As I've told many, I accidentally made a book. Early on into an attempt to research every possible bit of history surrounding me in the Charleston area of South Carolina, I quickly realized that false history, of course, surrounded us, as well as the blatant folklore. Being a person who grew up obsessed with both Halloween and adventurous tales of pirate buried treasure presented by various media, I knew I wanted to look into all of that as well - was was rumored and believed to exist around me within my field of pirate history. To be honest, this began as a personal document for myself, a simple file in a folder. While pirate history has been compiled many times in many ways, so too has folklore - sometimes by region, often by county or city, other times by other themes. This being said, only the most famous and in-depth rumors get published time and again, with lesser known claims falling to the wayside and forgotten, originating in newspapers dating back hundreds of years, or perhaps only kept alive via word of mouth by the locals of a particular area and never appearing in a publication. Bottom line was that it was a mess. It was all over the place. Trying to keep tabs on all of it was a nightmare, so, for my own sanity I began compiling everything. Of course I could tell which ones were ridiculous and false that conflicted with actual pirate history, so I created my own notes as reminders to myself the various ways that things conflicted or were neat relevant points. The file grew in size quickly. To 20 pages, to 40, to 70. This was in 2018.
       That's when I realized I'd actually been writing a book, on a topic I was well-versed in, and that I had an online relevant audience. There was no reason to hoard this information, I surmised many would be interested in the work I'd already put in, and honestly, this was a book that I lacked in my own personal library of pirate books. I couldn't purchase this to fill the void, which I've also heard is a good indication that perhaps you should be the one to do so if possible. I'd been subconsciously writing a book that I wished existed. While a number of folklore works contained the odd pirate-relevant tale, they were hardly "pirate books." Treasure hunting books most often tackled diving shipwrecks, were by no means "pirate-centric," and if they were they of course omitted the premise of haunted lore. Coincidentally enough, the two often go hand in hand, well, at least when linked with pirates. The initial scope of the book, South Carolina, quickly became the Carolinas as research continued, and then finally the Southeast Coast, as I wanted to put out something thicker in page count, and significant on a shelf. 

       The book took nearly 5 years for me to research, complete, and release. Admittedly this was my first publication and I had to learn the process. Not to mention I was also simultaneously working on book 2 as well, Pirate Ghosts & Buried Treasures of the Northeast Coast, which at this moment is still being completed - but I am optimistically looking at a 2024 release date. Since the late 2023 launch, my book has been met with amazing feedback and I'm thrilled the with the amount of sales and people interested in my work. And since the publication I've stayed busy traveling and marketing the book at historic sites and museums. For those who have supported me thus far, I can't thank you enough.