LEDA BYRNE IS NOT TO BLAME is Available for Preorder! So Let Me Tell You About The Cover...

In case you missed it my HIMBOS follow up, LEDA BYRNE IS NOT TO BLAME, is now available for preorder.

Which means it has a cover.

Spoiler alert: I love it. And I think you will, too.

But first, the inspiration.

For a good portion of the time I was writing Leda Bryne, the story started with Leda rescuing Grant, her love interest, aka, Himbo Prime: the one who opened the door for Ellie Hayes at the beginning of Himbos. Grant had decided that he should overcome his fear of the water and go for a swim at Barton Springs early in the morning, so there would be fewer witnesses if he made a fool of himself. Alas, there are also no lifeguards at this time, so when he panicked, Leda had no choice but to leap into action. It was very exciting and probably the closest I'll ever get to writing an action sequence.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/e09cb4_7664c51a6c4b4524b5302262b390540b/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

For the uninitiated, Barton is of the best parts of living in Austin. A spring-fed natural pool, one acre long, 68 degrees year-round, and free between the hours of 5 and 8 AM. That’s swim-at-your-own-risk; no lifeguards. I was onto something with that opening, I swear.

As proud as I was of the Barton-set opening, something about it wasn't working. I finally gave up on that entry point, which required cutting half of the words I had written a mere handful of weeks before the book was initially due and, as you may recall, resulted in my body EXPLODING with stress hives. However, I did find a new opening to the story. I also received an extension. One of two. (Or...three?)

After the change, Barton was still featured and referenced throughout the book. So when the first cover designs came in, we had an interpretation of the new opening and a Barton-inspired option.

The first one was fun, but I immediately connected with the side-by-side approach.

And after changing from palm fronds to Central Texas foliage, it was on to color selection.

The pink float was a no-brainer, but the deck was too dark for my tastes. It looks like Kit-Kats? Also, my hero is a UT graduate. A maroon-striped towel? A Longhorn would NEVER.

So we split the difference! My wonderful cover artist, YY Liak added a little more muscle definition for Leda, plus beefed-up her shoulders (she is a lifelong swimmer) and gave her slightly larger sunglasses (a personal preference). And we were done!

Wasn't this worth the wait? It's GLORIOUS! I want to bedazzle it so badly.

Isn't it stunning? And I had to kep this to myself (mostly) for months! It was a struggle. Fortunately, there were edits to tend to and, naturally, a reveal to plan.

I knew early on that I wanted my cover reveal to play with the division between the water and the deck, but I wasn’t sure how. Solid pink pool floats were impossible to find, and while Austin is the land of all things orange and white, fully recreating the cover with the towel and float would require more skill than I possess. And probably a drone, which I also do not possess.

Enter my unreasonable attachment to paper crafts.

This isn't a very good photo but I thought the post could use something in landscape.

 When I was growing up, there was a store at the Biltmore Shopping Center in Phoenix that sold animation cells from old Looney Tunes shorts. Oh, how I pined for a genuine Chuck Jones piece! I never did get one. Sigh. But that thirty+ years-old appreciation sparked an idea in me. I don't have the patience for painting, but I am patient enough to devote an hour to meticulously cutting out many letters and figures and gluing them to plexiglass!

After that, it was off to Barton Springs for a photoshoot!

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I also have a Canva subscription. I'm not particularly competent with it, but I definitely got my $15-worth this month. And with a little extra help from the Instagram Edits app (this isn't an add, it's just a useful tool that I'm also not super great with) I even put it to music, which you may or may not be able to experience below, because I'm also not super great with my own website. It's on my Instagram page, anyway. It's a very fitting song.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/e09cb4_21d3f67897b2492fa5f809b1b6a1cf5e/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

And there we have it: the inspiration, the process, the cover, and the reveal.

All that's left is the (pre)ordering. And, of course, the several months' wait. But fear not! I'll be back with more book fun well before April 6, 2027 ;)

Until then, have a great one!