
Journal of COastal Shadows
Welcome to a mystery writer’s Southern Gothic garden, where stories take root beneath the Coastal Shadows of the South.

I’m Rachel Lynne — writer of mysteries, wrangler of moonflowers, and the reason my husband mutters, “you and your projects.”
Welcome to the Journal of Coastal Shadows, where I pull back the curtain on the real Southern Gothic life that inspires my books: tangled gardens, Frenchies underfoot, and stories that don’t behave.
A Southern Gothic Mystery
The South whispers. And if you listen long enough, it will reveal its mysteries.
The South whispers. And if you listen long enough, it will reveal its mysteries.
Behind every crumbling gate, every moss-draped oak, lies a truth waiting to be unearthed. Family secrets. Old betrayals. The past that refuses to stay buried.
The Haunted Past
Ghosts linger in Savannah’s squares, in its cemeteries, and in the corners of memory. Sometimes they guide, sometimes they warn, and sometimes they refuse to let go.
Among them stands the Bird Girl statue, sculpted by Sylvia Shaw Judson in 1936. Now housed in Savannah’s Telfair Museums, she is an enduring figure of the city’s haunting mystique.
In the oldest intact historic district in America, the past doesn’t sit behind velvet ropes — it walks beside you.
Secrets & Lies
Even the grandest homes whisper secrets too heavy to stay buried.
Polished smiles hide old sins. Families guard their legacies with iron wills and whispered threats. But, what’s locked away always finds a way to the surface.
Found Family
In a world where bloodline can bind you to curses and power you never asked for, sometimes the strongest ties are the ones you choose.Friendship, loyalty, and love can stitch together a family stronger than ancient legacies or whispered threats.
In shadowed corners, it isn’t always blood that defines you — it’s who stands beside you when the darkness comes.
Legacy & Power
Old names carved in stone carry weight. Power doesn’t fade — it festers, it passes down, it demands. And some will do anything to hold on to it.
Legacy lingers like the heavy scent of magnolia, binding generations to oaths they never swore and debts they never agreed to pay.
Some inherit mansions and fortunes; others inherit curses and secrets too dangerous to speak aloud. And when power begins to slip through bloodlines, desperation takes root — because there are always those willing to betray, bargain, or bleed to keep it.
Death & Immortality
But, with every quest for power comes the unshakable truth: death bows for no man.
Yet some still seek to cheat the Reaper — striking deals at the crossroads or pounding desperately on a root doctor’s door, willing to pay any price for one more breath.
But every hand is stacked against them, and the Devil never plays fair.
Stepping Into the Shadows
Shadow Destiny was born from this soil — Savannah’s haunted streets, its moss-draped oaks, its tangled history of secrets and power.
At its heart is Lenox Grady, a woman who never meant to open the gates but can’t ignore the truths waiting beyond them.
If you’ve ever felt the pull of a Southern Gothic mystery, you’ll find a home in these pages.

If you like this journal, you’ll love the newsletter. Twice a month I send a porch-talk letter straight to your inbox — the same mix of Southern Gothic musings, tadpole sagas, Frenchie drama, and the occasional bookish update or deal. Think of it as the Coastal Shadows community gathered on the porch… without the mosquitoes.