For Immediate Release

Contact: Headline Books, 1-800-570-5951 / 304-789-3001 email: cathy@headlinebooks.com

Subject: Pirates the subject of “breath-taking” novel

(Terra Alta) “Avast me ’earties,” rings from the pages of this gripping adventure by first time novelist, Pavanne LeJeune Pettigrew. One More Breath is a fast-paced pirate tale that you can’t put down. Headline Books announces the release of its first novel under its new fiction imprint, Publisher Page. One More Breath will be unveiled at Book Expo America in Washington, D.C. May 19-21 where it will be featured in the New Title Showcase.

“Keep your eye on this one,” says company president, Cathy Teets. “Author Pettigrew, ‘Long Hair LeJeune’ as she is known to her pirate compatriots, is a startling writer with full command of the English language and will keep your attention from start to finish. You will close this book and ask, ‘Where’s the next one?’”

Pavanne Pettigrew breaks onto the literary scene running with this one. During the Golden Age of Piracy, Captain “Blackjack” Bellamie, a buccaneer of Romany descent, is wounded while fleeing the King's men. He struggles into the hinterlands of Jamaica to the mansion of Lady Chloe Smyth Caruthers, widow of the island's lieutenant governor. Before he has recovered, though, Chloe and her small staff learn that an intensified manhunt for him will soon be at their door.

The pirate cannot remain at the estate, yet he is not strong enough to travel alone, so Chloe, who has fallen in love with him, elects to flee with him on foot through the wilderness. They are profoundly changed by their brief relationship and the agonizing dilemma that follows, but rather than solving problems, their separation complicates and even endangers both lives.

“At first I thought this was your standard bodice-ripper, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story is well written and engrossing. The tale of Blackjack Bellamie drew me in and I didn't want to put it down,” writes Michael Lampe, publisher of No Quarter Given magazine and actor whose film credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

From the hills of Appalachia to the orchestra of an opera, in addition to amassing several college degrees, Pavanne LeJeune Pettigrew has worked as a microbiology lab technician, a veterinary technician, a dental assistant, and an over-the-road tractor-trailer driver.

A native West Virginian, Pettigrew has lived in the Charleston area for the past twenty years, having moved to the capital city to pursue a career as a professional musician and university music instructor. She was also the classical music critic for The Charleston Gazette for a number of years. Since 1990, after receiving her Master of Science degree and making a career shift, she has been an environmental geologist in hydrologic and groundwater protection for mining.

A childhood experience with a band of Gypsies established a life-long fascination with the Roma that is manifest in nearly every piece of fiction she writes, as is an obsession with pirates and the romance of the tall ships that is almost as long-standing. She is currently working on her next novel.

In addition to finding this book in your favorite bookstore, readers may also order direct from the publisher: Headline Books, P O Box 52, Terra Alta, WV 26764, 800-570-5951 PublisherPage.com and/or HeadlineBooks.com

Reviews and Comments

“Pavanne LeJeune Pettigrew has written a moving love story about two people from wildly different backgrounds that unexpectedly discover a new life together. Anyone who enjoys a story of adventure and passion will have a thoroughly entertaining read.”—David Selby, actor, author and fellow West Virginian [Film credits include—White Squall, Dying Young, Up the Sandbox Rich and Famous, Surviving Christmas, Raise the Titanic]


“I was astonished to discover this was Ms. Pettigrew's first book! I rapidly became fully engaged with her characters —feeling the insect bites as they struggled through the jungle, seeing the stars and feeling the deck sway on a quiet night at sea, and experiencing the passion of their love. This is a "must read" for anyone interested in the sea, pirates, or just plain old adventure!”— Michael I. Stratton, President, Viking Age Vessels, Inc.

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