Snippet – Page 3 – Jessie Mihalik

Eclipse the Moon Cover Reveal & Snippet!

December 13, 2021 / Author News, Eclipse the Moon, Snippet, Writing

The cover for Eclipse the Moon is here, and it’s absolutely lovely!! Am I awful to tease you with this when Hunt the Stars isn’t even out yet? Yes. Am I doing it anyway? Also yes. :)

The cover will be going up on retailers soon, and I wanted to ensure you all got the very first peek at it! Behold:

Eclipse the Moon cover, featuring a man and woman in silhouette in front of a purple background with an alien planet. — Click to embiggen

Eclipse the Moon will be out in July of next year, so it’s not too long of a wait after HTS. I’m not putting the cover copy here just in case anyone wants to avoid all spoilers for HTS (they are very generic/minor), but you can find it over on the book page behind a spoiler tag.

If you’d like to get your preorder on, here are some handy links for you. (And thank you!!)

Now, for a teensy snippet. This is not at all spoilery for book one, so enjoy this little peek at Kee and Varro!

I checked on the other plants, making sure they were healthy and strong. I talked to them as I worked, telling them how nice it was that they were growing food for us, and how pretty they looked with their green leaves and strong roots. It was mostly happy nonsense, but I’d read an ancient study that said plants did better when they were spoken to, and I tended to anthropomorphize them anyway, so talking to them came naturally.

I noted the tomatoes and other veggies that were ready for harvest and put them into the log so Tavi would know what was available for dinner. If she didn’t harvest them tonight, I would pick them tomorrow and put them in the galley for everyone to enjoy.

By the time I was done, several hours had passed. I hadn’t heard a peep from Varro, so I hoped he had fallen asleep. With nothing else to do, I approached the arbor on soft feet.

Varro’s head was tipped back, his breathing deep and even. I hesitated for a moment, then slipped into the arbor and sank into the chair beside his. I stared at the leafy vines overhead and enjoyed a moment of peace as the sweet smell of honeysuckle drifted around me.

“You talked to the plants,” Varro said, his voice low and rough. I bet he sounded just like that in the morning, sleepy and rumpled after a night in bed.

Heat crept into my cheeks at the imagined visual, and I redirected my thoughts to a safer subject. I peeked at him, but his eyes remained closed, so I went back to staring at the ceiling. “I thought you were asleep.”

“It’s harder to sneak up on me than you might imagine. Your approach was quiet but not that quiet.” After a pause, he added, “But the talking was nice.”

“It’s supposed to help the plants grow better, and it gives me something to do.”

“I enjoyed listening to you. It was soothing.”

I laughed quietly. “Most people would disagree.” I rolled my head toward him with a grin. “Have you considered that you may be part plant?”

“Mmm,” he murmured without opening his eyes, “perhaps that is why I’m drawn to sunshine.”

I glanced at his sun-kissed skin before reminding myself that he wasn’t for me. I purposefully kept my tone light. “Well, it’s hard to get sunshine in a spaceship, but you’re welcome to hang out in here with me for the rest of the week and pretend. If you want, I’ll even babble at you like you’re a plant.”

He slanted a glance at me, his eyes dark and fathomless. “I would enjoy that. Thank you.”

And don’t forget, you still have time to enter to win an early copy of Hunt the Stars! See the linked blog post for details. Happy holidays!

Hunt the Stars Snippet, Take Two

November 2, 2021 / Hunt the Stars, Snippet, Writing

Let’s try this again! Turns out, I’d shared yesterday’s snippet before (thanks to LucyQ for the catch!), which is what I get for trying to blog while the A/C people were in and out of the house, asking questions and taking over the office.

But now all of our duct work is now done, and hopefully our office will no longer be a sauna in the summer. Of course, it’ll probably be next summer before we find out if it worked, but if nothing else, we have a new, highly efficient air conditioner with a fancy allergen filter. Maybe cedar season won’t be so miserable this year.

Enjoy the new snippet, and if you’d like to preorder, I’ve left some handy links below. :)

The door to the garden slid open, and Torran made a soft sound of surprise. “This is the garden,” I said. “Keep an eye out for Luna. She likes to hang out in the corner.” I waved to the back corner with the little green arbor.

When Torran didn’t say anything, I turned around. His face was alight with something like longing before he caught me looking and wiped the expression away. “This reminds me of home,” he said simply.

I wavered, torn, then my damn traitorous heart made the decision for me. I knew longing. “Come on, it gets better.”

I led him to the arbor and gently swept aside the hanging vines. Luna was on her perch, curled into a ball with her nose tucked under her tail. Apparently she thought a nap in the greenery was better than a tour with Kee. The burbu opened one sleepy eye and chirped at me. “Go back to sleep,” I said softly. “We’re just going to be here for a minute.”

Torran stood frozen behind me, so I pointed at one of the chairs. “Sit there and relax while I gather some herbs. It helps.”

He folded his long frame into the low chair and for the first time, I saw some of the tension drain out of him. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. When he wasn’t busy glaring at everything, he really was beautifully built. I let the vine curtain fall closed before my wayward thoughts got me in trouble.

Normally, gathering basil was super quick, but I puttered around the garden for ten minutes before harvesting what I needed. I returned to the arbor and peeked inside. Torran had slouched down in the chair and Luna was curled up on his chest, purring, while he gently stroked her with one hand.

A riot of emotions clamored through my system.

Sprawled in the chair like an indolent king with his distinctive Valovian eyes closed, he looked like a heartbreakingly handsome man who had been conjured from the ether specifically for me. And the illusion didn’t shatter as much as I thought it would when he cracked one eye, his expression as open as I’d ever seen it. “Finished?”

…

Hunt the Stars Snippet, Take TwoRead More »

Hunt the Stars Edits Are Done! Here’s a Tiny Snippet!

May 17, 2021 / Hunt the Stars, Snippet, Writing

This morning, I sent off my edits for Hunt the Stars. I added about 6k words, bringing the total manuscript to just under 113k, which falls right between Aurora Blazing and Chaos Reigning.

This was a pretty fast edit for me because I usually plan for about a month, and I finished in under two weeks. I’ve now read this story more times than anyone should, and I still love it, so I hope you all will, too.

Bree, half of writing duo Kit Rocha, read an early copy (before I was done editing, even!) and had a few very nice things to say about it over on Twitter, including, “Ok I just finished my early copy of Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik and somehow it’s my favorite thing she’s written yet, it’s AMAZING…” which made my whole weekend, y’all. 💕😭

Here’s a little snippet of the first chapter to celebrate turning in edits. This hasn’t been finally approved or copyedited, so it’s still subject to change, but I won’t tell if you don’t. :)

And, in case you missed it, HtS is now available for preorder. The cover isn’t up yet, but I’ve seen a rough draft and it is IN-CRED-I-BLE! 😍 I can’t wait to share!

I leaned against my ship’s cargo ramp and watched with narrowed eyes as four soldiers in Valovian armor stalked through the landing bay. This was a human station in human space—Valoffs shouldn’t be here. Yes, we were at peace—for now—but both sides had made it clear that they preferred it when everyone stayed in their own sectors.

The soldiers moved from ship to ship. At each, the group leader spoke to the ship’s captain for a few minutes before continuing on. They moved like Valoffs rather than like humans wearing stolen armor, so I raised my mental shields as they approached. It wasn’t easy for a human to learn to shield against Valovian abilities because we had no natural defenses, but I’d learned the hard way during the war. Certain death provided excellent motivation.

The leader was male: tall and muscular, with thick, black hair, dark eyes, and skin a shade or two lighter than my own golden tan. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place him. He was encased in layers of synthetic black armor from neck to feet, and I knew from experience that it would deflect all but the strongest plas pistols and blades. It had exactly two weaknesses, and you had to be within reach to exploit either of them.

The group stopped several paces away, but even at this distance, their leader looked almost human. In general, Valoffs had a wider variety of hair and skin color and were a little taller than humans, with a slightly finer bone structure. However, their eyes were the biggest giveaway. Their irises were often threaded with multiple vibrant colors, and they had better-than-human night vision. They spent a lot of time in the dark—days on Valovia were only ten hours long.

…

Hunt the Stars Edits Are Done! Here’s a Tiny Snippet!Read More »

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a Loch POV snippet!

February 12, 2021 / Polaris Rising, Snippet, Writing

Loch POV Snippet! Happy Valentine's Day! with a picture of the POLARIS RISING cover.

I know many of you have been yearning for a little peek into Loch’s head, so because this is the month of love, I decided to deliver. Happy early Valentine’s Day!

And if it also helps me procrastinate on the projects that I’m supposed to be working on, well, win, win. 😘

If you haven’t read Polaris Rising yet, then this snippet probably won’t make much sense. But you’re in luck! PR is on sale for just $1.99 this month (international pricing will vary), so if you want a copy of your very own (or if you know someone who would enjoy it), now is an excellent time to pick it up.

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

This snippet is from early on, when they are first escaping from the mercs and Rockhurst, in chapter three and four. Happy reading!

The princess was having a nightmare—again. I intentionally banged my hand against the console, which had been enough to rouse her out of her dreams before, but she just whimpered and continued to shift in the cot.

“Ada, wake up.”

She ignored me. I tried to return the favor, but she made another small, hurt sound, and it was all I could take. I might be a monster, but I wasn’t the kind who let others suffer when I could prevent it.

I unclipped from the captain’s chair and cautiously approached the cot. I didn’t think she was faking, but I’d been burned too many times to lower my guard now.

The blankets were twisted around her body and she clutched a sheathed knife in one hand, her knuckles white around the handle. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who slept with a blade close, but I wondered what had happened to make the daughter of a High House so cautious.

…

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a Loch POV snippet!Read More »

Write, Write, Write… and a Snippet!

June 29, 2020 / Snippet, Writing

It’s gray out today. I’m hoping we get some rain and that it knocks down the Saharan dust that’s been hazing the sky and irritating my lungs. The fun game of 2020 is: allergies, Saharan dust, or Rona? So far, it’s always been one of the first two. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

I’m busy writing both New Shiny (pitched as Hunted, but that title may change) and The Queen’s Triumph. I also had an opening scene idea for another Consortium story, which I have less than zero time to write, so it’s not coming anytime soon (like, at all!), but I did share the first line on Twitter, so for those of you who don’t follow me, here it is:

Ferdinand von Hasenberg looked like he had aged five years in five weeks.

Ooohhh. 😂

I’m not quite sure whose book it is, and the opening is a bit dark, but it was cathartic to write a short little scene.

This week, I’m mostly working on New Shiny. The book isn’t coming for a thousand years (okay, more like 18 months), but here’s a tiny little snippet. Don’t tell anyone, okay? 😉

Rough draft, subject to change, etc, etc.

The restaurant Torran had chosen was one of the nicest in the area. It was the kind of place two CEOs would meet to discuss mergers and acquisitions. The few patrons I saw from the entrance were well heeled and well dressed.
The maitre d’ flicked a glance from my head to my feet—including my visible weapons—and then did the same to Eli, who sported even more weapons. Her gaze stopped on his face and she just stared for a second before she remembered to smooth her expression. “May I help you?”
I suppressed my smile, well aware of how Eli affected some people. “I’m meeting someone in the private dining room.”
“Your name?”
“Tavi Zarola.”
She made a subtle gesture and a young man in a black and white uniform appeared beside her. “Please follow him.”
I inclined my head in thanks. Eli and I followed the young server deeper into the restaurant. We skirted around the main dining room which was broken into small, intimate spaces with nooks and alcoves, the best of which had a view of the floor-to-ceiling window.
The velvety dark of space was dotted with distant stars and a faint nebula smudged color across the wide expanse. I knew the window was at least as strong as the metal and composite of the rest of the station, but it looked delicate and fragile. And standing next to it, staring out into the black, one was reminded just how precarious our place in space truly was.
The server led us down a short, secluded hallway. He swung open a wood-paneled door and gestured us inside. Torran sat on the far side of a long table. Behind him, the floor-to-ceiling window offered the same breathtaking view as in the main dining room.
An advanced antireflective coating meant I could still see outside even though the room was far brighter than the view beyond the window. It also meant that I couldn’t use the window as a mirror to see anyone who snuck up behind me. If I sat across from Torran my back would be to the door.
A glance around the room revealed that Torran’s group had lost a member. The two remaining Valoffs stood behind Torran and remained hidden behind their armored helmets, so I didn’t know if these were the same two who had accompanied him in the landing bay or not.
Torran took in my weapons with a sweep of his gaze. His expression shifted but before I could identify the emotion driving the change, he smoothed it away. “Thank you for joining me, Lieutenant Zarola,” he said stiffly. “Please have a seat.” He gestured at the chair in front of me, the one directly across from him.
“It’s Captain Zarola now,” I corrected. “I’m no longer part of the FHP military.” And instead of sitting in the indicated chair, I moved left and sat at the head of the table with a wall at my back. Eli stood a step behind me on my right. We both had an unobstructed view of the door and the rest of the room.
“I’ve got eyes on you,” Kee said through our group comm. “I’ll let you know if any surprises show up.”
The server who had led us to the room hovered by the door and Torran begrudgingly turned to me. “Would you care for something to eat or drink?”
The air I was breathing was the only thing I could afford in this restaurant, and that was only because they hadn’t figured out how to charge for it yet. “No, thank you.”
Torran waved the young man away, and the server bowed and withdrew. He closed the door behind him, leaving me trapped in a room full of enemies, so I decided to go on the offensive. “Have you reconsidered your objections to my standard boilerplate?”
Copyright Jessie Mihalik. All rights reserved. Coming early 2022 from Harper Voyager.