Jessie

The Queen’s Triumph Serial is Complete!

December 12, 2020 / Serial Fiction, Writing

Part of the serial story The Queen’s Triumph

The Queen's Triumph. A space opera serial. www.jessiemihalik.com

Thank you so much for following along as I posted the third and final part of Samara and Valentin’s story. I hope it brought you a little bit of joy in this very difficult year. :)

The whole serial is now available for binge reading, but don’t wait too long because it’ll disappear into the vault in a week or so.

If you’d like a copy to keep, the edited book is out now:

The Queens Triumph Cover. Queen Samara in battle armor, looking at the viewer, holding a gun in front of a planet with rings.

When the Quint Confederacy’s biggest traitor threatens everything Queen Samara Rani holds dear, she vows to show him exactly how she earned her deadly reputation—and why one should never cross the Rogue Queen.

There weren’t a huge number of changes during edits, just some tightening up of scenes, a bit of additional information, and a short bonus epilogue.

And, of course, all of the redacted scenes. 😏😘

Now I have to disappear into the writing cave because New Shiny is due at the beginning of January. I won’t be posting too much for the next few weeks while I’m on deadline, so I hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday season!

The Queen’s Triumph is Here!!

December 8, 2020 / Author News, Books, Writing

Don't cross a rebel queen…
The Queen's Triumph, available now! www.jessiemihalik.com
Image is the book cover on a blue and pink illustrated sky filled with stars.

Happy book birthday to The Queen’s Triumph! The edited ebook is now available for purchase from your retailer of choice. Print books are available from independent bookstores (via special order, ISBN: 9781641971645), B&N, and Amazon.

In addition to the edits, which tightened up the story and added a few more details, the edited book also includes a short epilogue that will not be posted to the blog, so if you want a little peek into the future, grab yourself a copy. :)

Queen Samara Rani knows she’s likely walking into a trap, but agreeing to meet with Commander Adams is the fastest way to get within striking distance of the Quint Confederacy’s biggest traitor and her sworn enemy. Adams attacked her home and destroyed her ship, and if he’s not stopped, he will ruin the tentative peace between the Kos Empire and the Quint Confederacy—and Samara’s chance at future with Emperor Valentin Kos.

Samara is determined to serve up some well-deserved payback, but she is no longer a lone assassin, and despite her protests, her friends and allies refuse to let her undertake such a perilous mission without them. Even Valentin, usually the voice of reason, refuses to stay behind. Samara is loath to put her friends in danger, and taking a team carries its own risks, so she makes plans to keep them safe, no matter what the cost.

When Adams threatens that safety, and everything she holds dear, Samara vows to show him exactly how she earned her deadly reputation—and why one should never cross the Rogue Queen.

Get your copy!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play

And for everyone following along with the serial, never fear, it wraps up later this week. Once finished, it will stay up for about at week to give everyone time to read, then it’ll disappear into the vault, so don’t wait too long. :)

Edit: For those asking, an audiobook is not planned at this time. It might happen eventually, but I don’t have time to manage it right now, so don’t expect anything soon. Sorry, audiobook fans! :(

Romancing the Runoff Auction

November 18, 2020 / Books, Writing

Polaris Rising, Aurora Blazing, and Chaos Reigning standing on my deck railing with greenery in the background. Also includes a bookmark, stickers, and a badass space priciness button.

Readers, aspiring authors, and book lovers of all kinds, do I have an auction for you!

Inspired by fellow romance author Stacey Abrams (who writes as Selena Montgomery) and her work to get out the vote, romance authors and their friends have banded together to raise money for Fair Fight, the New Georgia Project, and Black Voters Matter for the US Senate runoff elections in GA.

There are over 775 items donated by authors, agents, readers, and more. From an exquisite hand-knit shawl (back off, y’all, it will be mine!) to the ability to name a minor character in the next Kit Rocha book (why am I even linking this because… also mine! 😂) to a chat with my fabulous agent (I guess I’ll let someone else have it) there is something for everyone.

For my part, I’m offering up a complete set of Consortium Rebellion novels, signed and personalized (if desired), along with a few extra goodies.

In the happy event that the bidding for my auction goes over $100, I will also print out the first chapter of New Shiny, sign it, and include it in the package. You’ll get to read the chapter that sold my next trilogy a whole year (plus some) before the book comes out! Find out exactly what “spoilery things” I redacted from this snippet!

Edit: Okay, y’all are incredible and the bidding is already over $200! 😍💕😍💕 So, now I’ll include TWO CHAPTERS of New Shiny. That’s all I can do before my editor hunts me down because even she hasn’t seen the second chapter yet. But if the bidding keeps going up (which would be astounding because I thought $100 was a stretch!), I have a few more goodies I will throw in. It’ll be a surprise!

Now for the bad news: my auction is US only. I’m so sorry to all the international folks, but books are heavy and therefore very expensive to ship internationally. :(

But don’t be too sad because there are a BUNCH of other auctions and a lot of them are open internationally, especially the chats and other things that don’t need shipping.

The auction opens TODAY (Nov 18) at noon EST and runs through Nov 24 at 9:00 PM EST. You can create an account and add things to your watchlist before bidding opens so you’ll be ready to go ASAP.

Just don’t bid on my shawl or I’ll have to shiv you. 😉

TQT Edits are Done!

November 17, 2020 / Writing

I just sent off the edited manuscript for copyediting! 🎉 Overall, the story did not change significantly. Some scenes were tightened (or expanded!), but overall the plot didn’t change. In fact, I think these are the lightest edits in the whole Rogue Queen series. The word count grew by around 1,200 words. TQT was already the longest book in the series by far and now it’s just a bit longer. :)

I’m glad the story didn’t need major changes because I’m still on deadline for New Shiny and I am B E H I N D. It’s due at the end of the year and it’s going to be close. So if you don’t hear much from me for the next six weeks, that’s why.

Also, how are we possibly six weeks from the end of the year?!?!

I won’t be sad to see 2020 in the rearview, and I’ll certainly be happier once New Shiny is done and sent off. Writing this year has been a bit of a struggle (along with everything else). I hope you all are doing well and staying safe.

Some good news: if you’ve been waiting for the edited book instead of reading the serial, your wait is almost over! TQT comes out three weeks from today!

I know this year has been hard for everyone, so this is a zero pressure sales pitch, but if you’ve been enjoying the serial and have a few bucks to spare, I would love it if you preordered TQT, too. If not, no worries, that’s why I’m posting it for free. 💕

The only difference (besides the editing), is the edited book will have a short epilogue that won’t be posted on the site, and it will include all of the [redacted] scenes, so you get a little bonus for buying the book.

And if you preorder, it’ll show up on your ereader like magic! :)

Available December 8!

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

(Print books will be available, but closer to/at release.)

Ted Lasso

October 12, 2020 / Life, Watching

It’s been quite a while since I’ve binged a new show in just a few days, but this weekend I devoured the entire season of Ted Lasso. It’s ten episodes, each about 30 minutes, and Mr. M and I watched them all between Friday and Sunday.

Ted Lasso, the title character, is an American football coach who is hired to coach a Premier League football club in England—despite having no experience coaching soccer.

You don’t need to know anything about either soccer or football to enjoy the show, as the sports part is far more minimal than you’d expect for a show about a sports coach. At its heart, it’s a show about people, relationships, friendship, and respect.

The writing is superb, and the acting does it justice. The show is at turns hilarious and heartbreaking, but gently heartbreaking, if that’s a thing. Overall, it’s low angst but full of emotion. Ted is both relentlessly optimistic and genuinely kind, in a way that’s neither naive nor fake. It’s a soothing balm on the dumpster fire of 2020.

The only bad part is that it’s only available on AppleTV+, and I know no one needs another streaming service. Apple offers a seven day free trial, so you could easily watch the whole show during the trial. And if you’ve already used your trial, a month is only $5, and really, the amount of optimism and comfort packed into this show is worth $5 (in my opinion, obviously).

Want to check it out? Here’s the trailer: