Capture the Sun

Capture the Sun ARC Giveaway!

I can hardly believe it, but we’re just about a month away from the release of Capture the Sun on June 20! It seemed like a few of you might be up for an event, so I’ll be doing a signing at BookPeople on June 25 at 7:00 PM. I’ll do a short talk about something—probably writing related, but who knows, it’s release week, after all—then there’ll be a Q&A, and I’ll sign/personalize books.

I might also read a scene or two, but with the way I get nervous about public speaking, it might sound like an audiobook set on 2x speed. 🙈

I hope I’ll see you there, but if you can’t make it, you can still order signed and personalized books from BookPeople!

As you probably know, Capture the Sun didn’t get printed ARCs this time due to costs. But my fabulous editor sent me four bound manuscripts to give away, so you know what that means: ARC GIVEAWAY TIME!

Want to read Capture the Sun before June 20? Enter to win one of four ARCs.

These aren’t the typical prerelease books because they were printed and bound in-house, but there are literally only five of them in the world (that I know about) and you get a chance to win one of four! They may not be quite as nice as a typical printed ARC, but they are super exclusive. Ooooh. :jazz hands:

Also, if you win, you’ll get to read the book early. :)

If you haven’t yet, now is an excellent time to get your preorders and library purchase requests in!

Capture the Sun Cover, featuring a man and woman in silhouette against a fiery orange sun with a futuristic city in the background.

Acclaimed author Jessie Mihalik returns with the thrilling conclusion to her Starlight’s Shadow trilogy. An intergalactic thief must join forces with the charming teleporter who stole her last job—and may now be her only hope for saving her former crew.

As a recovery specialist, Lexi Bowen’s jobs typically require more trickery and thievery than honest work. Her former captain might not approve of her flexible morals, but stealing artifacts for rich assholes pays the bills, and Lexi’s had enough of war and death. The FHP left her to die once; she doesn’t plan to give them a chance to finish the job.

Unfortunately, her latest contract takes her to Valovia itself—and right back into the orbit of Nilo Shoren, a Valovian teleporter who already cost her one payday and nearly stole her heart.

Armored against his clever charm, Lexi plans to get in, get the job done, and get out. But when her former crew goes missing in Valovian space, Lexi will have to work with Nilo to figure out what happened—and stop it—before the galaxy’s two superpowers can use the disappearance as an excuse to return to war.

Get your copy!
Signed books from BookPeople
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Google Play | Kobo | Bookshop

And now for the giveaway!

To enter to win an ARC, please read and follow the rules below. Incomplete entries will be ignored/deleted.

Edit: Entries closed and winners announced!

  1. The entry period starts now and ends on May 26, 2023 at noon Central Time. You must be eighteen or older. Open to US and international readers. Void were prohibited.
  2. Leave ONE top-level comment (i.e., not a reply to another comment) below and tell me something you’re looking forward to in the next few months (e.g., a new book or movie, a vacation, or the end of school)! And while I hope you’re all looking forward to CTS, please try to pick something else. :)
    1. Duplicate top-level comments will be deleted. You are welcome to reply to other comments, though, because those won’t count as entries.
    2. In order to make a top-level comment, scroll to the bottom of the page for the comment box, don’t use “Reply” on another comment or your comment will be a reply.
  3. Comments must be on the giveaway blog post on my site (www.jessiemihalik.com). Comments on Facebook, Goodreads, etc. won’t count.
  4. Come back after May 26 and see if you’ve won! Four winners will be picked by random number and must actively claim their book. Instructions will be included in the winning post.

Edit: If you don’t see the comment box below, disable your ad/content blockers!

Capture the Sun Event Poll & Snippet

Hey all, happy May! We’re just a month and a half away from the release of Capture the Sun, which is exciting and terrifying. My publisher is talking to BookPeople about possibly doing an in-person signing and Q&A in Austin the weekend after the release (June 25), and I need to know how many people might come.

My initial guess of one person is probably low, but I really have no idea, so I’m running a short poll. You’ll notice this poll doesn’t have a “no” option—that’s on purpose. I know most of you won’t be able to make it, so please only answer if you really think you might be able to come.

And for those of you who are just curious, you should be able to see the results without voting. :)

Edit: Poll closed, thank you!

I have no idea if this poll will work in the email that goes out with blog posts, so you’ll probably need to visit the site directly in order to vote. If, for whatever reason, it still doesn’t work, you can drop me a comment!

And, as payment, here’s a tiny snippet. Seven weeks to go!! 🎉


Nilo fixed us a quick breakfast, which we both ate without comment, then we worked in comfortable silence for a couple of hours until the sun sank behind the trees. I stood and stretched with a groan. Digital research was a necessary evil, but I’d much rather scout targets in person. If Kee were here, I’d happily hand off the digital work to her while I went and poked my nose exactly where the empress didn’t want it.

Homesickness tugged on my heart. It wasn’t a feeling I got often, but when I did, it was always for my time on Starlight’s Shadow. Tavi, Kee, and Eli were family, and while I was usually happy just knowing that they were somewhere out there, doing well, occasionally I missed them with a fierceness that stole my breath.

“If I go outside, am I going to get eaten by a demon?” I asked.

“No, but take your comm. It’s easy to get turned around in the woods.”

I laughed. “Oh, I’m not going into the trees, thank you very much. I can get plenty of fresh air on the porch.”

“The forest is magical at night.”

I shook my head. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll go with you.”

“No, that’s okay,” I said a little too quickly. The last thing I needed was to spend time in the dark in a magical forest with Nilo Shoren. All of my good intentions to avoid temptation would disappear faster than our clothes.


Capture the Sun Cover, featuring a man and woman in silhouette against a fiery orange sun with a futuristic city in the background.

Get your copy!
Signed books from BookPeople
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Google Play | Kobo | Bookshop

Capture the Sun Chapter Two!

Nilo groaned and heaved himself onto his elbow so he could peer down at me.
"You're dangerous."

"I warned you," I said with a laugh. "It's not my fault that you didn't listen."

Preorder Now!
Out June 20, 2023

www.jessiemihalik.com

We’re less than three months away from the release of Capture the Sun, which means it’s time to celebrate! If you head over to the book page, you’ll find a shiny new chapter waiting for you!

Every time I revisit parts of the book, I’m reminded of just how much I love Lexi and Nilo together. She’s prickly, he’s charming, and I adore them both as they stab their way to happiness. This book also wraps up the trilogy arc, so if you’ve been patiently waiting for some much deserved comeuppance for certain characters, your time is nigh (no spoilers!). :)

If you haven’t preordered yet, now is a great time. It’s like a gift to future you! And if you order from BookPeople, you’ll get a signed/personalized book, plus a bookmark and stickers, while supplies last!

Get your copy!
Signed books from BookPeople
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Google Play | Kobo | Bookshop

If preorders aren’t your jam, please consider requesting it from your local library. Many libraries allow patrons to make purchase requests, and often they’ll put you first in line for if/when they buy the book, so wins all around! Plus using your local library shows there is demand, which can help them keep funding, and we certainly need all the libraries we can get right now.

Libraries are the best! I’m reading Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai from my local library right now, and it’s absolutely lovely. I stayed up reading way, way too late last night, and I left the characters in a precarious situation, so I’m desperate to get back to it tonight.

On that note, I’m off to make some words, since despite my best efforts, this book refuses to write itself. It would be so much easier if it would just jump from my brain, fully formed, like a literary Athena. Wouldn’t that be great? Ooh, maybe I could write that story.

Authorial truth: Nothing ever looks shinier than a new project while deep in the middle of a current project. :)

Signed Preorders for Capture the Sun!

If you’ve been waiting to order Capture the Sun until the signed preorder campaign went up, then I have good news! Today, BookPeople added the signed preorder page to their site! Not only can you order a signed and personalized copy of Capture the Sun, but you can also add any of my backlist books (in the same order), and I’ll sign/personalize them all!

Plus, the first fifty-ish orders of CTS will come with a bookmark and stickers!

Capture the Sun BookPeople Preorder! Get a signed/personalized book and a bookmark and stickers that feature the phrase "Steal hearts, punch fascists" with the stylized fox logo of Starlight's Shadow, while supplies last.

When you’re ordering, be sure to put your personalization request in the comments of the order (during checkout). And to make things easy, here are direct links to my backlist books, so you can add them to your cart:

Get your signed copies!
Capture the Sun
Hunt the Stars | Eclipse the Moon
Polaris Rising | Aurora Blazing | Chaos Reigning
The Queen’s Gambit | The Queen’s Advantage | The Queen’s Triumph

Happy Friday, y’all! 💕

Capture the Sun Page Proofs

My inbox held a fun little surprise this morning: the first pass pages for Capture the Sun! This is when my little story starts to really look like a book, because it’s the formatted version that will go to print. For example, here is the title page:

Capture the Sun's title page, with the title text in an outline of a burning sun.
Click to embiggen

Isn’t it pretty?? 😍 It isn’t final final, so it could still change, etc, etc, but it usually doesn’t.

The text also is pretty much done at this point, and I’m limited in the number of changes I can make. But this is my last chance to catch any remaining typos or errors, so I’ll be reading the book straight through one more time. Good thing I adore Lexi and Nilo. :)

It’s funny how brains work (or my brain, at least). Because I read every book I write as a book about four times—before sending in the rough draft, after edits, after copyedits, and during page proofs—and that doesn’t even count all the time I spend writing and editing, and I still forget characters and plot. If I went back and read Polaris right now, it would probably be like reading a whole new book.

It’s the same with books other people have written. I’ve literally read the same book twice (not on purpose!) and only had the occasional thought of, huh, this seems kind of familiar, I wonder what other book I’ve read like this? I look in Goodreads, and lo and behold, it was this exact book.

But I guess it means everything is always shiny and new, so it’s not all downsides. 😂

If you want to hear me talk more about writing and my process, I did an interview with Cosmic Circus and they put it up as a podcast, but you can also just listen in the browser. I did this interview back in October, I think, and I’m pretty sure I was in editing hell, so fair warning: I ramble. But hopefully it’s an enjoyable ramble. :)