worth it.  I felt such a sense of accomplishment.

And taking a break from writing was good for me creatively, as well.  I was so used to back-to-back deadlines, that I’d forgotten how it felt to actually live life–to be balanced.

Which brings me to now.  With a great management team in place, I’m only needed in the salon a couple of days a week, which leaves me more time to pursue my love of storytelling.  I’ve started a new series set on the bayou in Louisiana.  I seem to always want to go back to my roots when I’m writing.  I’ve also got plans for a novella to finish out my Shotgun Ridge series.  So many of you have been asking me about Clay Callahan’s story.  I don’t have any timelines or release dates for you yet, but I’ll definitely keep you posted.

The publishing market is changing so rapidly.  I still love holding a paper book–but Harlequin doesn’t keep backlist paperbacks in stock, so the next best thing is electronic books.  I’ve been working with Harlequin to get them to put up my books electronically.  I’m happy to say that all seven books in The Bachelors Of Shotgun Ridge series are now available for electronic reading devices, as well as the first three books of the Texas Sweethearts series.  (I haven’t been able to get them to do the last book in that series.  Maybe some of you can put pressure on them?)  So, if you’ve missed any books in the series, I hope you’ll download them.

Meanwhile, I’d love for you all to browse my updated website and if you’d like to keep up with what’s going on in my world, please join my email list.   And don’t forget to check out my latest published book, The Bad Boy Next Door.  (Don’t you just love that cover?  Judy Bullard of JaebeeCreations designed it).   This is a fun story set in a small town in Illinois.  Hallie Fortune is turning thirty and has decided it’s time for marriage.  She’s looking for the boy-next-door type of man.  Her real neighbor, bad boy, ex-Marine, Cody Brock would never do.  But suddenly, every time she has a date, Cody is there–at her house, at the restaurant, even at the grocery store.  If Hallie didn’t know better, she’d think Cody was sabotaging her husband hunt.  And bringing his baby daughter along as an accomplice.

If you’ve read the book, I’d love it if you would post an honest review on Amazon.  In this new digital age, reviews and “likes” help authors tremendously.

The kids and grandkids are all healthy and happy.  I’m truly blessed!  Harley (the spoiled Maltese) still rules the household and fills us with joy.

I’d love to hear from you.  Send me an email and let me know what you’re up to.  You can also join my facebook and twitter pages through my website.  I don’t post that often yet, but I’m there.

Love and hugs,

Mindy

www.amazon.com/author/mindyneff

The Bad Boy Next Door (July 13, 2013)