diff --git a/event.go b/event.go
index 844925b..d9f6d44 100644
--- a/event.go
+++ b/event.go
@@ -43,10 +43,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 // Event Stringer interface, just returns the raw JSON as a string
-func (evt *Event) String() string {
-	if evt == nil {
-		return "null"
-	}
+func (evt Event) String() string {
 	j, _ := json.Marshal(evt)
 	return string(j)
 }
diff --git a/event_aux.go b/event_aux.go
index 3cac60f..710b5f8 100644
--- a/event_aux.go
+++ b/event_aux.go
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/valyala/fastjson"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/valyala/fastjson"
 )
 
 func (evt *Event) UnmarshalJSON(payload []byte) error {
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ func (evt *Event) UnmarshalJSON(payload []byte) error {
 
 	obj, err := parsed.Object()
 	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("event is not an object")
+		return fmt.Errorf("event is not an object: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// prepare this to receive any extra property that may serialized along with the event
diff --git a/log_debug.go b/log_debug.go
index 175aecd..084eb19 100644
--- a/log_debug.go
+++ b/log_debug.go
@@ -8,17 +8,33 @@ import (
 )
 
 func debugLog(str string, args ...any) {
+	// this is such that we don't modify the actual args that may be used outside of this function
+	printableArgs := make([]any, len(args))
+
 	for i, v := range args {
-		switch v.(type) {
-		case []json.RawMessage:
-			j, _ := json.Marshal(v)
-			args[i] = string(j)
-		case []byte:
-			args[i] = string(v.([]byte))
-		case fmt.Stringer:
-			args[i] = v.(fmt.Stringer).String()
-		}
+		printableArgs[i] = stringify(v)
 	}
 
-	DebugLogger.Printf(str, args...)
+	DebugLogger.Printf(str, printableArgs...)
+}
+
+func stringify(anything any) any {
+	switch v := anything.(type) {
+	case []any:
+		// this is such that we don't modify the actual values that may be used outside of this function
+		printableValues := make([]any, len(v))
+		for i, subv := range v {
+			printableValues[i] = stringify(subv)
+		}
+		return printableValues
+	case []json.RawMessage:
+		j, _ := json.Marshal(v)
+		return string(j)
+	case []byte:
+		return string(v)
+	case fmt.Stringer:
+		return v.String()
+	default:
+		return v
+	}
 }
diff --git a/relay.go b/relay.go
index e9e0c20..c3f15fc 100644
--- a/relay.go
+++ b/relay.go
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ func (r *Relay) Publish(ctx context.Context, event Event) (Status, error) {
 	defer r.okCallbacks.Delete(event.ID)
 
 	// publish event
-	message := []interface{}{"EVENT", event}
+	message := []any{"EVENT", event}
 	debugLog("{%s} sending %v\n", r.URL, message)
 	if err := r.Connection.WriteJSON(message); err != nil {
 		return status, err
diff --git a/relay_test.go b/relay_test.go
index d381f57..832bc7a 100644
--- a/relay_test.go
+++ b/relay_test.go
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ func parseEventMessage(t *testing.T, raw []json.RawMessage) Event {
 	}
 	var event Event
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(raw[1], &event); err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("json.Unmarshal: %v", err)
+		t.Errorf("json.Unmarshal(`%s`): %v", string(raw[1]), err)
 	}
 	return event
 }