
As a cancer survivor/thriver, I know one thing for certain, when we lose a part of our body, we gain a new dimension to our soul.
From that enhanced consciousness we survivors can write broader stories in recognition of the fragile humanity in us all. Mindy Halleck
Author Mindy Halleck is an award winning fiction writer, novelist, and social media and writing instructor. In 2014, after many years as a non-fiction author she released her debut novel, Return To Sender, a literary thriller set on the Oregon Coast in the 1950’s. That year Return to Sender was a featured novel in Kirkus Review Magazine, and also received the ‘READERS CHOICE’ award from Readers Favorites.
Halleck grew up the daughter of a celebrated beauty queen/songstress and a retired soldier in Portland Oregon. Her career began early when at nine years old she stood behind the counter of the family business (shoe repair) on a whisky crate and was dubbed ‘queen of the cash register’. It was there, surrounded by vibrant emigrants where she developed an ear for good stories. It was no wonder Mindy later developed a career in finance, good taste in shoes and a love for storytelling.
Portland was home except in the summers, when the cozy inlet of Manzanita Oregon was her family’s escape and her father’s hideaway from city life. Mindy’s father was one of the hopeful gold diggers who honeycombed unsuccessfully through Neahkahnie Mountain in search of the elusive pirate’s treasure rumored to be buried deep in the mountain. These settings are prominent features in Mindy’s writing.
In 2015 her short story, A MOTHER’S CONFESSION won first place in Writer’s Digest Fiction Writing Contest, and another of her short stories, THE FRENCHMAN, won first place in the Edmond’s EPIC Fiction Writing Contest.
Writer’s Digest Magazine published one of Mindy’s first stories, Mr. Ed, in 2001, and in 2007 she received Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest Mainstream Literary Short Story Contest for an excerpt from Return to Sender. Mindy has written three novels, and one nonfiction book, Romance & Money – 12 Conversations Every Couple Should Have (No longer available) . In addition, hundreds of her articles have appeared in local and national publications, including her financial advice column, titled Romance & Money, and numerous travel essays.
In 2017 Mindy was honored as the featured author and keynote speaker at the Mukilteo Foundation’s annual breakfast at Boeing’s Museum of Flight. She says it was a memoir moment to have a US Senator, (WA State Senator Marko Liias) introduce her as “Mukilteo’s literary treasure.”
Mindy is dedicated to the Pacific Northwest writing communities as a member of Willamette Writers in Oregon and Pacific Northwest Writers in Seattle, as well as a long time steering committee member for the Write on the Sound Writers’ Conference in Edmonds, Washington. Mindy is married and has one daughter and two grown grandchildren, and labradoodle named Tula May, whom she adores. When not writing, she is happiest traveling Europe with her husband Joe; their most recent travel was a Rick Steves 21-Day Tour of six countries, which she highly recommends. She is also a three time survivor of a rare cancer, and credits writing as a vital part of her healing regime.
Download Mindy’s AUG 2018 NU M H Media page
Please view the short trailer for Return To Sender