Shadows and Storylines

In this final episode of Shadows & Storylines Season One, I sit down for an honest update about what’s next for the channel, the books, and the work ahead.I talk about why I’m stepping away from YouTube and the podcast until late May or early June, what’s coming up for The Wandering Writer, Iron Echoes, American Shadows, and where you can find me this spring—including the Opelika Book Festival, the Backyard Book Fest in Montevallo, and the Tallahassee Downtown Market. Most importantly, I share where I am with my new novel Come Our Way—nine chapters into the first draft—and why this deeply personal story deserves my full focus over the next few months. I explain the roots of the book in the 1970s–80s farm crisis, how it shaped families across the Wiregrass, and why I’m determined to bring that forgotten Southern perspective to the page. This episode is a thank-you to everyone who’s supported my books, read the Fractured Horizons series, left reviews, or followed the channel. I talk candidly about indie author realities, writing through limited resources, and why your support—page reads, paperback buys, and simple encouragement—keeps this work alive. New episodes return around June. Until then, I’ll be writing, traveling to events, and preparing for a full summer of stories.Stay tuned. More is coming.

Most writers dream about getting an agent.Nobody talks about what happens after you send thirty query letters and barely get a real response.In this episode of Shadows & Storylines, Pelham Pugh pulls back the curtain on the querying process. From instant rejection emails to the frustrating silence, from paying editors hundreds of dollars to wondering if anyone actually reads your work — this is the unfiltered reality of trying to break into traditional publishing.After moving over ten thousand copies as an indie Southern noir author, the question remains:Is the gatekeeping real?Is it about money?Or is it about the right hook at the right time?If you are:• Querying literary agents• Writing your first novel• Self published but considering traditional publishing• Curious about how the publishing industry worksThis episode is for you.Subscribe for more honest conversations about writing, publishing, Southern noir, and the creative life.#WritingLife #QueryLetters #LiteraryAgents #SelfPublishing #SouthernNoir #PelhamPugh

The world of Perfidious Tides wasn’t born in a writing room . It came from the backroads and beaches of the real Florida Panhandle.Before condos and crowds, before Pier Park, before the coastline changed forever… there was the old pier, the long stretch of pines, the tiny towns, and that unmistakable emerald water.In this episode, I take you into the places that shaped me, and in turn shaped the entire Fractured Horizons series.If you grew up going to Panama City Beach, Florida Highway 79, Vernon, Esto, Bonifay, or Holmes Creek… this one’s going to hit home.🌊 What you’ll hear about:• The REAL Northwest Florida of the early ’80s• The backroads from Slocomb, Graceville, New Hope & beyond• The old wooden piers of Panama City Beach• Mom-and-pop motels of Laguna Beach, Long Beach & The Strip• Why Highway 79 always felt different• How my childhood memories directly shaped Perfidious Tides• The lost Florida that inspired the opening scene of the book• The sunset version of Panama City we’ll never see againIf you love Southern noir, small-town stories, Florida history, or just grew up in the Wiregrass/Panhandle region, welcome home.

In this episode, I talk openly about how Perfidious Tides really began — not as a polished Southern-noir vision, but as a mix of unexpected influences, personal history, and a story that took on a life of its own. I share how helping someone edit a memoir pulled me back into writing, how old attempts at novels resurfaced, and how the idea of brothers — shaped partly by Dallas and partly by my own family — first took root.I dive into the surprising moment when a System of a Down song lit the fuse, the line that pushed me to think about Vietnam, the draft, corruption, and the realities my own father faced. I explain how those thoughts reshaped the entire story, transforming a tale about a family business into a generational saga of manipulation, guilt, class, and the gray-area morality that guides every character across the trilogy.From the draft board to Mac Tate’s puppet-master role, from Vern and Rolf’s fracture to the way guilt ripples through their children, I lay out how the book wrote itself — organically, unexpectedly — and why the ending of Perfidious Tides mirrors the unresolved tension of The Empire Strikes Back. Some readers loved it, some didn’t—but it was intentional, and it was honest.This episode is the raw, behind-the-scenes truth of where the trilogy began, how the characters chose their own paths, and why these stories unfolded the way they did. If you’ve ever wondered what really shaped Perfidious Tides, this is the episode to hear.

In Episode 5, I dive into one of the questions readers ask the most: Why do I write under the name Pelham Pugh?This episode explores the roots of the pen name, the family history behind it, and why it fits the kind of Southern-noir stories I tell. From the Wiregrass to the page, this is the personal story behind the name on every book cover.If you enjoy Southern storytelling, creative journeys, and the behind-the-scenes life of an indie author, this episode is for you.Thanks for listening and supporting the stories that shape this journey.—Pelham Pugh

Not every place gives you what you’re looking for.In Episode 4 of Shadows & Storylines, I talk about traveling through the Ochlockonee area of Florida and visiting historical sites that didn’t always live up to expectation; places that were closed, overlooked, misrepresented, or simply quiet in ways I hadn’t planned for.This is a voice-only episode about the unpredictability of chasing history. About how some sites disappoint, some surprise, and some reveal more through absence than presence. And about learning that the value of these trips isn’t always found in proof or plaques, but in the act of going and paying attention.There’s no checklist here. No perfect outcome.Just reflection on missed moments, unexpected stops, and how even failed visits shape the way stories are understood and told.Shadows & Storylines is a behind-the-writing series about people, place, and the imperfect paths that lead to meaning.New episodes every Monday.

Not all influence comes through words.Some of it is learned by watching.In Episode 3 of Shadows & Storylines, I talk about my grandmother and the way she shaped how I see people, family, and endurance.This is a voice-only episode about presence rather than instruction. About strength that doesn’t announce itself. And about the kind of influence that comes from consistency, care, and holding things together when no one is watching.Where loss defined the previous episode, this one is about what remains, the habits, values, and way of moving through the world that stay with you long after someone is gone.There’s no attempt to turn memory into mythology.Just reflection on a life lived steadily, and how that steadiness found its way into the stories I tell.Shadows & Storylines is a behind-the-writing series about people, place, and the unseen forces that shape a writer long before the work begins.New episodes every Monday.

Some deaths don’t come after illness or warning.They arrive in the middle of an ordinary day.In Episode 2 of Shadows & Storylines, I talk about my grandfather’s death: sudden, unexpected, and the result of him trying to help someone else.This is a voice-only episode about the kind of loss that leaves no time to prepare. About how quickly a steady presence can disappear. And about the quiet shock that settles in when someone who lived by responsibility and service is gone in an instant.It’s also about what it means to inherit a way of moving through the world. A quiet awakening of showing up, helping, and doing what needed to be done without expecting recognition.There’s no attempt here to explain or justify what happened.Just memory, reflection, and the understanding that some lives end the same way they were lived.Shadows & Storylines is a behind-the-writing series about people, place, and the unseen moments that shape the stories we carry forward.New episodes every Monday.

Before there were books, there was a place.In this first episode of Shadows & Storylines, I go back to where everything started: Elamville and the Wiregrass of southeast Alabama.This is a voice-only episode about place, memory, and the quiet influences that shape a life and a writer long before the words ever arrive.No visuals. No narration tricks.Just a story about growing up in a small place with long shadows and how that place still lives inside every story I tell.