Set along Georgia's Golden Isles and the Carolina coast — where history runs deep and the tide keeps its own time.
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"You remind me of Pat Conroy's writing. The descriptions of St. Simons surroundings and the characters in your book draw you into 1873 living on the island."— Jill Sluder · Amazon Verified Reviewer
Two worlds. Two stories. Each begins with a free short story — yours when you join the list.
A free short story · Saint Simons Island, Georgia
A Christmas Eve story at BluffLight. A stranger arrives carrying little more than a name and an old sorrow. Jesse and Jonas open the door.
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A free short story · Cape Fear River, Southport NC
Meet Nora Banks before everything changed — before the marina, before the job, before she learned what silence can cost.
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BluffLight Series · Book 1
A widow. A lighthouse. A second chance on Georgia's Golden Isles.
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Nora Banks Thriller · Book 1
A sunken boat. A family secret. And a harbormaster who won't let it stay buried.
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Blake Gunnels writes fiction set along the Southern coast, in places he has returned to for years — the marshes of Saint Simons Island, the waterways of coastal North Carolina, the harbors and barrier islands where history never stays buried for long and the landscape leaves its mark on everyone who lives beside it.
By trade, he is a landscape architect. His working life is spent helping restore worn places — communities, resorts, and coastal properties — and helping them find their way back. That same instinct runs through his fiction: the belief that second chances matter, that places carry memory, and that most people are trying, in their own way, to find solid ground.
When he is not writing or designing, he is somewhere on the water with Tammy, looking for the next unmarked trail and the perfect margarita.
He is the author of By the Light of the Bluff and the Nora Banks Cape Fear Thriller Series.
Contact Blake: blake@blufflight.com
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"By the Light of the Bluff is a powerful, sweeping narrative that will capture the reader's attention from the very first lines... The lighthouse, with its powerful beam cutting through the darkness, was the perfect analogy for the way the caring and loving community of Saint Simons managed to cut through Jesse's darkness and flood her doubts, suspicions, and life with love and light. I highly recommend this read."
— Grant Leishman, Readers' Favorite"A beautiful, well-written story of growth, strength, and resilience. Couldn't put the book down — a true inspiration to those who struggle with regaining inner strength."— joann m ciaffaglione · Amazon Verified
"Made you feel as if you were on St Simons and part of the island life. This book will have you thinking about the characters long after you put it down."— Amorton · Amazon Verified
"I couldn't wait to know the ending but was enjoying the book so much I didn't want it to end. I'm looking forward to the sequel."— Linda B · Amazon Verified
The coast remembers more than it shows. These are stories about what surfaces — and what doesn't.
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