Writing – Page 2 – Jessie Mihalik

Signed Books for Gifts

November 14, 2023 / Books, Writing

It’s hard to believe, but the holidays are just around the corner, and you know what makes a lovely gift? Books! You can get mine signed and personalized from BookPeople, my local independent bookstore. Just give them a call, or put in a very clear note requesting personalization with an online order, and they’ll then let me know to come in and personalize the orders.

Don’t wait too long if you want them in time for the holidays, since the whole process takes a bit of time to coordinate.

If you already have my books or are looking for something else, I also have a whole list of books I recommend, and I’m sure BookPeople would be delighted to ship any of them to your door, too. :)

I went down to BookPeople last week for the Travis Baldree event, and let me tell you, being a professional audiobook narrator certainly levels up an author reading. If you have a chance to go to one of his events, go! I kind of want to buy the audiobook now, even though I’m not a huge audio listener, just because his reading was so good. 😍

In other news, I’m THISCLOSE to finishing the second Books & Broadswords story, which is tentatively titled Rocks & Rapiers. It’s clocking in at about 18k words right now, which is twice as long as B&B, because it went and grew a plot. I think I only have the epilogue left to write, so fingers crossed I get it wrapped up this week.

Over the weekend, Mr. M and I went to the Electrify Expo, and we got to drive electric cars on the Circuit of the Americas track. They limited us to 60mph (boo!!), but it was super fun to drive around the same track that Formula 1 uses. I’ve seen it on TV, but driving it was a whole other experience.

Vinfast was there, which is a company I’d never heard of, but their ride-along person was a track fan, and he acted like a rally passenger, giving us all the info about what racing line to take and when to turn, etc, so that demo was easily the most fun.

The Ford person just fussed at me when the car started beeping because I was approaching the speed limit. Don’t give me a fast car and a long straightaway if you don’t expect me to use it, Ford!

The Volvo people just had their cars hard-capped at the limit, so no fussing required, lol.

Ford also had some pro drivers on hand to do a ride along in a MachE around a short, twisty track, and that was super fun. Going from zero to fast right at the barriers before slinging around the corner with squealing tires really got the adrenaline going. I asked the driver if he liked his job, and he laughed and said it was the best.

Upcoming Events!

October 10, 2023 / Events, Reading, Writing

I have two events happening later this month, so if you want to see my smiling face either virtually or in person, I have an event for you!

First up, on Thursday, October 19 at 6:00PM Central Time, I’m doing a virtual reading for Strong Women, Strange Worlds along with five other authors. It’s free to attend, but you need to register in advance. I’ll be reading from Capture the Sun, so if you have a favorite scene you want me to read, let me know!

Strong Women, Strange Worlds presents Third Thursday QuickReads of SF/F/H by K. Ten, D.L. Howard, JL George, C.O. Davidson, Luna McNamara, and Jessie Mihalik. October 19, 7PM Eastern, free on Zoom. Preregister now at strongwomenstrangeworlds.weebly.com

Then, just a couple of days later, on October 22, I’ll be at the Buns & Roses Romance Tea for Literacy in Richardson, TX to support the Richardson Adult Literacy Center. There are still a few tickets available at my table, and there are something like thirty authors attending, so you have a bunch of us to choose from!

Richardson Adult Literacy Center presents Buns & Roses Romance Tea for literacy. Keynote: Alka Joshi, author of the Japur Trilogy, The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and The Perfumist of Paris. October 22, 2023, Doubletree Hilton, Richardson, TX

Attending readers get a little present from the authors they sit with and get to mingle with all the attending authors either at the tea and signing or during the VIP reception the night before (with additional ticket). This is your chance to dress up, have fun, and support a great cause all at the same time!

We had last-minute travel for a funeral this weekend and didn’t get home until nearly 2AM last night, so I’m dragging today. The internet was out and our phones didn’t have service all weekend, so I got a lot of chatting and reading done, which was lovely, but now my inbox is exploding a little bit, so I have to wade through that.

I finished reading Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and enjoyed it a lot, but romance readers should beware the cliff. I’m looking forward to the next book!

Then I started an advance copy of At First Spite by Olivia Dade, and it’s so, so good. It deals with some heavy issues with the kindest, gentlest touch, and there are so many emotions, so deftly written, that it nearly made me cry on an airplane, so now we’re definitely nemeses instead of friends. 😭

One of these days I’ll actually tackle updating my book rec list, but that day is not today. :)

I’m Donnnnne!

September 29, 2023 / Snippet, Writing

The edits on the romantic fantasy are off to my agent, as well as a blurb for both books, a synopsis, and a “mood board” which I’ve never made before, but here we are.

That means with the exception of a few possible tweaks, my part of this process is done for now, so I can play video games all weekend and not worry about it. In the next few weeks, my agent will review the edits, then start working on a submission package to see if anyone wants to buy it. Fingers crossed!

Since I made this mood board, would you like to see it? How about it along with the tiniest little snippet I shared on social media today for the #FridayKiss prompt?

If the answer is no, too bad, this is my blog and I can do what I want. ;)

Behold!

A collage of several images reflecting a fantasy setting with spooky castles, pretty dresses, a wolf, a rose, a sexy couple, and a library.

Fun fact: while most of these photos are from a stock site, one of them is mine. 👀

The #FridayKiss prompt was “bed” this week, which is why I finally jumped in with a snippet:

…

I’m Donnnnne!Read More »

Tiny Friday Snippet

September 15, 2023 / Snippet, Writing

I was supposed to be taking today off, since Mr. M is off, but I have failed rather spectacularly at that, so here’s a tiny, non-spoilery snippet of my new romantic fantasy. If I’m working, at least it should be fun, right? :)

This is still rough draft, subject to change, etc, etc. Happy reading!

The first door I tried was locked tight, so I moved on until I found a door standing open. I peeked inside, and my breath caught—it was an enormous library, three stories tall and filled with heavy wooden bookcases holding what had to be thousands of books.

I’d heard rumors that the private royal library in Obrik held ten thousand books, but here was a treasure its equal. I tiptoed into the room, worried that my mere presence would somehow damage the irreplaceable tomes.

But once the awe wore off, I saw that this room, too, suffered from neglect. Some of the shelves were pristine—and I made note of which shelves the mage preferred—but most were dull with dust.

This, at least, was a problem I could solve, and I didn’t exactly have anything better to do while I waited for the mage’s mood to improve.

I was used to pitching in to help anywhere I could. Cleaning would be no hardship—assuming I could find supplies. And if I cleaned the library, then maybe the mage would be more likely to help me in return.

“I need cleaning supplies,” I murmured, unsure if the castle would understand. “A broom and mop and dusting cloths.”

Light glinted in the corner of my eye, and when I turned toward it, I found a small door, nearly hidden between two towering shelves. Inside the tiny closet I found a broom, and a mop, and dusting cloths.

I had not felt so much as a twitch of magic.

…

Tiny Friday SnippetRead More »

Totes, Edits, and Gates

August 22, 2023 / Events, Writing

I’m sure every single person who is publishing adjacent, whether reader, author, or industry pro, has a sufficient number of tote bags, but did that stop me from ordering custom totes for my Buns & Roses table?

No, no it did not. 😂 Behold!

Turns out, they’ll let just anyone design and print custom totes, and this is a power I did not need to know existed, because CUSTOM! TOTES!! 😍 If you’d like one of these lovelies, there are still a few tickets left for my table.

I had a chat with my agent this morning about edits for the romantic fantasy. Overall, she loved it, but it needs some tweaks to make it even stronger (as all my drafts do), then we’ll take it out on submission and see if anyone is interested in buying it. Cross your fingers for me!

I’ll be in the editing cave for the foreseeable future, which means my current WIP—which was supposed to be a quick little short story and is instead 13k words and growing—will have to be put on hold for a bit. Or maybe I’ll try to stab it to death this week, but my brain is already in edit mode, so we’ll see what happens.

In fun news, Mr. M and I started playing Baldur’s Gate 3 last week, and then immediately spent all weekend in a gaming haze. We’re some ridiculous number of hours in and just finished the first act. The writing is incredibly good. Coming from Diablo IV, it’s just leagues better. (Sorry, Diablo, I love you, but we both know there was some questionable story telling in the second half.)

I’ve played D&D, and I know sort of top-level kinds of information, but I’m not exactly deep in the lore. So when the first weekend’s stats came out and Githyanki was the least-chosen character race, I decided to choose it for my kind, upstanding druid who loves everyone and just wants to stab bad guys in the face with a sword.

Hoo boy.

Apparently the Githyanki are kind of jerks. And by “kind of” I mean, definitely, absolutely are. But I’m being the change I want to see in the world!

Mr. M is playing a half-elf wizard who is tending toward the darker side of wizardry. He picked up a necromancy book, and I was like “we’re totally destroying that evil thing, right?” and he was like “oh yeah, for sure, let me just put in my pack, nothing to see here.”

I have a feeling that maybe the book wasn’t destroyed. 😂

I recently leveled up enough to turn into an owlbear, so now I can stab people in the face or smash them into itty bitty pieces with my giant claws. Best of both!

Are you playing? If so, tell me your about your character! Just please don’t spoil the story. :)

And finally, UK readers, if you were waiting for the paperback version of Capture the Sun, your wait is over! The book came out last week, so you can order it from your shop of choice. Happy reading!