We were told, quite firmly: “Don’t go there.”
So naturally, we built a truck, packed four dogs, and went anyway…
After months of writing, rewriting, and reliving every questionable decision, I’m finally able to share something a bit more visual…
The cover of my upcoming release; From B to A: Britain to Albania – The True Story of an Overland Van Life Adventure Through Europe to the Balkans – With Dogs
The first book in my Never Mind The Balkans series, From B to A: Britain to Albania will be released as an eBook and Paperback on 1st May 2026. The ebook is currently on pre-order across most markets at the special pre-launch price of 99p/99c.
After launch, it will return to its normal list price of £2.99/$3.99.
This book follows our journey in The Beast – our sixteen-tonne, self-built truck – taking the long way through France and Italy to Albania. No motorways, no rush – and absolutely no guarantee that things would go to plan…
And, of course, they didn’t!
The cover needed to capture that balance: the humour, the adventure… and the sense that this might not be the most sensible idea we’ve ever had.
At the heart of it all are The Beast and The Fab Four – our four dogs – because this isn’t just a road trip. It’s a dog-filled, slightly chaotic, overland expedition where even the simplest decisions may not turn out as expected.
I wanted something bright and bold. Something that would stand out as a thumbnail, but also hint at the story inside: a mix of wild landscapes, unexpected detours, and the occasional moment where things got a little bit too real.
Since the lady who designed the fabulous covers for my Adventure Caravanning With Dogs series retired, it’s been a long and protracted search for the perfect book cover designer.
For the first time, I’ve used MiblArt, a Ukraine-based book cover design studio whom I’ve been following for some time. They have a very useful blog newsletter for indie authors, and created my author logo. Known for creating bold, market-savvy covers at an affordable price, I felt that working with MiblArt would not only mean that I got a design in keeping with my genre and audience, but also supporting a talented creative team operating in challenging circumstances.
Seeing it all come together has been one of those “this is actually happening” moments.
I’d genuinely love to know what you think – does it feel like the kind of journey you’d want to be part of?
More soon… including a peek behind the scenes at how the cover came together.
About the Book
From B to A: Britain to Albania: The True Story of an Overland Van Life Adventure Through Europe to the Balkans – With Dogs follows on from my award-winning Adventure Caravanning With Dogs series and multi-award-winning Wayward Truck series. Each volume is a stand-alone road trip adventure, although the books are consecutive in time, following our adventures since we gave up work almost a decade ago to hit the road and live our dreams.
April is Drop Everything and Read Month!
My books make pawfect Easter presents for the dog/travel/RV-lovers in your life. They have fewer calories than chocolate – and are the gift you can open again and again!
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We’re currently at large in The Beast, a self-converted 24.5 tonne Volvo N10 Army Truck.
It looks fabulous! Congratulations 🎊
Sally
Winner of the Greek-Australian Cultural League’s 2024 Book Award for Prose in English More info at http://www.SallyJaneSmith.com http://www.sallyjanesmith.com/ Subscribe to my free Journeys in Pages newsletter https://sallyjanesmith.com/newsletter/ or let’s connect on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JourneysInPages/, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/journeysinpages/ or Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/journeysinpages.bsky.social
I’ve never been to Albania but if I went there I would fly, not drive in a converted truck with four dogs. It is quite impressive and a great adventure. Congratulations on your upcoming book.
I think you’re probably more sensible than we are, Thomas 🙂
Thank you very much for reading and commenting. xx
I am not sure. You are having great adventures.
Great cover! I love all the graphics. Congratulations! If I have to make one slight complaint is that the subtitle is quite long. But I’m sure you played with many different versions. It’s always so hard to pack everything in one sensible subtitle.
If it were up to me (but of course it’s not), I would delete the parts “van life” and “with dogs”, since those seem obvious in the picture and/or the rest of the title.
Thank you for the feedback, Liesbet. There’s always conflicting advice about subtitles – recent articles I’ve read suggest longtail and packed with keywords, so I thought I’d give it a go…
It’s always difficult to know what to do for the best!
i hear you! Plus, you actually know what you’re doing since you research!! (I don’t.)
Yay Jackie. I love it. I always enjoy your books so I’m preordering right now! 🥰
You’re a star, Debby! Thank you so much xx
The pleasure is mine Jackie. xx
I do like the cover of your new book, especially the way the dogs are merrily romping alongside the Beast. I wonder, though, how the Beast didn’t sink the ferry to Albania? 🙂
Tee hee – it was quite a big ferry, and compared to the articulated pantechnicons who joined us on the vehicle deck, she was actually quite small 🙂 She got tucked into a corner and was first on, last off!
🤣👍
Love the cover, can’t wait to read it
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
Thank you, Don. I hope you enjoy it when you do xx
Fun illustrations for your covers, a good choice using that studio.
Thank you! it’s taken a few years to find the right designers to work with, but I think it’s paid off in the end. Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Janet 🙂
I’ve ordered the book.
Thank you so much for ordering my book, Janet. I hope you enjoy it once it arrives 🙂
Congratulations, that’s fantastic. I think the cover sums it up perfectly!
Thank you so much, Glenys. I shall pass your comments back to the designer. I am thrilled with the cover, and they definitely deserve the praise 🙂
The cover looks fabulous! Well done.
Thank you, Darlene. I think the congratulations go to Miblart, who interpreted my completely unartistic brief so beautifully 🙂