Author name: Jessie

Jessie Mihalik has a degree in Computer Science and a love of all things geeky. A software engineer by trade, Jessie now writes full time from her home in Texas. When she’s not writing, she can be found playing co-op video games with her husband, trying out new board games, or reading books pulled from her overflowing bookshelves.

Cold and Cozy

Yesterday, the temperature dropped forty degrees, leaving us at forty degrees. It’s gray and windy and the perfect day to cozy up with a hot cup of tea—my first of the season! I’m still trying to use up all of the tea I currently have, but my willpower is weakening as the supply dwindles. If Harney & Sons does a Black Friday sale, I’ll be in trouble.

Today’s pot is a chai blend heavy on the cardamom and cinnamon. Its warm spiciness is a perfect foil for the weather.

Of course, by the weekend it’s going to be back in the eighties, so this is a very brief glimpse of winter. :)

Mr. M and I started playing Diablo IV again. The second season is here, and it brought a lot of small quality of life changes that make the game fun again instead of tedious. Of course, we’re still leveling and just made it to world tier three, so we’ll see if it holds through the end game grind.

We also have Baldur’s Gate 3 to finish and Starfield to start, so we’re not exactly hurting for things to do. I’ve been so braindead lately that even playing games was too much. I started watching King the Land, a kdrama where a rich, entitled (incredibly gorgeous) boss grows a heart for one of his (also gorgeous) employees. So problematic IRL, but so delicious in fiction.

I think I’m on like episode thirteen or so, but then things got tense, and I could see the bleak moment coming, so I’ve avoided watching the last few episodes for like two weeks. That’s where my brain is right now. 🙈

I really need to get some writing done this week, because it’s very nearly November. I briefly considered trying to do NaNoWriMo before coming to my senses and backing away slowly. But if you’re participating, let me know and I’ll cheer you on!

Upcoming Events!

I have two events happening later this month, so if you want to see my smiling face either virtually or in person, I have an event for you!

First up, on Thursday, October 19 at 6:00PM Central Time, I’m doing a virtual reading for Strong Women, Strange Worlds along with five other authors. It’s free to attend, but you need to register in advance. I’ll be reading from Capture the Sun, so if you have a favorite scene you want me to read, let me know!

Strong Women, Strange Worlds presents Third Thursday QuickReads of SF/F/H by K. Ten, D.L. Howard, JL George, C.O. Davidson, Luna McNamara, and Jessie Mihalik. October 19, 7PM Eastern, free on Zoom. Preregister now at strongwomenstrangeworlds.weebly.com

Then, just a couple of days later, on October 22, I’ll be at the Buns & Roses Romance Tea for Literacy in Richardson, TX to support the Richardson Adult Literacy Center. There are still a few tickets available at my table, and there are something like thirty authors attending, so you have a bunch of us to choose from!

Richardson Adult Literacy Center presents Buns & Roses Romance Tea for literacy. Keynote: Alka Joshi, author of the Japur Trilogy, The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and The Perfumist of Paris. October 22, 2023, Doubletree Hilton, Richardson, TX

Attending readers get a little present from the authors they sit with and get to mingle with all the attending authors either at the tea and signing or during the VIP reception the night before (with additional ticket). This is your chance to dress up, have fun, and support a great cause all at the same time!


We had last-minute travel for a funeral this weekend and didn’t get home until nearly 2AM last night, so I’m dragging today. The internet was out and our phones didn’t have service all weekend, so I got a lot of chatting and reading done, which was lovely, but now my inbox is exploding a little bit, so I have to wade through that.

I finished reading Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and enjoyed it a lot, but romance readers should beware the cliff. I’m looking forward to the next book!

Then I started an advance copy of At First Spite by Olivia Dade, and it’s so, so good. It deals with some heavy issues with the kindest, gentlest touch, and there are so many emotions, so deftly written, that it nearly made me cry on an airplane, so now we’re definitely nemeses instead of friends. 😭

One of these days I’ll actually tackle updating my book rec list, but that day is not today. :)

I’m Donnnnne!

The edits on the romantic fantasy are off to my agent, as well as a blurb for both books, a synopsis, and a “mood board” which I’ve never made before, but here we are.

That means with the exception of a few possible tweaks, my part of this process is done for now, so I can play video games all weekend and not worry about it. In the next few weeks, my agent will review the edits, then start working on a submission package to see if anyone wants to buy it. Fingers crossed!

Since I made this mood board, would you like to see it? How about it along with the tiniest little snippet I shared on social media today for the #FridayKiss prompt?

If the answer is no, too bad, this is my blog and I can do what I want. ;)

Behold!

A collage of several images reflecting a fantasy setting with spooky castles, pretty dresses, a wolf, a rose, a sexy couple, and a library.

Fun fact: while most of these photos are from a stock site, one of them is mine. 👀

The #FridayKiss prompt was “bed” this week, which is why I finally jumped in with a snippet:

Tiny Friday Snippet

I was supposed to be taking today off, since Mr. M is off, but I have failed rather spectacularly at that, so here’s a tiny, non-spoilery snippet of my new romantic fantasy. If I’m working, at least it should be fun, right? :)

This is still rough draft, subject to change, etc, etc. Happy reading!


The first door I tried was locked tight, so I moved on until I found a door standing open.  I peeked inside, and my breath caught—it was an enormous library, three stories tall and filled with heavy wooden bookcases holding what had to be thousands of books.

I’d heard rumors that the private royal library in Obrik held ten thousand books, but here was a treasure its equal.  I tiptoed into the room, worried that my mere presence would somehow damage the irreplaceable tomes.

But once the awe wore off, I saw that this room, too, suffered from neglect.  Some of the shelves were pristine—and I made note of which shelves the mage preferred—but most were dull with dust.

This, at least, was a problem I could solve, and I didn’t exactly have anything better to do while I waited for the mage’s mood to improve.

I was used to pitching in to help anywhere I could.  Cleaning would be no hardship—assuming I could find supplies.  And if I cleaned the library, then maybe the mage would be more likely to help me in return.

“I need cleaning supplies,” I murmured, unsure if the castle would understand.  “A broom and mop and dusting cloths.”

Light glinted in the corner of my eye, and when I turned toward it, I found a small door, nearly hidden between two towering shelves.  Inside the tiny closet I found a broom, and a mop, and dusting cloths.

I had not felt so much as a twitch of magic.

Sand, Sun, and HGTV

A selfie of me and Mr M in wide-brimmed hats with the beach and sunset in the background.

Last week was our eighteenth wedding anniversary, and we celebrated with a trip to the beach for a long overdue vacation. The entire plan for the week was to sit on the beach, float in the ocean, and do absolutely nothing.

It was glorious.

The beach in Destin, FL is all white sand and warm, crystal clear water. It was our first trip to the area, and we didn’t really know what to expect, but Southwest had a direct flight and the price was okay-ish, so we went for it.

A photo of an empty beach with white sand and small waves and fluffy white clouds in the sky.

Our twelfth floor condo had a balcony with a great view of the Gulf, and the resort had a pool and hot tub for when walking the extra hundred feet to the beach was too much effort. Thanks to Idalia, the first couple of days were red-flag days, which means the surf is potentially dangerous, and I could definitely see that when compared to the later part of our trip when the waves were more ripples than real waves.

The view from our condo of a pool and hot tub with red-roofed buildings in the foreground, and a white sandy beach and blue-green ocean in the background.

We spent the mornings in the water, then came inside for lunch and an afternoon nap, then headed back out for more ocean time in the late afternoon/early evening. I took a Kindle with a stack of library books on it, but I didn’t read a single book, other than the audiobook I listened to on the plane. I did, however, watch a ridiculous amount of HGTV, my go-to vacation channel.

HGTV always cracks me up, especially shows like House Hunters, because it’s usually a couple who are like butterfly catchers or basket weavers with inexplicable two million dollar budgets and wildly different requirements. I know the whole thing is staged for max drama, but I love it anyway.

This time, I found a new show, and I’ve now binged most of it. It’s called Farmhouse Fixer, and the host, Jon Knight, is that Jon Knight, which I didn’t realize until after we’d watched more than one episode and we finally caught the intro. He renovates old New England farmhouses, and seems to really, really love his job, then he jets off to perform with New Kids on the Block when it’s showtime. The whole show is adorable and very low-drama, which makes it perfect vacation fare.

Now I’m back in the real world, because I don’t have an extra few million dollars to buy my very own beach front house, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have any eccentric distant relatives who are going to die and leave me a mysterious fortune and/or beach house.

However, if you’re an old, eccentric billionaire who needs someone to leave your fortune to, you know where to find me!

This week, I’m continuing to edit the romantic fantasy. I made it a little over a third of the way through before vacation, so my plan is to re-read that portion to get back up to speed, then knock out the rest hopefully by the end of the month.

But I’m still missing my afternoon nap. :)