You’ve seen this mock-up cover before, one I created myself with the limited tools and knowhow I had available. But now the professionally produced cover for my newest story is ready to be revealed!

A lot changed in the process, including the title!

You may remember that in my previous post I was debating the pros and cons of choosing a title that seemed perfect but had been used before: A Bug’s Life. Well, I finally decided to give this unique little story a title all it’s own – one I liked just as well in the end.

So here’s the official book blurb followed by the new cover – first time seen anywhere:

A charming story, perfect for all ages! In A Bug’s Tale, a VW Beetle named Leonard relates his remarkable saga, travelling from the showroom floor to the bottom of a lake and beyond. But at its core, this is really an unconventional love story about the enduring bond between a special car and a girl who had the vision to see past his ordinary exterior to the warm heart beating inside. Leonard might just make you believe that, yes, some cars do have souls.   

I hope you like the cover and agree that it conveys a sense of whimsey, as I intended to match the story.

Weighing in at about 60 pages, I’m calling A Bug’s Tale a novelette. It should be a perfect, light, change-of-pace summer read for an afternoon at the beach or on the plane as you wing your way to whatever exotic vacation spot you have planned. I don’t yet have a publication date, but it will be out somewhere around the middle of June.

PS – Even though this is obviously not a Jane Austen Fan Fiction piece, I couldn’t end this post without a JA quote, as is my custom. No quotes about cars being available, I selected a Regency equivalent:

Thorpe’s ideas then all reverted to the merits of his own equipage, and [Catherine] was called on to admire the spirit and freedom with which his horse moved along, and the ease which his paces, as well as the excellence of the springs, gave the motion of the carriage. She followed him in all his admiration as well as she could… she readily echoed whatever he chose to assert, and it was finally settled between them without any difficulty that his equipage was altogether the most complete of its kind in England, his carriage the neatest, his horse the best goer, and himself the best coachman. (Northanger Abbey, chapter 9)