November 2021 – Jessie Mihalik

Preorder Signed Copies of Hunt the Stars!

November 15, 2021 / Author News, Hunt the Stars, Writing

We’re less than three months from the release date for Hunt the Stars! Woohoo! If you’d like to get your hands on a signed copy, I have good news for you!

Preorder Hunt the Stars signed books / bookplates from BookPeople, Copper Dog Books, or Mysterious Galaxy, while supplies last.

Three independent bookstores have been kind enough to work with me to get signed books/bookplates into your hands with your preorder! Each one is a little different, so I’m going to go through them one by one.

Important: Please pay careful attention to the ordering instructions on each bookstore’s page! Some of them require you to add notes to your order to get a signed copy, so read carefully. :)

We’ve got stores on both coasts as well as here in TX, so hopefully you’ll find something close to you!

BookPeople is my local indie, which means I can physically go to the store and sign the books. So if you order from BookPeople, you’ll get my signature on the page, no fancy bookplate. I will also personalize the books, so I’ll sign them to you, your cat, your best friend, etc.

Next up, I will sign and personalize up to 100 bookplates for people who order from Copper Dog Books in Beverly, MA. If you’re nearby, go check them out because their bookstore looks so cosy and their selection of SF/F and Romance looks awesome!

And finally, I will sign up to 50 bookplates for Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, CA. They are a specialty SF/F bookstore, and I’ve wanted to visit them forever, but thanks to covid, that is still something for the future. Maybe by the time book three comes out. 😭😭😭

I don’t have a picture of the bookplates yet because I haven’t designed them, but they’ll be pretty, promise. :) And no matter which store you order from, I’m hoping to include some additional swag, like a bookmark and stickers, but those haven’t been ordered yet, either. I should probably get on that because with the way time is flying, it’ll be February before I know it.

And all preorders, including ebooks and library requests, will have the opportunity to get an exclusive, free bonus scene/short story at release. My publisher is still getting the form set up, but I’ll let you know once it’s live!

Finally, the last big news on the signed books front: Hunt the Stars is the March adult pick for The Bookish Box! If you don’t know, The Bookish Box is a subscription service that sends out a book (and other related swag, depending on your subscription level) every month.

Hunt the Stars is the March pick for The Bookish Box

They also do exclusive, custom editions of the books. The Bookish Box version of Hunt the Stars will be a limited edition hardcover, with a custom cover on a two-sided dust jacket and sprayed edges! I will be signing several thousand tip-in pages that will be bound into the book, so they’ll be signed, too!

Please send me many happy thoughts for signing hand strength. I’ve never signed thousands of things before, so it’ll be an adventure, one I hope doesn’t turn out too painful.

You can find more info on The Bookish Box website or on the announcement on Instagram. Unfortunately, because it’s a subscription service, it’s not quite as easy as preordering a book at one of the bookstores above.

The Bookish Box Adult Book subscriptions are currently sold out, but they’re supposed to be adding more later this month for books in January. If you just want a spot for March, you’ll have to pay attention to the site or sign up for their newsletter. Also, be aware they are facing the same shipping / supply chain challenges as everyone else, so you may not end up getting the book until April or later.

If I get more information, I’ll be sure to share it!

Friday Fun: Hunt the Stars Character Quiz

November 12, 2021 / Fun, Hunt the Stars

Want to join the crew? Take the automated personality assessment and find out which Starlight's Shadow Bounty Hunter you are! Preorder HUNT THE STARS, out Feb 1, 2022!

Have you always wanted to explore the stars as part of a close-knit crew of badass bounty hunters? Well, then, I have the quiz for you! Head over the the quiz page and find out which crew member of Starlight’s Shadow you’d be!

Let me know your results in the comments, and feel free to share on social media. :) I spent waaaay too long putting this together, but I enjoyed setting up all the questions and answers for the characters, so I hope it makes your Friday afternoon a little more fun!

Hunt the Stars Snippet, Take Two

November 2, 2021 / Hunt the Stars, Snippet, Writing

Let’s try this again! Turns out, I’d shared yesterday’s snippet before (thanks to LucyQ for the catch!), which is what I get for trying to blog while the A/C people were in and out of the house, asking questions and taking over the office.

But now all of our duct work is now done, and hopefully our office will no longer be a sauna in the summer. Of course, it’ll probably be next summer before we find out if it worked, but if nothing else, we have a new, highly efficient air conditioner with a fancy allergen filter. Maybe cedar season won’t be so miserable this year.

Enjoy the new snippet, and if you’d like to preorder, I’ve left some handy links below. :)

The door to the garden slid open, and Torran made a soft sound of surprise. “This is the garden,” I said. “Keep an eye out for Luna. She likes to hang out in the corner.” I waved to the back corner with the little green arbor.

When Torran didn’t say anything, I turned around. His face was alight with something like longing before he caught me looking and wiped the expression away. “This reminds me of home,” he said simply.

I wavered, torn, then my damn traitorous heart made the decision for me. I knew longing. “Come on, it gets better.”

I led him to the arbor and gently swept aside the hanging vines. Luna was on her perch, curled into a ball with her nose tucked under her tail. Apparently she thought a nap in the greenery was better than a tour with Kee. The burbu opened one sleepy eye and chirped at me. “Go back to sleep,” I said softly. “We’re just going to be here for a minute.”

Torran stood frozen behind me, so I pointed at one of the chairs. “Sit there and relax while I gather some herbs. It helps.”

He folded his long frame into the low chair and for the first time, I saw some of the tension drain out of him. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. When he wasn’t busy glaring at everything, he really was beautifully built. I let the vine curtain fall closed before my wayward thoughts got me in trouble.

Normally, gathering basil was super quick, but I puttered around the garden for ten minutes before harvesting what I needed. I returned to the arbor and peeked inside. Torran had slouched down in the chair and Luna was curled up on his chest, purring, while he gently stroked her with one hand.

A riot of emotions clamored through my system.

Sprawled in the chair like an indolent king with his distinctive Valovian eyes closed, he looked like a heartbreakingly handsome man who had been conjured from the ether specifically for me. And the illusion didn’t shatter as much as I thought it would when he cracked one eye, his expression as open as I’d ever seen it. “Finished?”

…

Hunt the Stars Snippet, Take TwoRead More »

Hunt the Stars Goodreads Giveaway + Snippet, Chaos Reigning Sale, and Happy NaNoWriMo!

November 1, 2021 / Chaos Reigning, Hunt the Stars, Writing

But first, how is it already November???? Time seems to have stopped somewhere around March 2020, and since then, it has had no meaning at all.

Tomorrow, Nov 2, is election day in the US, and I know this year isn’t a big election most places, but you should vote anyway. A lot of local elections and state constitutional amendments are on the ballot, and you shouldn’t let less than 10% (the typical off-year turnout) of people decide your fate. If nothing else, go get your free sticker! :)

Next, Chaos Reigning is on sale for $1.99 this week only, so if you’ve been meaning to pick up a copy, now is your chance! (International pricing may vary.)

November also kicks off National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. If you’ve ever thought, “Hey, I should write a novel!” this is your month to give it a shot. The goal is to write 50k words in 30 days, which isn’t quite a full-length adult novel (which usually start in the 80k range), but it’s a solid start that can always be fleshed out later.

If you’re participating this year, good luck! Write like the wind! May the words flow fast and furious!

If not, well, me neither. :) I should because I’m behind on book three, but I’m going to continue plodding along. I’m hoping all of the positive writing energy the WriMos put out into the universe will prod me a little faster than my current snail’s pace.

And finally, if you’d like a chance to get your hands on Hunt the Stars early, my publisher is doing a series of Goodreads giveaways, with the first one starting this week! I think it might be US only, but it runs through the end of the month, and they’re giving away 100 copies, so good luck!

I have a few ARCs that I’ll be giving away too, so keep your eyes peeled for that. It’ll be soon(ish)!

In the meanwhile, here’s a tiny HTS snippet to kick off the week:

The proximity chime cut off whatever Eli was going to say. “Show me,” I said, moving to the nearest screen.
Torran Fletcher had arrived without so much as a message of warning. As I watched, he climbed the cargo ramp, three Valoffs in full armor behind him, each of them pushing a levcart piled with supplies.
I growled under my breath.
“Problem?” Eli asked, his earlier playful mood wiped away, leaving the hard-faced soldier.
“Our guests have decided to arrive early and make themselves at home.” I waved him off when he would’ve left his breakfast. “I will go say hello. You stay here. If they murder me, avenge my death.”
“Not funny,” he said with a scowl.
“I’m kidding.” Mostly. I looked at Anja. “You okay here?”
When she nodded, I took my leave and used the short walk from the galley to the cargo bay to compose myself. I needed to be calm and cold and professional, even if Torran’s audacity made me furious. And I needed to practice my mental shielding.
By the time I made it through the hatch into the cargo bay, the Valoffs had the levcarts mostly unloaded. Torran carried boxes beside his soldiers, which surprised me. I expected him to stand and point. They had neatly stacked their supplies out of the way against the starboard wall. I considered making them move everything just for the hell of it, but such pettiness was beneath me.
Torran turned at my approach and inclined his head. “Captain.”
“General. Your comm must have failed to deliver the message that you planned to arrive early and board my ship without permission.”
His eyes narrowed. “We had an agreement.”
“The agreement doesn’t override common curtesy. Would you board a Valovian ship without informing the captain?”
Copyright Jessie Mihalik. All rights reserved. Coming Feb 2022 from Harper Voyager.

Hunt the Stars Cover. A woman with a ponytail and a man with short hair in silhouette in front of a blue background of stars and alien planets.

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