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.

The Queen’s Gambit Announcement

/ Serial Fiction, Writing

The Queen's Gambit

With the holiday season approaching, I wanted to do something to thank you all for your support and enthusiasm. And because I think we could all use an occasional break during this hectic time of year, I figured a new story would be the perfect thing.

The Queen’s Gambit is a science fiction novella set in its own universe. I’ll be posting it in a serial format, with new installments each week. I hope to post a chapter a week, but if I get buried in edits, it may end up being a little less.

The first chapter will be posted very, very soon. :)

Story posts will show up like normal blog posts with extra formatting, but you can also check the story page to see the blurb and the list of posts (once they start).

Without further ado, The Queen’s Gambit blurb, copied here for your convenience:

When the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire went to war—again—young Queen Samara wisely kept her Rogue Coalition out of the conflict. But staying neutral in a galactic war doesn’t pay the bills, not when both sides refuse to trade with neutral sectors.

With her people on the brink of starvation, Samara hatches a daring plan to snatch the kidnapped Kos Emperor from the Quint mercenaries holding him. The Kos Empire will pay a fortune for their emperor’s return, enough to feed the Coalition’s citizens while they wait for the return to a begrudging peace.

But when her plan goes sideways, Samara finds herself evading Quint mercenaries with the very man she intends to capture. And the more time she spends with Valentin Kos, the more she realizes that he’s not the coldly indifferent villain she imagined. Torn between duty and desire, Samara must decide if saving her people is worth giving up the one thing she’s always wanted.

One note: this story is first-draft quality. It will be coming directly from my brain to your eyes, with no other editors involved. If you can’t stand the occasional typo (I do my best, but they’re pesky little things), you might want to skip this one.

Kindle Oasis Decisions

/ Gadgets, Life

First, some background. I love gadgets and I read a lot of books. The Kindle was pretty much designed with me in mind, and we’ve owned Kindles in various forms since the original one way back in 2007.

In the last few years, though, nothing tempted me enough to upgrade from my second-generation Paperwhite. Oh, the Voyage seemed nice on paper, but I played with one in store and it seemed a bit slow. Then the original Oasis hit and it, too, seemed nice, but the price was crazy.

Then a month or two ago, Amazon announced a new Oasis. Bigger screen, waterproof, metal body, (very) slightly less crazy price. Plus the glass front and page turn buttons I’d wanted from the original Voyage/Oasis.

I about broke my finger one-clicking that bad boy. …

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NaNoWriMo 2017

/ Writing

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It’s a month-long event where the goal is to write at least 50,000 words of a novel. For some genres, 50k might be an entire novel, but for a lot of adult fiction it will be half or two-thirds of a novel.

I love NaNo because it gives you permission to make time to write for an entire month. Sometimes all you need is a nudge to get that novel you’ve always wanted to write started. Plus, there are generally tons of meet-ups where you can write with like-minded people who will support and encourage you (and you can return the favor).

This year, I’ll be writing as a NaNo rebel. My goal is to write at least 25k words, split between the serial and book two. …

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Polaris Rising Snippet

/ Snippet, Writing

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Polaris Rising snippet, and Cindy M. asked for a new one, so here you go. I hope you enjoy this little peek at Loch and Ada. Happy reading!

“So eager to be rid of me?” Loch asked. He stood and stalked towards me.

Yes. “No, but the faster I’m off-planet, the easier it’ll be for me to hide,” I said. I ignored his approach and snapped the cot into place.

He stopped close enough that I brushed up against him when I reached up to raise the safety rail. I refused to back away. I met his gaze with a flat stare of my own. …

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F1 Weekend

/ Life
The view from the cheap seats.

We spent two days out in the sun this weekend, watching the Formula 1 practice on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Because we had general admission tickets, we had to get there early on both days to get a good view. It made for long days, but we had fun.

Not my best look.

When Sunday’s race was over, they let fans out onto part of the track. You can walk through the main straight and get a look at the fancy main grandstand seats (complete with shade!) and the pit area. My husband and I stopped for a photo at the start/finish line. He looks great, as usual. I, however, have made a mental note to my future self: remove backpack belt before photos. :)

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