Book Tour: The Haunting Near Battlefield Ridge by Rita Monette...

Welcome to the 1-week book tour for The Haunting Near Battlefield Ridge!!

“I never believed in ghosts… until I met Oggie.”

About the Book:

Nikki Landry and her friends discover strange white smudges in photos Patti’s grandmother had snapped at an old gravesite. No one can explain what they are.

Did Nikki’s little brother mark them up with a piece of chalk? Did a low-lying fog move in just as she snapped the photos? Could it be just a smear on the camera lens?

Spikes insists it’s a ghost.

Then Mrs. LeBlanc remembers a legend her grandfather told her of a spirit that haunts the small family cemetery located near an old Civil War battle site. 

Will Nikki and her legend busting gang discover it’s just an old tale, or does the ghost really exist? If so, why is he there? What does he want?

Join Nikki and her friends as they go searching for the answers…and the truth behind the Haunting near Battlefield Ridge.

Exclusive Excerpt:

It was Saturday afternoon, and close to the time for the Legend Busters to meet up in our clubhouse.

Patti had grabbed a dishtowel full of fresh baked cookies as we left her house and headed to the treehouse.

“You go on up,” I said. “I’ll run inside and get us something to drink.”

I slammed the screen door as I ran into our small houseboat. Mama faced the kerosene stove as she scrubbed the soot off it.

“Nikki, do you have to slam that door every time you come through it?” Mama yelled over her shoulder.

“Mama, can I have some iced tea?”

“Meeting time, huh?” She pointed to the half-full jug of sweet tea left over from our lunch, a small piece of ice still floating among some lemon slices.

“Yes,” I said excitedly and grabbed the jug. Mama always kept a big chunk of ice in the icebox in the corner, but I didn’t ask for any, since the tea was still cool to the touch. Papa didn’t go to town for ice every day, so we had to make it last.

“Can I go to the meeting?” my little brother Jesse asked.

Jesse knew he wasn’t allowed in my clubhouse, but he always asked, just in case I might change my mind. I knew he snuck up there sometimes when I wasn’t around, because things would be messed up as only a five year old can do.

“Nope,” I yelled as I slammed the door behind me with my foot.

By the time I got to the top of the ladder, I heard Spikes’ bike coming down the road. He put baseball cards in the spokes to make it louder. Spikes was the most annoying friend I had, but I tolerated him on account of how he was always up for an adventure and wasn’t afraid of anything.

I pulled out some canning jars from the chest we kept our stuff in and poured four glasses half full, leaving the jug empty. Patti tore out four sheets of notebook paper and laid ’em on the make-shift wooden table like placemats. Our furniture was hard to keep clean on account of we didn’t have much of a roof. The birds made a mess on it every day. She divided the cookies on top of the sheets

I got our log book out and readied myself to tell the boys about our next mission, as we sipped our iced tea.

Spikes made it to the top of the ladder while I watched the bayou for any sign of Tim, who usually came in his pirogue.

“What’s up, Tomboy?” Spikes yelled.

Spikes always called me that ever since we met on my first day of school in Morgan City. He said it was on account of me climbing trees and not being all girly and stuff. In return, I called him Buzzard. He sorta looked like one with his long neck and big nose

I grinned at him.

“Okay, you got something up your sleeve, I can tell.” He snickered as he grabbed a glass of tea and took a sip. “Boy, that’s good. It’s hot as all get-out.” He pulled at his damp shirt

“We got Grandma to look at those photos,” Patti said, jumping in to the conversation.

“Wait until Tim gets here,” I said. “We don’t want to tell the story twice.”

“So, there’s a story behind them photos?” Spikes eyed her while he gulped down the rest of his drink. Seeing the large jug was empty, he reached for the last glass.

“That’s Tim’s,” I said. “Eat a cookie.”

“There sure is,” Patti said.

“I knew it!” he shouted, while sticking his hand in the empty jug to pull out a slice of wilted lemon. “It’s a ghost, isn’t it?” He sucked on the piece of yellow peel. “Did she see it? Where was the photo taken? We gotta get on out there as soon as possible.”

Make sure to visit all of the tour hosts and leave comments about the book, read the guest posts, and enter the giveaway!!

https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/2020/04/book-tour-schedule-haunting-near.html

Book Details:

Publisher: Mirror World Publishing; 1 edition
Publisher Website: Mirror World Publishing

Publication Date: April 17, 2020

ASIN: B085MMZLFF

Purchase Your Copy:

Mirror World Publishing eBook

Mirror World Publishing Paperback

Amazon

Meet the Author:

Behind Every Legend Lies the Truth!

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant for the State of Michigan, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and draw. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. The Haunting Near Battlefield Ridge is the fifth book in her Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series. Rita now lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.

Social Media Links:

Website

Facebook

Amazon

Goodreads

Blog

Enter the Giveaway:

Winner's choice of a Kindle copy of one of the books in Rita Monette's Nikki Landry Swamp Legends series. Go to Amazon to learn more about the books in the series

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Cover Reveal: The Haunting Near Battlefield Ridge, A Nikki Landry Swamp Legend by Rita Monette...

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for The Haunting Near Battlefield Ridge!!

About the Book:

“I never believed in ghosts… until I met Oggie.”

Nikki Landry and her friends discover strange white smudges in photos Patti’s grandmother had snapped at an old gravesite. No one can explain what they are.

Did Nikki’s little brother mark them up with a piece of chalk? Did a low-lying fog move in just as she snapped the photos? Could it be just a smear on the camera lens?

Spikes insists it’s a ghost.

Then Mrs. LeBlanc remembers a legend her grandfather told her of a spirit that haunts the small family cemetery located near an old Civil War battle site. 

Will Nikki and her legend busting gang discover it’s just an old tale, or does the ghost really exist? If so, why is he there? What does he want?

Join Nikki and her friends as they go searching for the answers…and the truth behind the Haunting near Battlefield Ridge.

Book Information:

Publisher: Mirror World Publishing; 1 edition
Publisher Website: Mirror World Publishing

Publication Date: April 17, 2020

ASIN: B085MMZLFF

The Cover:

Pre-Order Your Copy:

Amazon

Meet the Author:

Behind Every Legend Lies the Truth!

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant for the State of Michigan, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and draw. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. The Haunting Near Battlefield Ridge is the fifth book in her Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series. Rita now lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.

Social Media Links:

Website

Facebook

Amazon

Goodreads

Blog

YA Book Tour and Guest Post: The Mystery on Lost Lagoon; A Nikki Landry Swamp Legend by Rita Monette...

FIRST PAGES by Rita Monette...

How important are the opening pages of your novel? VERY important.

First of all, you must keep in mind that busy agents and publishers will usually judge your writing and your book by the first few pages, and oftentimes by page one!

Also, readers, who might be grabbed by your title, tag line, and your cover blurb, still will judge whether they want to continue to read on by the first chapter, or even the first page. So you’d better work really hard at getting it right.

How do you do that? you might ask. Well here are some well worn tips to accomplish that.

Prologue or no prologue…that’s a good question.

Although there are quite a few great books on the market that use prologues to introduce their novel, many experts agree, that a good rule of thumb is to leave it off.

Instead of telling the reader your character’s background and motivations, use your writing skills to weave that information in, letting your reader figure it out.

I’ve been told most readers don’t bother to read prologues anyway. I know I don’t like them. I usually want to jump right into reading the story. So just jump right in writing it. But where DO we start?

Tension is the key.

Every movie-goer knows that the first scene of a film usually begins with a huge car crash, guns blaring, or a murder, then jumps back to why on earth all this went on. Many books begin this way also. But wild action isn’t always the key. Most times it’s tension.

On page one, feed the reader some intriguing questions they will surely want the answers to. What is your character doing, saying, observing, or thinking that makes the reader want to know what’s going to happen next, or what the character plans to do about the situation at hand?

The Character.

The reader will want to know something about your main character. What is he about? What does he want? Is he relatable or liked enough for them to want to know more and to invest the next few hours of their time in. What is he doing in that first scene that tells us something about his personality, his ambitions, his goals? First impressions count.

The Setting.

Give the reader an idea of the setting on that first page also. Where is your character? Is the time period important? What is the season? Is it hot, cold? Don’t let the reader have to figure that out as he reads along.

The Hook.

This seems like a lot to cram into a first page, but you want to draw the reader in from the very start. It’s called the “hook.”

Sometimes it takes many re-writes to get those elements in effectively.

Feedback.

Get an honest opinion from a person or persons…typically not your mother or spouse. Join a critique group or a group like Critique Circle.

About The Mystery on Lost Lagoon:



Legend has it… if you go onto Lost Lagoon, you never return.

Nikki Landry and her friends are off on a quest to track down the prehistoric-looking bird that’s been flying around a nearby swamp island. However, their plans get sidetracked when they meet a stranger in their small town who seems to have some secrets to hide.

The sleuthing group soon learns of a legend about a hidden lagoon. Is it all connected? Before they can find out, they are kidnapped by a mysterious scientist on a mission of his own.

Is there any truth to the legend that says if you go onto Lost Lagoon, you will never return? Is the eerie whirlpool that sits waiting to suck you in really a passage to another world?

Join Nikki, her friends, and one neurotic parrot, as they discover the truth behind the Mystery on Lost Lagoon.

Follow the Book Tour:
https://saphsbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2017/11/schedule-mystery-on-lost-lagoon-nikki.html

Book Details:

Age Level: 6-12
Publisher: Mirror World Publishing; 1 edition
Publication Date: November 17, 2017
ASIN: B076TVWSZ7

Purchase from Amazon

Purchase from Mirror World Publishing

Read an Excerpt:

The August air was steamier than a pot of boiled crawfish. Tiny bugs danced like fairies on the gumbo-colored bayou. Cypress trees on a nearby swamp island dipped their moss-draped branches into the still water, trying to stay cool. I had been sitting in my new tree house for days, trying to catch a cool breeze and pondering on how to turn a plain old fort into an official club house, when I decided what it needed most of all was furniture. My friend Spikes had come over to help me build some. He was pretty good with tools.

“I saw that strange bird again.” Spikes stood beside me with a hammer in his hand.

“What bird?” I asked, busy with trying to arrange some old boards in the shape of a table, just before they collapsed into a heap. “Drats!” I folded my arms in front of me.

“You have to lay them on the floor, Tomboy,” he said. “We need to nail them together first.”

“So you have to build it upside down?” I wiped the sweat off my brow with the back of my hand.

Spikes’ real name was Spencer Sikes, but I’d never heard nobody call him that ’cept for his grandpa. He was twelve years old, a whole year and a half older than me. I couldn’t imagine being almost a teenager. Me and him argued a lot, but we always stayed friends. He told me once he only liked me ’cause I wasn’t like other girls, and could climb trees, and didn’t mind getting dirty. He sometimes called me Tomboy instead of my real name, Nikki.

He grinned, showing his broken front tooth. “Yeah.”

“We need some nails.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of bent nails. “I was over at my grandpa’s yesterday. We took a boat ride out to Flat Lake, and I saw it flying around Pelican Pass, see.”

“Saw what?”

“The bird.” He sounded annoyed. “You know, the one that makes that screeching sound. The same one we saw over in Mossy Swamp.” He sat on the floor and began straightening the nails by laying ’em on their sides and tapping ’em with his hammer.

We had gone out to Mossy Swamp back in June trying to find out about a legendary monster, when we saw a big bird swoop down and make a horrible noise. Spikes had been bringing it up ever since...and I had been trying real hard to ignore him.

“Oh yeah.” I twirled the hair at the end of my braid. “The one you said looked like a dinosaur or something.”

“A pterodactyl,” he added. “Actually, the real name is pterosaur, see, which is a species of flying reptiles. So technically it isn’t a bird at all.”

“Why do you read all that stuff?” I sat on my bare heels across from him.

“It’s just interesting.” He squinted at me like it should be something I should be curious about.

Spikes was not very good at school work, and barely passed his classes, but he loved to read when it was something that caught his interest. In fact, he could become pretty darned obsessed on a subject he liked, usually ghosts or pirates. Seemed his new obsession was prehistoric creatures.

“So, what about it?” I asked, stacking my boards to the side. “I ain’t caring about no reptile-looking bird, unless it was to come after me or my dog.”

“I watched it fly in and out of the pass near Rabbit Island. I think it must have a nest near there,” he said, still banging on his nails. “And actually…according to a book I got from the library…their average wing span can get a little over twenty feet.”

“How big is twenty feet?” I asked, still not much caring as long as it stayed in the swamp where it belonged.

He looked around, then pointed. “Oh, longer than your houseboat, there.”

I poked out my lips. “You’re telling a fib, Buzzard. It wasn’t that big at all.”

“Well, it might just be a young one,” he said, “and you know what that means?”

I didn’t answer. He could go on and on forever, like he had something caught in his craw.

Buzzard was a nickname I gave him on my first day at Morgan City Elementary. He looked just like one sitting up on that great big branch of the coolest tree in the school yard. It was our first argument, on account of I had already claimed that branch for my own lunch spot. He learned real quick that I wasn’t the type to give things up that easy, and since nary one of us like to be called names, we only did it to annoy each other. Sometimes we could go for days using each other’s rightful names.

“That means its mama might be lurking around out there in that swamp, see.” His eyes got real big, like he actually wanted it to be so.

I gazed at him sideways. “Spikes you do know those things are extinct, don’t you? Miss Allgood taught us all about the dinosaurs last year. She said they’ve been gone since the Ice Age. That means it got too cold for ’em to survive. So there.”

“Well, I ain’t saying it is prehistoric or anything.” He nailed the boards together. “I just said it looks like one.”

“Oh, I see. Well, it’s probably just a big pelican anyway. Hey, can we stand the table up yet?”

“Not yet. We need braces on these legs so it won’t fall down. Go over to Nana’s shed and get me a couple smaller boards while I straighten some more nails out.”

Meet the Author:

Behind Every Legend Lies the Truth!



Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her “real” job as an administrative assistant for the State of Michigan, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and draw. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. The Mystery on Lost Lagoon is the fourth book in her Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series, which is based on her childhood. Rita now lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.

Connect with Rita:

Website: 

http://www.ritamonette.com

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/RitaMonetteBooks/

Amazon US: 

https://www.amazon.com/Rita-Monette/e/B00APOURBI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1508786247&sr=8-1

Goodreads Author Page: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6580833.Rita_Monette

Blog: 

http://ritamonette.blogspot.ca/

Publisher Website: 

http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com

Book Blog Tour: The Secret in Mossy Swamp by Rita Monette...

Things are never what they seem... in a foggy Louisiana swamp

Book Information:

Title: The Secret in Mossy Swamp

Series: Nikki Landry Swamp Legends, Book 3

Author Name: Rita Monette

Genre(s): Juvenile/Middle Grade, Adventure, Mystery

Length: Approx. 204 pages

ASIN: B01KIQNDD6
ISBN Paperback: 978-1987976168

Release Date: Septemer 17, 2016

Publisher: Mirror World Publishing

(http://www.mirrorworldpublishing.com/)

Follow the Blog Tour:

http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/book-tour-schedule-secret-in-mossy.html

About The Secret in Mossy Swamp:

Living in a tiny houseboat, Nikki is stuck with sharing a room with her little brother, Jesse, who does what little brothers do best…torture their sisters. Fed up, she decides to build a place of her own…a tree house where no boys are allowed. Meanwhile, something strange is happening on Bayou Platte. Things and people are coming up missing…and little stick dolls covered in moss, known locally as “signs” from the legendary Rougarou, are showing up in their place.

Is the Rougarou really to blame? Can Nikki get to the bottom of the mystery before things get worse? Find out in this third instalment of the Nikki Landry Swamp Legends Series!

Exclusive Excerpt:

Mama came into the room, holding her worn cotton housecoat together in the front. “What’s all the commotion?”

Papa chuckled. “Jesse’s giving Nikki a hard time.”

“He snuck up and grabbed me in the dark, Mama.”

“Oh, Nikki, he’s just playing around,” she said. “He’s just a baby.”

“Why does everyone take up for him?” I folded my arms in front of me. “He’s not a baby. He’s a pest, that’s what he is.”

Jesse giggled and ran toward his cot, where he’d shaped his blankets to look like someone was lying under ’em. “I really scared you, didn’t I?” He made a growling noise and jumped onto his bed. “Did you think I was the rougarou?”

I threw my pillow at him. “No.”

“Did that howling wake you?” Mama asked Jesse as she tucked him in.

“Nope. I ain’t scared of no how’ing dog.” Jesse still struggled with his L sounds.

“That wasn’t no howling sound anyway.” I poked my lips out. “It was more like some old pig a-screechin’.”

“Well, y’all quiet down.” She handed me back my pillow. “Papa’s gotta get some sleep. He has to get up early in the morning.”

Add the Book on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31622394-the-secret-in-mossy-swamp

Purchase Links:

Mirror World Publishing ~
Paperback: http://mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com/collections/juvenile/products/the-secret-in-mossy-swamp-paperback

eBook: http://mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com/collections/juvenile/products/the-secret-in-mossy-swamp-e-book

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cbkPHy

Meet the Author:

Behind Every Legend Lies the Truth!

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. She loves to write stories set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. She is currently retired and lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee. Besides writing and illustrating, She enjoys participating in festivals and craft shows where she does face and body art, along with selling her books.

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/RitaMonetteBooks

Amazon:  

http://amzn.to/2d0B4aF

Goodreads Author Page:  

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6580833.Rita_Monette?from_search=true

Blog: http://ritamonette.blogspot.com/

Author Website: http://www.ritamonette.com/

Cover Reveal: The Secret in Mossy Swamp by Rita Monette...

Nikki Landry is at it again! She's found the truth behind The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, foiled The Curse at Pirate's Cove and now, in this third installment, launching September 17th, 2016, she's going to find The Secret in Mossy Swamp. 

Rita Monette is both author and illustrator of this middle grade series about legends in the Louisiana bayou. Having lived there herself as a young girl, she captures the voice of 10-year old Nikki Landry perfectly and takes you to a world of swampy bayous, houseboats, and mysterious legends. This time, Nikki is going head to head with the legend of the dreaded Rougarou.

It's going to be an awesome adventure, but you don't need to take my word for it. Here's the cover and blurb:

  

The Secret in Mossy Swamp by Rita Monette

Things are never what they seem... in a foggy Louisiana swamp

Living in a tiny houseboat, Nikki is stuck with sharing a room with her little brother, Jesse, who does what little brothers do best…torture their sisters. Fed up, she decides to build a place of her own…a tree house where no boys are allowed. Meanwhile, something strange is happening on Bayou Platte. Things and people are coming up missing…and little stick dolls covered in moss, known locally as “signs” from the legendary Rougarou, are showing up in their place.

Is the Rougarou really to blame? Can Nikki get to the bottom of the mystery before things get worse? Find out in this third installment of the Nikki Landry Swamp Legends Series!

This Middle Grade Adventure is expected to launch September 17th, 2016! 

You can also pre-order this book in Mirror World Publishing's store:

http://www.mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com

Book Review: The Curse At Pirate’s Cove by Rita Monette…

Rita Monette has done it again with her middle grade adventure Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series! In her second instalment, The Curse At Pirate’s Cove, Monette weaves a very different tale where Nikki and her friends get into a heap of trouble via time traveling. Now that’s a genre right up my alley!

The author also includes a glossary of Cajun words at the beginning of her novel, as well as sources for further research in the “author’s notes” section at the end of her book. Monette certainly bridges the past with the present in her latest swamp romp! So what’s my take on a story set in a place that can conjure up some pretty scary images? This is what I posted on Amazon and Goodreads…

Rita Monette’s latest romp in the swamp is a 4 Star Winner!

Be careful what you wish for—it might come true! Rita Monette’s first book, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island in her Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series may have transported us back to Louisiana, circa 1956, and into Nikki Landry’s world, but Monette’s sequel The Curse At Pirate’s Cove took it to the next level of adventure by taking us time traveling in the Louisiana bayous. A carefully-crafted story about friendship, the power of belief, and finding the truth, Monette continues to serve up her unique brand of literary gumbo with a flavor of down-home Cajun dialogue, and wonderful illustrations. In this story, 11-year-old, Nikki makes a wish which starts a chain reaction that sends her, her friends, and her dog Snooper into Louisiana’s past to deal with a curse, a lost treasure, and a nasty crew of pirates. Hold onto your hat, matey, it’s gonna be a bumpy Cajun ride!

The Curse At Pirates Cove would be a great addition in any classroom setting to learn and study about the history of Louisiana, and what it was like for the Cajun people during the middle of the 20^th century. My stomach is already grumbling for Ms. Monette’s next Nikki Landry Swamp Legend installment due out September 17^th, 2016, through Mirror World Publishing.

Tagline and Blurb:

“When one man’s treasure is another man’s curse"

Nikki Landry is turning eleven years old, and is looking forward to riding her bike to school. That is until it falls apart. Papa can’t afford a new one. Is she doomed to ride the smelly old school bus from now on?

Hearing of an old pirate ship, and a legend about long-ago pirates burying treasure on a nearby swamp island, Nikki sees a way out. But when she makes a birthday wish for the pirate’s gold, things go terribly wrong. Did her wish trigger an ancient curse?

Join Nikki and her friends as they find themselves sailing away aboard a haunted schooner with ghostly pirates into the Gulf of Mexico … and into the year eighteen fourteen.

How will they ever find their way back home?

Purchase Links:

Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1HG1d39

Mirror World Publishing:
http://mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com/collections/adventure/products/the-curse-at-pirates-cove

Chapters:
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-curse-at-pirates-cove/9781987976021-item.html?ikwid=Rita+Monette&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-curse-at-pirates-cove-rita-monette/1120806662?ean=9781987976021

Meet the Author:

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. She loves to write stories set in the

beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state.

Her middle grade series, The Nikki Landry Swamp Legends, is based on tales told by her father—who made his living in those bayous—of reasons to stay out of the swamp.

She currently lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee. Besides writing and illustrating, she loves watching the many birds that make their habitat on the Cumberland Plateau, working in the garden, and frequenting waterfalls.

Connect with Rita Monette:

Website  http://ritamonette.com

Twitter  https://twitter.com/RitaMonette

Book Tour: The Curse At Pirate's Cove by Rita Monette...

Follow the Tour for Reviews, Guest Posts, Exclusive Excerpts, and Spotlights!

“When one man’s treasure is another man’s curse"

Book Information:

Title: The Curse at Pirate’s Cove

Series:  Nikki Landry Swamp Legends, Book 2

Author Name: Rita Monette

Genre(s): Middle Grade, Adventure, Mystery

Tags: Middle Grade, Adventure, Pirates, Bayou, Louisiana

Length: Approx. 208 pages

E-book:  978-1-987976-02-1
Paperback:  978-1-987976-01-4

Re-Release Date: Nov.17, 2015

Publisher: Mirror World Publishing



About the Book:

Nikki Landry is turning eleven years old, and is looking forward to riding her bike to school. That is until it falls apart. Papa can’t afford a new one. Is she doomed to ride the smelly old school bus from now on?

Hearing of an old pirate ship, and a legend about long-ago pirates burying treasure on a nearby swamp island, Nikki sees a way out. But when she makes a birthday wish for the pirate’s gold, things go terribly wrong. Did her wish trigger an ancient curse?

Join Nikki and her friends as they find themselves sailing away aboard a haunted schooner with ghostly pirates into the Gulf of Mexico … and into the year eighteen fourteen.

How will they ever find their way back home?

Pierre Part Louisiana

by Rita Monette

I have been spending the last few weeks in my home state of Louisiana, promoting my books and visiting relatives.

Today I visited my brother in the small town of Pierre Part, Louisiana, which also happens to be the home of Troy Landry of the Swamp People TV series, and where my series, The Nikki Landry Swamp Legends, begins. No, Nikki is not kin to Troy—at least I don’t think so.  

The town is about as Cajun as anywhere in Louisiana. Folks there make their living in the bayous, where crawfish, crabs, and alligators are plentiful.

However, I came across one man that makes his living gathering old cypress and turning it into artistic creations. His name is Adam Morales. He says he is blessed to be able to see things in the old remains of cypress trees. Here are a couple of his creations... 

Many folks in Pierre Part still live in houseboats, just like they did back in 1956 where my stories begin.

This week is the release of book two, The Curse at Pirate’s Cove, which is set in the nearby town of Morgan City, and in the Atchafalaya Swamp, where Mr. Morales collects the cypress for his artwork. 

Follow the Tour:

http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/book-tour-schedule-curse-at-pirates.html

Purchase Links:

Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1HG1d39

Mirror World Publishing:
http://mirror-world-publishing.myshopify.com/collections/adventure/products/the-curse-at-pirates-cove

Chapters:
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-curse-at-pirates-cove/9781987976021-item.html?ikwid=Rita+Monette&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-curse-at-pirates-cove-rita-monette/1120806662?ean=9781987976021

Meet the Author:



Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. She loves to write stories set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state.

Her middle grade series, The Nikki Landry Swamp Legends, is based on tales told by her father—who made his living in those bayous—of reasons to stay out of the swamp.

She currently lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee. Besides writing and illustrating, she loves watching the many birds that make their habitat on the Cumberland Plateau, working in the garden, and frequenting waterfalls.

Social Media Links:

Website  http://ritamonette.com

Twitter  https://twitter.com/RitaMonette

Set Sail with MG author Rita Monette’s newest Nikki Landry release…

Batten down the hatches! The pirates are coming!  

The Curse at Pirate’s Cove, the second installment in the Nikki Landry Swamp Legend series, is due to be released next month, on November 17. 

It was previously scheduled for October 17, but was postponed due to unforeseen problems. 

But Nikki and her friends know exactly what the problem was…it was those pesky pirates…and the curse. Yes, they’ve been at it again. 

Here’s a description of the book and what’s going on with Nikki in book two:

“When one man’s treasure is another one’s curse.”

Nikki Landry is turning eleven years old, and is looking forward to riding her bike to school. That is until it falls apart. Papa can’t afford a new one. Is she doomed to ride the smelly old school bus from now on? 

Hearing of an old pirate ship, and a legend about long-ago pirates burying treasure on a nearby swamp island, Nikki sees a way out. But when she makes a birthday wish for the pirate’s gold, things go terribly wrong. Did her wish trigger an ancient curse?

Join Nikki and her friends as they find themselves sailing away aboard a haunted schooner with ghostly pirates into the Gulf of Mexico … and into the year eighteen fourteen. 

How will they ever find their way back home? 

Here’s an excerpt from the book: 

“How do you know it’s a pirate ship?”

“It has to be, Nikki. Listen.” He turned toward me. “I was out at Uncle Luke’s this past weekend, and he told me all about it.”

“I ain’t believing there’s no pirate ship out in those swamps.” I lifted my chin.

“Just hear me out, Tomboy.” He sounded impatient. “There’s a legend that goes along with it, see.” He leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “There might even be a curse.”

“A legend?” He had my attention. I prided myself in being a super legend buster ever since I solved the one about Ghost Dog Island last year. I even got my picture in the newspaper. “Well, tell me about it.”

“I’m trying to.” He waved his hands in the air.

We propped ourselves against a couple of large limbs and got out our lunch bags.

“Uncle Luke says he first heard about it back when he was a kid. He says a friend of his grandfather, by the name of Beco, was out trapping on Fog Island with his buddy Clamare. They came across this here hole in the ground with a half-buried wooden chest, see. It had a big old lock on it. There was a couple of coins in the dirt, so Clamare picked them up and slipped them in his pocket. Beco decided he’d go back for some tools and shovels to dig the rest of it out, and told Clamare to stay there and watch the chest. On his way out to the edge of the island, he saw this ragged old ship. Thinking it was kind of odd looking for being in the swamps and all, he got a little closer. It had a broken mast and raggedy sails.” He poked me with his elbow. “When was the last time you ever saw a fishing boat with sails?”

I shook my head. “Never.” I unwrapped a peanut butter and jam sandwich and took a bite. “What’d he do?”

“Well, he started to board it, see?” Spikes dug into his own lunch bag. “But then he heard some talking coming out of the boat. He stopped right then and there, ’cause he didn’t know who might be on that old wreck out in the middle of nowhere, and there weren’t no other boats around. This one had a big old hole in the hull, so it couldn’t have sailed there on its own. At least anytime in recent history.”

“Then what?” I licked some of the jam off my fingers.

“Then someone stuck his head up over the bow, see. He had on one of them three pointed hats that pirates always wore. Old Beco yelled a big hello, and the man took out a pistol and shot over his head. Well, Beco took off right then and there. That night, he went down to T-Noon’s bar and got drunk, and told some other fellows about it. The next day, they all went back out to the island with shovels and brought guns just in case that crazy guy in the boat was still there.”

“Was he?” I asked.

“Nope. The ship was gone, and so was Clamare.”

“What about the treasure?”

“They never could find it. Not even the hole it was in.”

About the author:

Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. She loves to write stories set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. 

Her middle grade series, The Nikki Landry Swamp Legends, is based on tales told by her father, who made his living in those bayous.

She currently lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee. Besides writing and illustrating, she loves watching the many birds that inhabit the Cumberland Plateau.