We are just under four weeks away from the release of Polaris Rising! I can’t believe it. And to make it even more unbelievable, I am going to have a book signing at BookPeople in Austin, TX on Saturday, February 9 at 2:00 PM!
A book signing! At a bookstore! 😱
If you are local, please, please consider coming. I feel a little bit like one of those MLM people, trying to coerce people into attending, but my nightmare is I show up to a room full of empty chairs. So tell your friends, tell your mom, and heck, tell your friends’ moms. :)
You must buy the book from BookPeople to get it signed, but you can come meet me and hear me nervously ramble for free!
If you are not local, you can still order signed books and BookPeople will ship them straight to your door! Details are available on the event page.
And if you haven’t preordered yet, now is an excellent time. :) Preorder numbers are important for a debut author, so if you’re planning to pick it up on release anyway, it would mean a lot to me if you preordered:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | BookPeople – Signed!
A million thanks to everyone who has already preordered or requested it from the library or told their friends about it. You all are the best! 😍
I’m doing two things to celebrate being less than a month from release. First, I’ve made some quote cards with tiny little snippets of PR. These will go up on Instagram first before migrating to my other social media.
Instagram is new for me and I’m still trying to find my footing, but here is the first snippet! (I’m not using the built-in embed because it’s terrible, but if you click the image, it’ll take you to the Instagram page with a bigger version.)
Let me know what you think!
Secondly, I’m giving away six ARC copies of Polaris Rising! 🎉🚀🎉
Your patience in reading this far was rewarded!
To enter to win an ARC, here are the rules. Please read them all! Incomplete entries will be ignored.
1. The entry period starts now and ends on January 18, 2019 at 12:00PM (noon) CST. You must be eighteen or older. Open to US and international readers.
2. Leave ONE top-level comment (i.e., not a reply) below and tell me about something positive. It could be a promotion at work, getting to spend time with family, a book you love, etc. Let’s put some happiness out into the world. :) Duplicate top-level comments will be deleted. You are welcome to reply to other comments, though, because those won’t count as entries.
3. Comments must be on the blog post on my site (www.jessiemihalik.com). Comments on Facebook, Goodreads, etc. won’t count.
4. Come back after 1/18 and see if you’ve won! Winners must claim their book. Instructions will be included in the winning post.
I’ll start: In addition to all the publishing awesomeness, my husband got a new job he’s excited about, and I recently read The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker. It was really fun. It’s like a high-fantasy Leverage where a determined woman turns a rag-tag bunch of criminals into a team for a crazy plot to save the empire. And it’s free!
Want to leave a comment that’s not an entry? Reply to this one! :)
Good luck with the book signing, I’m sure it will be great! If I lived anywhere near you (I’m in MA) I would definitely be stopping in.
A lot of my favorite authors live in Texas, maybe I should move…
Congratulations on your upcoming release and the book signing (it will be fine!), and congratulations to your husband on his new job. Terrific starts to 2019! :-D
My preorder for PR has been in for ages, so I won’t take up a slot for the ARC (but thanks for doing the giveaway). Really looking forward to reading it, and the snippet ups the anticipation. :0)
Congrats to the husband on the new job and thanks for the book rec, Jessie!
Congratulations on the book signing! Really looking forward to Polaris Rising.
If I lived closer I would so come to your signing! After reading, or trying to read something that was rife with grammatical errors and a lot of “pass” and “passed” instead of “past”, and repeated tense switching it is sooooo nice to anticipate publications from authors like you who can actually WRITE.
My very positive comment – I get to spend time with my family. I’m a SAHM and love every minute.
Unusually warm weather in SW Iowa this month. Don’t know how long it will last, but we love it while it is here!
My positive comment for the day–I just discovered a great new Mexican restaurant in town that tasted like home cooking! I love comfort food!
I just moved from a little cave dwelling basement apartment to a 3rd floor walk up. I can hear the rain patter on my roof, get all the daylight ever and my plants and I are blooming! An Aerie after a Hobbit Hole- I am blessed! My students are adorable, I’ll get to bike to work everyday all tells me this is the start of an excellent year!
I received a promotion this year at my job which I am very excited about. I am also continually impressed with the daycare/preschool that my two kids are attending this year and how they have developed just in the last few months. They amaze me every day.
My husband finally has some time off – he’s a freelancer and has had a contract job for the last year with no paid time off (so he hasn’t taken any days) so we are finally taking a vacation at the end of the month for two weeks! Nothing crazy, just some small day/weekend trips from home, but its going to be so good to spend some quality time together.
I’m so excited to read The Emperor’s Edge, Leverage is my guilty pleasure, they play repeats of it on Ion Mon thru Thurs in the mornings and I watch a couple before work, so thank you for the suggestion.
I’m on the last book of the Moral Engine’s series and though I wouldn’t call it great it is an interesting dystopian concept, and the world building (Cities and towns are mobile and eat each other for resources) is different and well done.
I am getting married next week and going to Disney for the very first time!
Yay, congratulations! 🍾🎊
My positive this week was an awesome birthday card I received from my hubby – he wrote that after 23 years of marriage he continues to be amazed by all I can do and that I’m the best decision he ever made!
Love the quote card – I can remember moments when I’ve done that too!
😍😍😍 Your husband sounds like a keeper for sure. :)
My baby (now 30) had a baby last month and this being a grandma gig is pretty fun.
Just FYI, I’m deleting your other comment since this one was second and had a bit more info. :)
I finished my PhD in aerospace engineering over the summer and this weekend I am having a graduation party! All of my closest friends from high school, college and grad school will be there, as well as my family. I’m excited for all the special people from different areas of my life to meet each other!
Wow, congratulations! That’s amazing! Now you must always introduce yourself as Doctor Alexandra. I totally would if I survived getting a PhD! :)
Congratulations! My daughter got her master’s in aerospace engineering a couple of years ago, and y’all just amaze me.
I’m in Canada, so I can’t come to your signing,,, but I’ll be happy for you.
You’ll be on the best sellers list shortly, I am so happy for you,
My family had a great time together during the holidays and we have our health. I am grateful for each year I get with them and I pray I have many more years to enjoy my time with them.
I’ve just been at a new job for approximately a month. It’s going really really well, and pays better than almost anything else I’ve done!
I just went into my OBGYN and got to hear a healthy, strong 9-week heartbeat for my baby – after two early pregnancy losses, this double rainbow baby is so loved!! Also, I’m REALLY excited for PR to realease!!
Oh my gosh, that’s awesome! Prayers and best wishes to you!
I am glad that I was able to take the whole week of Christmas off work to be with my family and we are all healthy, happy and looking forward to another year!
I GOT A NEW JOB AND WILL BE PAID ABOVE THE POVERTY LINE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE!!!! AND BENEFITS!! AND VACATION TIME!!! Sorry for shouting I’m just so dang excited.
Also yay Canadian readers can win!
CONGRATS! That definitely seems shout-worthy to me. :)
Well, my daughter is starting to make sentences (she’s 20month) and her first sentence was her begging me to read her another story :D as an avid reader I was so very proud
No worries, the comments were coming through, but the caching plugin decided to go haywire and not show them. Turned it off for now and I’ll delete your second comment.
My parents divorced more than 40 years ago. Thanks largely to my wonderful step-mama, we celebrate family occasions as one large group, meaning we never have to choose between mom and dad. At the end of this month we’ll all gather at my dad’s house when my sister comes to town. I consider their willingness to do this a gift to their children.
Loving our (for us!!) wintry weather and the opportunity to actually wear wool!!!!
I’m on the countdown to the birth of our first child. We are so excited. It’s been a long wait.
Also, this giveaway is open to Canadians!! That’s another thing to be happy about in my opinion :)
Congratulations!
A recent positive in my life is I just retired! More time for books!
A recent positive is I reached 1000 reviews on Amazon, a heart cath found nothing, and life is good !
1000 reviews is awesome!
Since I found out about Jessie’s writing on Ilona Andrews’ blog, I have been reading every snippet of Jessie’s that I can! LOVED Queen’s Gambit! While I can’t come to the book signing in Austin (I live in snowy winter wonderland AKA Maine!), I am at least getting out with the American Eskimo pup (Mira is a good hiking wolf!) and we’ve been snowshoeing at lot. I’ve also been photographing the gorgeous snowfall, although dreaming of warmer days, since I’ve had inches of snow on the ground since Nov. 10th! Thanks for writing, Jessie! :)
I was just in Austin for a good friend’s 60th B-day party and had a blast! Her family has property out on the river near Marble Falls and we spent the whole weekend there. We hired a square dance caller for the party and it brought back memories of elementary school square dancing in the gym. It was a great way to start the new year.
I found the right place to leave a comment after 5 minutes of clicking around at midnight- that seems pretty darn positive to me :-)
Aside from that I have the end in sight of a Museum catalogue I’m writing, (65,ooo words ish so far). I’d love to say its done after the Xmas ‘break’ but despite working on Boxing day and onwards for 12 hour/days I’m just not that fast- I keep having to look stuff up! However, the pictures are lining up, the text is getting there and I hope another week will crack it. After that I’ve 2 more articles to write on 19th century Hawaiian barkcloth dresses and Tongan ta’ovala, 18th century waistmats of hibiscus fibre.
Oh, and the cat’s conjuntivitus is getting better and I’ve just ordered the Emperor’s Edge! Huzzahs and positivity all around.
As I have to order from Amazon UK, I doubt you get your clicks, so if you do put up an Amazon UK link, I’d happy get your recommendations that way. I’ve devoured all the others and am eternally grateful for info on new authors.
I’m loving Playing with Fire by RJ Blain at the moment if anyone wants a light hearted romp with uber sarcasm and a heroine that can bitch with the best- she has great ‘hallucinations’ of Chief Quinn [sigh]
My positive is that today I actually scrounged up some willpower to leave my house for the first time this year. I wasn’t all that excited for it, but I did get out, ran some errands, and that is such a win. And despite still not feeling all that great or motivated, I’ve made plans to go out with a friend tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I’ll actually enjoy myself tomorrow!
That’s great, I hope tomorrow (today?) goes well for you!
I started a new job last fall and not only do I love what I do, but all my coworkers get along and we tell each other something positive every day! It’s an awesome work environment!!
A new quarter has started and I’m enjoying working with my eager students!
My favorite podcast couple @BlueGal and Driftglass are celebrating 9 years of podcasting every Friday. I wouldn’t have survived the last 2 years without them to listen to. Check them out at @ProLeftPodcast.
Love the idea of spreading positivity! I’m just happy that it is a new year and a fresh start and anything is possible!
My best friend from university just retired and has moved back to my area. We can meet for coffee & laughs again.
Very jealous, my best friend and I rarely see each other
I had my yearly eye appointment today and my vision had not gotten any worse. Plus no sign of glaucoma so super yea!
I realized this week I had just enough vacation time left to travel and see friends from before I moved, hooray!
I’m just home from a great US / Canada holiday (a white Christmas for us) and discovered this give-away – totally positive.
I also discovered my new favourite mug quote whilst on the holiday. “Be the kind of woman that when you’re feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says “Oh crap, she’s up”.
love the quote, thank you! My new year’s motto methinks
Here in the heart of a hot, dry Australian summer we have had rain! The fire risk is down and our water tank has enough for two months (frugal) household use.
After 6 (yes six) weeks of wheeze and cough and fever and snotfests galore I had my first full night’s sleep for weeks, and reckon I might be getting better. Tomorrow my weeks overdue hair cut and colour will be done and I’ll emerge, youthful, healthy, and vibrant, into 2019! Finally cracked and bought Ilona Andrews last Kate Daniels book, and am going to re-read the whole series before I tackle the last. End of an era! Oh, and we have sunshine here in Oxfordshire, UK – always a benefit in Janaury.
I loved that series too. A lot of fun.
Something good for me,after losing my new job in November I was hired somewhere else in December and so far like it more than the old. So yay :)
I broke a finger playing my weekly indoor soccer game 6 weeks ago. Tonight was my first game back which we managed to win 7-6. It was a really fun game and a great way to start back. Though I won’t be playing goal keeper for a while.
One of the pegs that holds up a shelf in my apartment broke and you might think that is not a good thing but when my landlady came down to give me a new peg her little miniature schnauzer puppy came down with her and I got to pet him :)
If you don’t know what a schnauzer puppy looks like think a dog that looks like an old fashion teddy bear. They are too cute!
Thanks for the book rec! I love Leverage, so your description sold me on it instantly. My positive is that I am now the proud owner of my very first horse :)
Oooh! Congrats! I remember that feeling as if it were yesterday :)
My positive is that my daughter is due any day now with her second child and my first granddaughter (the other 3 are boys, which is also positive but I’m excited for a girl this time)! Also, I tried to pre-order and found that I already had so I guess that’s a positive for you and for Amazon who lets us know that our memories are bad and keeps us on the straight and narrow! Looking forward to reading your book!
My positive is that I just finished creating a wall garden for studio apartment. I don’t have a lot of flat space to place plants, so I finally used cotton twine to suspended them from command hooks on my wall. It makes me very happy to look at my living wall, and, acccording to my hipster friend, I’m very “on trend” a la West Elm, LOL!
My Positive Thing – it`s snowing and everything is so white and pretty today!
I’m currently on a road trip with one of my best friends, and we’re having a fantastic time!! :-D
Had some nice weather in SF today before the next storm rolls through. Also, I got some ice cream from my fav local place and ate it before dinner because I’m an adult ;)
I was accepted to graduate school today. This is my third year applying and the first year I haven’t been rejected. Dreams do come true . . . eventually!
I’m really looking forward to Polaris Rising so thank you for the chance to win a copy! Good luck with your signing too, I wish I could join you but I’m in rainy England so it’s a little too far to travel unfortunately.
My positive news lately is that after a year of stress, hospital visits and family sickness (both my parents and my stepdad were all in the hospital at least once!) everyone seems to be doing so much better now and we were able to enjoy a relaxed Christmas at home. Hopefully 2019 will be a better year all round health wise!
Congrats! I’ve had my pre order in for a really long time so I’m excited it’s getting close!
So I’ve always liked to explore new/different cultures and recently discovered Asian tv-more specifically Korean and Chinese dramas in Netflix. My favorite is Rise if Phoenixes (clunky name I know)
I was completely addicted to this show until the very last episode- I won’t spoil it for you in case anyone checks it out but the ending drove me absolutely crazy as the writers made a character decision that felt super OoC. But the show is still really really good. For Americans not used to watching something different, it did take a moment to adjust mentally to the formality of speech and typical acting methods used by the actors but all I can say is give it a whirl. So worth it.
Mr Sunshine is also really good and approximately 20% or so is in English. Very intense show.
The main reason this is exciting for me is that many of the quirky romcoms are completely PG. so I can watch them with my 8year old daughter (who finds the perhaps overly dramatized reactions just right on laugh meter while the romance is innocent on the parent meter) Accidently in Love on Netflix was a great example of this kind of show. It even had me laughing in some parts at the absurdity and hijinks occurring. So we bond over the show and because it’s completely subtitled my daughter is having to read and not even realizing she’s practicing her reading! In like 3 weeks she went from begging me to read it to her to being able to keep up with the dialogue on her own with occasional questions about the meaning of a word. !!!!! She’s high energy and has always had trouble sitting still long enough for a book to even catch her interest.
As an avid reader myself I honestly never anticipated that my kid wouldn’t immediately share the same intense love but we are finally finding a bridge into sharing some of my favorite worlds with her….I just have to find the movie first and then she wants to book 🤓…progress!
Sorry for the super long comment
Haha, watch out. They get addictive.
Gotta love those book prize pools that suck you in. ;)
First time posting, but I’ve lurked since Queen Rani’s gambit was first getting posted chapter by chapter a while back. I bought the book when I had some extra money and though I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was changed from the webserial I could tell it was different. Still very enjoyable. Looking forward to Rani’s second book.
Positive thing: my mother randomly called me this week and offered to give her massage appointment to me instead of using it herself. Of course I said yes. So thoughtful of her.
I love that we are having a cold and rainy winter for a change. But it was also great to have a surprisingly warm and sunny day today. I got to go to the park with my husband, while the kids were at school, and soak up the sun while enjoying a rare couples time. It was lovely.
We’re going to have a baby boy in a few months!
That’s wonderful, congratulations!
Just finished the new Eon Warriors book by Anna Hackett and it’s amazing, can’t wait for the next one :D. Also it gave me something to do waiting for Polaris Rising, aside off course ftom the Queens Advantage ;)
Loving The Queen’s Advantage and waiting impatiently for Polaris Rising!
Loving the QA and antsy for PR to be released. My positive comment refers to escapist entertainment. So far, I’ve been to the theater to see Aquaman four times. Each time as entertaining as the previous. This isn’t an advertisement for the movie, but I’m just so pleased about the movie because Aquaman was my fav JL character as a young kid living in Florida (not going to say exactly how long ago – lol) many years ago. So, if you’re looking for a 2-hour escape, I’d recommend seeing it.
We settled on our first house yesterday. Moving in this weekend – looking forward to having our own space after years of renting. :)
Thanks for the chance to get the book early, can’t wait to read it.
Positive thing: Started jogging again and that’s been great but was starting to be painful. But then, discovered these calf stretching foot rocker things which are amazing. I’m not much of a stretcher and they have really helped with shin splints and feet pain.
After losing my job earlier in 2018, I journeyed a long difficult road to start a new career. Emotional ups and downs combined with a never give up attitude landed me a job I couldn’t be more happier to have been blessed to get :)
I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time. Thanks for a chance to read it early!
There were many great things about 2018, but I think what I loved about it was that despite intense work pressure, it was somehow the year that gave me vacation goals forever. I managed to squeeze in 4 separate international vacations. My goal for 2019 is to continue the tradition and manage at least half as many trips.
Started the new year off right with a trip to my happy place, Disney World and reading your installments of Queen’s Advantage (Hurrah for awesome authors like you!)
One way to have a good new Year: to find out you are writing the follow up to TQG
My husband is not as fond as travel as I am. Last summer he agreed to go to Ireland and Wales with me for a 30th anniversary trip. It was fabulous. Last week he asked where we are going next.
I like and love my family. I’m very lucky for that.
Thanks for running this giveaway!
In the past few weeks I reconnected with many old friends. We’d drifted apart over the years and it felt so natural to get back together. It feels really great to re-build relationships.
I have a really great neighbor-friend who walks and talks with me in the cold mornings before the sun (and my kids) wake up. Yay for excercise and adult conversation!
We’re going to Seattle next weekend to see friends and family. Yay!
My father was discharged from hospital on Dec 14 after over 2 months in the hospital where he underwent surgery to remove an abscess on his liver. He was home for Christmas and is improving every day! Today during his follow-up appointment with the liver surgeon, they said they did not think he would make it (he was very weak from the infection and given his age – 76). So it is a miracle he is alive today!
I am late to the party but I just started watching Killing Eve Sunday and it’s sooo good! I haven’t watched much new TV lately and this really sucked me in. I’m four episodes in. Sandra Oh deserves all the awards she’s been getting!
Last night I got to hang out with my little sister. We watched The Room and the Disaster Artist. We are pizza and laughed our heads off. It was so fun hanging out with her since we’ll both be in separate cities soon. Gotta squeeze in as much family time as we can.
I’m planning my trip to Ireland for this fall! It’s been at the top of my bucket list since childhood, and I’m finally getting to go!
I have been very lucky since I have been able to spent the Christmas Holidays at home and enjoy just being with my family and friends.
And now I’m looking forward to Polaris Rising!!
My father willing be turning 94 on January 23, and we’ve been celebrating his birthday since before Christmas. He loves chocolate, so we have found many delicious ways to celebrate! (Hurray for Ghirardelli, Lindt, and all the other purveyors of heavenly comestibles!)
I read a great book last night with my cat on my lap and had a cup of tea delivered to me by my sweetie as I was suffering from feline paralysis! :D
Tragic, that feline paralysis. It happens a lot here too with a 5.2kg ginger monster that makes your legs go numb. Happy suffering!
My cats are loving but not overly demonstrative about it. I was sick over the weekend and laying in bed feeling blah and all of a sudden I have a little furry purring friend laying in my lap, purring up a storm and butting my hand every time I paused in petting him. Was lovely 😊
A positive note for myself that was unexpected was to receive a bump up in my pay grade level at work. Sweet!
Something positive – my sister just got a new kitty and she’s very cuddly!
We recently moved to Tennessee and I’m loving it. Also, we installed a fireplace and I’m sitting here watching and enjoying it so very much! Nothing like a fireplace and a purring cat on a cold night.
I started a new job that has a lot of opportunities for advancement. I’m turning 40 in Feb and planning to go to a local zoo where I am arranging to hold a baby two-toed sloth, a baby servel, and several other baby animals. Finalizing vacation plans for May with my mom and sister. Plus there are a ton of books I’m looking forward to such as Polaris Rising (of course), Wild Country by Anne Bishop, and Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian to name a few.
My best mate for nearly twenty years is a lovely guy, he’s also professionally successful and a great cook. He was single for years and just never seemed to meet the right girl (Why do we seek out the bad guys??). He finally met someone nice last year and this last week they got engaged. I’m so happy for both of them, that they are bringing each other such obvious and constant joy, that their temperaments match so well & that they’re already starting to build their future and dreams together. Best start I could ask for to a new year, when all about us is scorn, hatred, disinformation and hardship!
I will have grand daughters hugging me all weekend. I will impart deep wisdom gained from having eight very tall brothers. There may or may not be a small toy clown mysteriously discovered in the shower just to hear the shrieks of faux outrage. Thank you Mariana Zapata for the suggestion.
I began to transition from a professional practice to a totally unrelated business in which I have always been interested