April 2019 – Jessie Mihalik

Aurora Blazing Chapter One

April 29, 2019 / Aurora Blazing, Life, Writing

TL;DR: The first chapter of Aurora Blazing. Happy reading! :)

This weekend was a busy one. We saw Endgame on Saturday and it was awesome. I highly recommend it. We’ll have to chat about it in a few weeks after everyone has a chance to see it, so DO NOT SPOILER IT.

If you drop spoilers in the comments, I’ll remove them and put you in moderation until you prove you can be trusted. I managed to see it spoiler-free and everyone should have that chance. If you want spoilers, I’m sure you can find them elsewhere. :)

I also made it through the first pass on my copyedits for Aurora Blazing this weekend. Yesterday was a marathon of over twenty chapters. My brain is mush.

If you mosey over to the book page, you’ll find the first chapter and preorder links. It comes out in October, and I would love for you to preorder it if you are able. Preorder numbers are super helpful!

It always surprises me just how many mistakes are in my manuscripts. I feel like I turn out fairly clean drafts, but there’s nothing like a copyeditor to take your ego down a peg or seventy.

Last night we watched Game of Thrones, and this season has decided to bring it. I can’t believe it’s going to be wrapped up in just three more episodes. I’m still waiting for the Red-Wedding-esque other shoe to drop. If anything, this show has taught me not to care for anyone too deeply, but I did cheer when [SPOILER] [SPOILERED]. :)

This week, I have edits for The Queen’s Advantage on deck. I also need to be adding words to book three at a high velocity. Once book three is done, I’m taking a month off to binge books, play video games, and lie on the sofa. Or so I tell myself. :)

TQA is Available on Apple Books

April 24, 2019 / Author News, Books, Writing

Apple Books took an unexpectedly long time to make The Queen’s Advantage available, but it’s finally up for all of your preordering goodness. :)

Preorder TQA:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play

This week, copyedits for Aurora Blazing should land in my inbox with a week and a half turnaround. I also have edits for TQA that need to be done in the next couple weeks. Book three is a little over 30k, and I would be far happier if it were closer to 50k (or, I mean, if I’m dreaming, 90k), but there’s nothing I can do except keep plugging away at it.

Current mood:

Dog sitting in a burning room saying "This is fine." — Source: http://gunshowcomic.com/648

The next two months are going to be very, very busy. Wish me luck. :) Once I get the first chapter of AB copyedited, I’ll put it up. I can’t wait for you to get a peek at Bianca and Ian!

The Queen’s Advantage: Preorder!

April 19, 2019 / Author News, Books, Serial Fiction, Writing

Part of the serial story The Queen’s Advantage

It’s here! The Queen’s Advantage is now available for preorder with a release date of July 9!

Edits landed last week. I don’t think they’ll be as major as the TQG edits, but there will definitely be some smoothing, cleaning, and fixing. Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoy the finished novella!

Preorder:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play

Apple Books is taking their own sweet time, but I’ll put up the link when I have it. There will be a paperback version, but it won’t be up for preorder. It’ll go up right around release.

If you haven’t finished the rough draft version of the story yet, hop to it, because I’ll be taking it down before the ebook release. :)

When Queen Samara Rani fulfills the promise she made to Emperor Valentin Kos to visit his court and meet with his advisors, she knows they won’t welcome her with open arms, especially when she’s been tasked with discovering the traitors within their ranks—traitors she tricked out of five million credits.

As soon as Samara begins her investigation it becomes clear that Valentin’s advisors want her gone and they aren’t picky about how. After their tactics turn violent, Samara and Valentin race to unravel the web of treachery and lies before the next attack ends in tragedy.

When the conflict escalates in ferocity and rumors start blaming Samara, she is forced to continue her hunt alone. Uncovering traitors is difficult when courtiers learn to lie before they learn to walk, and one misstep could cost her life. However, Rogue Queens aren’t easy to kill and Samara has more than a few tricks of her own.

Preorder:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play

The Spider and Other News

April 5, 2019 / Life, Writing

Every few months, a giant spider appears in our living room. Giant is a relative term, and in this case it’s about the size of a quarter, which isn’t exactly a tarantula, but it’s big enough compared to the teensy spiders we usually get.

This spider almost always appears in the same place, right in the middle of our wooden floor, and never, not once, have I ever caught it walking to or from that location. I have no idea where it comes from, how it gets in, or how it crosses five feet of open floor without me noticing.

I also have no idea why it always picks the same place to lie in wait.

I think I’m being hunted by a ninja spider and all of its descendants, bent on revenge.

And now I’ve typed spider enough times that it no longer looks like a real word, so enough of that. :)

In other news, I wrote a little blog post on science fiction romance for Fantasy Cafe’s Women in SF&F Month, so you can mosey over there if you want to read my ramble about why people should be reading cross-genre books.

I also did a back alley book trade with Kit Rocha, where I sent Bree Aurora Blazing and she sent me Deal With The Devil, their first Mercenary Librarians book.

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