July 2020 – Jessie Mihalik

Happy Book Birthday to Deal with the Devil!

July 28, 2020 / Book Rec

Today is the day! Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha is out today! Those of you who’ve been around for a while have heard me rave about this book before, way back in April of last year (which, let’s be honest, feels like twenty years ago). We did a virtual back alley trade of Aurora Blazing for Deal with the Devil.

Best. Trade. Ever.

Do you like squads of badass women with superpowers? Do you like teams of badass, morally conflicted supersoldiers? Do you like road trips that smoosh the two groups together, with all of the delicious tension that brings?

OF COURSE YOU DO! 😍

Full disclosure: Bree and Donna (the duo behind Kit Rocha) and I are friends and we share an agent. But their book is incredible and you should definitely check out a sample at the very least. I mean, here’s the first line:

Nina had broken the cardinal rule, and now she had to kill someone.

That is a killer first line (pun absolutely intended).

I officially blurbed the book with my rave from so many moons ago: “Nina is everything I love in a heroine―smart and badass, but with a core of hope and kindness. And Knox is jaded, honorable, and so very conflicted. I loved it!”

Here’s more info:

Deal with the Devil: A Mercenary Librarians Novel by Kit Rocha Cover

Deal with the Devil is Orphan Black meets the post-apocalyptic Avengersby USA Today and New York Times bestselling author duo Kit Rocha.

Nina is an information broker with a mission—she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America.

Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive.

They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…

Or they could do the impossible: team up.

This is the first book in a near-future science fiction series with elements of romance.

Happy Reading!

Comic-Con@Home Virtual Panel!

July 23, 2020 / Events, Writing

Comic-Con is going virtual this year, for obvious reasons, and I was lucky enough to be included on a panel with four other incredible Voyager authors!

COMIC-CON@Home Panel. Galaxy Grrls, or the Female and Non-Binary Authors who Bridge the new Frontier of Space Fiction. Escaping Exodus, by Nicky Drayden. Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik. Noumenon Ultra by Marina J. Lostetter. Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes. A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers. Friday, July 24, 2020, 3-4PM.

Galaxy Grrls, or the Female and Non-Binary Authors who Bridge the new Frontier of Space Fiction
Friday, July 24, 2020 : 3:00 – 4:00PM PT

Authors Nicky Drayden (Escaping Exodus), Marina Lostetter (Noumenon Ultra), Jessie Mihalik (Chaos Reigning), Valerie Valdes (Chilling Effect), and K.B. Wagers (A Pale Light in the Black) eye the history of space fiction through an entirely new lens. This panel is focused on the legacy of female and non-binary writers who came before, and the trailblazing of modern authors who are re-defining sex, gender, and society against the tapestry of the stars.

Since it’s a virtual event, we pre-recorded the panel, and I have to say, my fellow panelists were phenomenal! Marina volunteered to moderate as well as participate and she did a great job.

I, however, was incredibly nervous.

I don’t know if it was the fact that it was Comic-Con (a dream!) or what, but I got nervous like I haven’t in a very long time, even though I was sitting in my own office, staring at a webcam. I eventually got it under control, mostly, but the first ten minutes or so you’ll probably be able to hear my voice shake.

Come for the nervous rambling, stay for the great discussions. 😂

Despite my nerves, the whole panel was incredibly fun, so you should definitely check it out! Best of all, it’s completely free!

And if your TBR is looking a little thin, pick up the other panelists’ books! They are all writing fantastic sci-fi. 💕

Birthday Week

July 15, 2020 / Life

My birthday is this week, so I’m celebrating with my annual Birthday Week™. It mainly involves me singing “It’s my birthday!” to myself at random times throughout the week.

Rona kind of put a damper on any kind of celebration, but my bff came over and brought Italian cream cake and wine for a patio chat, so it wasn’t all bad.

This is my last year in my thirties. Honestly, I thought I’d feel more grown up by now, but I don’t. I certainly have my shit together more than I did when I was a baby fresh out of college, but I don’t feel older.

At least I don’t until I hurt myself by sleeping wrong. Then I feel about 110.

The last few years have been especially fabulous. I have five books out, three of them with a big publisher. And I completed my first trilogy! My author copies for CR came in, and the books are so pretty together. 😍

I also have a new trilogy under contract, which is another dream come true. Maybe I can make this writing thing work for me, which is very much not guaranteed, even with a publisher. But I can keep writing because all of you lovely people read my books, so thank you! You made the last year of my thirties a memorable one. 💕

And if you want to give yourself a present for my birthday, I suggest taking some time to read! If you need something new, check out my books and my recommendations for books I loved. Happy reading!