I might’ve made a teeny, tiny little error when doing the database dump of the old site, so when I imported the file, all of the emoji on old posts/pages turned into question marks. 😅
In my defense, mysqldump really should’ve used the correct UTF8 encoding by default, but I fixed it by adding the –default-character-set=utf8mb4 flag and running it again.
Because I’d made a new post, it was a little tricky to update the DB, since importing a dump file overwrites everything. But because I loved all of your comments on the New Server post (so many of you have wildlife!), I exported that post directly and reimported it using WordPress’s default import/export functionality, which is pretty good!
I *think* everything should be good now, but I’m still slowly fixing the CSS. I made the mistake of resetting my Astra theme preferences so I’d be using the latest and greatest… and the latest and greatest isn’t that great, actually. I could revert, but I figure I’m in the future now, so I might as well embrace it. Grouchily. If you see weirdness with the site layout, that’s why. :)
Now that I’ve turned in book three, I’ve started working on all the admin tasks I’ve put off forever—specifically, updating the web server. The old machine served me well, but it was time to update to the latest and greatest. You shouldn’t see much change on your side (hopefully!! 🤞🏻), but the backend tech stack was upgraded and the server IP address changed.
And the site may be down a bit more than usual this week, because at a certain point I just said YOLO and switched over the DNS, which means I’m now testing in production. Whee!
To test a little more, here are a couple pictures of the animals taking advantage of the water bowl I put out. It’s been super hot and dry here, even more so than usual, so I put out water for our local deer, but we’ve had a few other visitors as well. :)
Yum, water!
The pictures are a little blurry because I pulled them from a video, but there’s a fawn and a coyote!! This is the first time I’ve seen a coyote in our yard, though I hear them in the valley behind our house all the time.
We’ve also seen a fox and raccoon, but I forgot to save the videos. 😭
Do you have wildlife where you live? We mostly have deer (So! Many! Deer!), but thanks to the water bowl, I’m seeing a lot of other critters!
Thank you all for entering! I loved reading your comments, and we started watching Strange New Worlds because several of you suggested it, and it’s great!
This week, I sent off book three to my editor!! 🎉 This was my final contracted book, and it’s a huge relief that I actually made it to the end, because it was looking kind of iffy there for a bit. But I’m happy with how it turned out, and it’ll be even better after my editor is done with it, lol.
I don’t quite know what’s next, but for the immediate future, I’m taking some vacation time because the first half of this year was solid work. Woo, rest!
The random number generator has chosen the following winners, and there were so many comments, I decided to pick four winners instead of three. :) Please follow the links to see if it’s actually your comment because there were some duplicate names.
WINNERS: Send me an email at mihalikwrites AT gmailDOTcom with the subject line ARC Winner, and please use the same email address you used when you commented. You can also use the contact form. Include your name, address, and the name you’d like for personalization, if desired.
I’ve put up chapter two of Eclipse the Moon over on the book page for everyone who didn’t win this time. :)
We’re just three and a half weeks away from release, so even if you didn’t win, you won’t have to wait too long to get your hands on a copy!
I’ve finally finished writing the third book in the Starlight’s Shadow series, so it’s time to celebrate with a giveaway! 🎉
Eclipse the Moon, the second book in the series, releases in less than five weeks on July 12, but you can enter for a chance to read it even sooner! Keep reading for details. :)
As a reminder, I’ve partnered with BookPeople to offer signed copies of ETM (plus backlist books!!), so if that’s something that interests you, get your orders in now because a lot of my previous books are on backorder with a 7-10 day lead time.
And I was too braindead during the last blog post to mention it, but the first fifty-ish ETM preorders from BookPeople will come with a bookmark and stickers! The bookmark is the same one from the HTS release, but the stickers are different. :)
Acclaimed author Jessie Mihalik returns with an exciting new novel about a rainbow-haired female bounty hunter tasked with preventing an interstellar war.
Kee Ildez has been many things: hacker, soldier, bounty hunter. She never expected to be a hero, but when a shadowy group of traitors starts trying to goad the galaxy’s two superpowers into instigating an interstellar war, Kee throws herself into the search to find out who is responsible—and stop them.
Digging up hidden information is her job, so hunting traitors should be a piece of cake, but the primary suspect spent years in the military, and someone powerful is still covering his tracks. Disrupting their plans will require the help of her entire team, including Varro Runkow, a Valovian weapons expert who makes her pulse race.
Quiet, grumpy, and incredibly handsome, Varro watches her with hot eyes but ignores all of her flirting, so Kee silently vows to keep her feelings strictly platonic. But that vow will be put to the test when she and Varro are forced to leave the safety of their ship and venture into enemy territory alone.
Cut off from the rest of their team, they must figure out how to work together—and fast—because a single misstep will cost thousands of lives.
Harper Voyager is also running a Goodreads giveaway, and it’s a new as of a couple days ago, so double check even if you entered previously.
And now for the main event!
To enter to win an ARC, please read and follow the rules below. Incomplete entries will be ignored/deleted.
Update: Entries closed, winners announced soon!
The entry period starts now and ends on June 17, 2022 at noon Central. You must be eighteen or older. Open to US and international readers. Void where prohibited.
Leave ONE top-level comment (i.e., not a reply to another comment) below and tell me something you’ve enjoyed recently, whether it’s a book, TV show, vacation, or whatever. I want to hear about what’s bringing you joy!
Duplicate top-level comments will be deleted. You are welcome to reply to other comments, though, because those won’t count as entries.
Comments must be on the giveaway blog post on my site (www.jessiemihalik.com). Comments on Facebook, Goodreads, etc. won’t count.
Come back after June 17 and see if you’ve won! Three winners will be picked by random number and must actively claim their book. Instructions will be included in the winning post.
I am THISCLOSE to finishing book three, thus the prolonged radio silence, but I wanted to pop up and let you know that the preorder page for signed copies of Eclipse the Moon is now up at my local independent bookstore, BookPeople. READ ON FOR INSTRUCTIONS, lol. :)
This time, you can also order my backlist books and have them signed at the same time, if that’s something you’re interested in. 🎉 There are hardly any signed copies of my Rogue Queen books out in the world, but if you would like to change that, you can, because BookPeople is carrying my indie books, too!
You’ll notice the ETM preorder page only has ETM on it, but if you add my other books to your cart in the same order, I’ll sign them all. Please put SIGNED in the comments box at a checkout, along with whatever personalization you want (e.g., “Sign to Jessie” or “Sign to Luna, my favorite pet”), and BookPeople should take care of the rest. Even if the backlist books are in stock, they won’t ship until July 12ish when I come in to sign the whole stack. If you have questions, you can always call the store because they’re super helpful!
The first fifty-ish orders of Eclipse at BookPeople will come with a bookmark and stickers! The bookmark is the same one I included with HTS preorders, but the stickers are new. :)
For ease of ordering, because I love you all, here are direct links to all my books:
If you’re planning to buy backlist books, you may want to go ahead and order now in case they need to order in any new stock. Right now, it looks like AB is out of stock with a 7-10 day lead time time, but the stock level may change as people put their orders in.
Now I’m returning to the writing cave to knock out the end of this book. Some people still need to get their just desserts. 😈
