Luke Pittaway

Every day, I get to walk past the Little Professor Bookstore in Athens, OH. As a local author, I have my book featured in their window. It’s the highlight of my day to see my book, Yamacraw Bluff, in that window. However, I get even more joy when it isn’t there, meaning somebody has purchased it.

Gaining positive reviews for a book is always a major motivator to carry on writing. I am delighted to have maintained a perfect 5-star rating on Amazon for Yamacraw Bluff after 17 reviews.

The most recent was from Myra. I am so happy that she enjoyed it and that somebody purchased it as a Christmas present.

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Enjoyed This Book!

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2025

Format: Paperback

Excellent read – got it as a Christmas gift and read it right away. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Hilton Head / Savannah area and I’ve always been intrigued by the history there. This book was well researched and it’s a great story. I highly recommend it.

A positive review is heartwarming. At least this is how I felt after reading the most recent review of Yamacraw Bluff on Goodreads. If you’re interested in the book, it’s available from all good online retailers (https://lnkd.in/gYD_Qkjd) and Culicidae Press. The sequel, Jenkins’ Ear, will be out soon.

Thank you, Sean, whomever you are!

“Historical fiction is not normally my genre, but I took a chance on this book based on a friend’s recommendation. I was pleasantly surprised to find a tale that is at times harrowing, at times rollicking, but always entertaining. The story follows its fictionalized protagonist on an epic journey from the squalid constraints of London’s infamous debtor’s prisons to the wide-open possibilities of early colonial America. Along the way, we get to know James Oglethorpe, the eccentric, idealistic aristocrat who founded Georgia.

Before reading this book, I knew nothing about Oglethorpe or the progressive ideas that inspired him. As such, I was convinced that the barroom brawl where the protagonist first encounters him had been concocted for the sake of an interesting plot. Some quick research dispelled that misconception. Turns out Oglethorpe was quite the charismatic rogue, and his founding principles stood in stark contrast to what most of us think of as the ideology of the Old South. Bravo to the author for introducing me to such a complex, interesting historical figure.

Overall, Yamacraw Bluff provides an entertaining look at a part of American history that few Americans are aware of.”

Image Hotels has reviewed Yamacraw Bluff and has now made it available for visitors to its Bluff Hotel in Savannah (630 W Bay Street).

The Bluff is located along the hill commonly referred to as Yamacraw Bluff, the site of the original settlement of the City of Savannah. Clearly, somewhere I will have to visit next time I’m in Savannah.

Another bookstore in the region has agreed to stock Yamacraw Bluff. The book is now available at the Beaufort Bookstore, located at 2127 Boundary St., Beaufort, SC. It is particularly exciting for me to see it in that bookstore, as I visited it a couple of times while collaborating with the Low Country Small Business Hub, which worked across the region to help small businesses.

The owner, Bruce Page, is a retired teacher, and I hope he enjoys some local history when he delves into my book. You can visit their store online here.

Book clubs reading my work is truly a new experience for me. I’m excited to share that the Hilton Head “Page Turners” Book Club recently selected Yamacraw Bluff for their June book selection. They had lunch at the Olde Pink House in Savannah, GA, and engaged in a lively discussion that lasted three hours.

Then they strolled around downtown Savannah, visiting some of the historical markers in the story. With permission, I’m sharing some of the pictures. Under the portrait of James Edward Oglethorpe in the Pink House, at the John Wesley historical marker, and finally at the Yamacraw Bluff historical marker. This is why I wrote the book: to celebrate this history and these places. Published by Culicidae Press.

This is the type of order you love to see. The Visit Savannah Gift Shop in Savannah’s Visitor Information Center (301 MLK Jr. Blvd) just purchased 25 copies of Yamacraw Bluff to sell to tourists and visitors to Savannah.

One of the reasons I wrote the book was to popularize Savannah’s colonial history. I found it fascinating, and I thought more people should have access to it. So, this development is welcome. It will enhance visibility and sales of Yamacraw Bluff while achieving the broader goal of increasing awareness about Savannah’s origins. Fingers crossed they shift plenty of books and come back to order regularly.

Writing Yamacraw Bluff has given me many moments of excitement. I felt like that yesterday when I got the following email:

Professor Luke Pittaway,

My book club is reading your book “Yamacraw Bluff”.

We will be discussing it over a lunch on at the Pink House in Savannah, Georgia.  Following the lunch, we intend to take an hour walking tour around Savannah or a trolley tour. Would you provide us with a list of questions in discussing the book that would be helpful to spur conversations? Would you recommend sites for a walking tour that would be applicable to your book or is there one of the trolleys that is giving tours related to your new book?

It’s my first such request, so I wasn’t sure how to respond best. Here are my thoughts on the interesting questions part:

• The first part of the book focuses on debtors’ prisons. The reform of these prisons was one of the underlying reasons that the colony of Georgia was founded. So, a question could be “From the book, what did you find unusual about how debtors’ prisons were run?”. There are many details, but the general gist is that a debtors’ prison was very different from what we understand a prison to be today.  
• The founding of Georgia’s colony was a significant entrepreneurial endeavor, marked by a charismatic founder, a Board of Trustees, a prospectus, and extensive advertising. A question could be, “What details about Oglethorpe’s part in founding Georgia stood out for you?”
• The book is rich in historical detail; you could ask, “What historical details surprised you the most?”
• The story onboard the Anne follows an actual account from the colony’s recorder, with a few embellishments. So, a question could be, “What did you enjoy most about the story of the colony’s settlers leaving England and coming to Georgia on the Anne. Why, did you enjoy that part of the story?”
• The second part of the book becomes more fiction and less fact, although there are many aspects that possibly align with what might have happened. I would thus ask some general questions like:
• How did the contrast between England and Georgia work? Did you get a feeling of joining the settlers?
• The portrayal of the Yamacraw Indians and their contributions to Georgia’s founding is essential to its history. How did the author portray their contribution?
• The colony suffered from a severe epidemic of smallpox that threatened its existence. How would you have felt if you’d been part of the community experiencing that suffering?
• Books often need villainous characters – which of the darker characters stood out to you and why?
• As the book concludes, Savannah faces numerous governance challenges. What did you learn about this history from the book?

It’s a nice feeling, isn’t it? When you complete something big, and send it off. That was the feeling I got on Monday, April 14th, when I sent my sequel to Yamacraw Bluff to the publisher. The book entitled Jenkins’ Ear already has its marketing blurb,

“The second installment in the Tom Ellis trilogy. After the dramatic adventures experienced by the young Ellis in Yamacraw Bluff in the burgeoning Savannah, Georgia, war has been declared. Using the pretext of Jenkins’ severed ear, the British are amassing a fleet to attack and inflict a brutal blow against Spain’s American colonies. Meanwhile, in Georgia, General Oglethorpe has been ordered to assemble a force and invade Spanish Florida.
Georgia’s first ranger, Tom Ellis, is now a corporal and is sucked into the fight of his life. Failure will be unthinkable, and heroes will be required on all sides, as South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida learn about the outcome of the invasion.
Jenkins’ Ear is a fully panoramic historical novel that captures the sights, scenes, and experiences of combatants during the British foray into Florida. It tells the story of the Spanish machinations that led to South Carolina’s Stono Rebellion, chronicles the aggression against Florida, and concludes with the siege of St. Augustine’s Castillo de San Marcos.”

Thank you, Culicidae Press, for continuing to publish my work, and Angela Schmeling for working on the cover design for the new book.

I just heard that my recent book, Yamacraw Bluff, has been placed on the shelf at E. Shaver’s Booksellers in Savannah, Georgia ( 326 Bull St, Savannah). It’s wonderful to see it on bookshelves, especially in Savannah, as it focuses on the city’s founding. I visited the bookstore a few times while living in Statesboro and feel that supporting local independent businesses is important. So, if you are one of my Savannah contacts and would like a copy, please drop by E. Shavers Booksellers and purchase it there. If you’re not in Savannah, it’s available on Amazon, online from Barnes & Noble, and in Athens, OH, from the Little Professor Bookstore. If you’re interested in stocking the book (optimism allowed), you can get it at a discount by ordering it directly from Culicidae Press https://lnkd.in/gTvvhXvW.