Shadows and Storylines

Pelham Pugh
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Shadows & Storylines is a voice-only series about place, memory, and the quiet moments that shape a life and the stories that come from it. Each episode explores the people, landscapes, and experiences behind the writing — from the Wiregrass of southeast Alabama to backroads, historical sites, family history, and the imperfect search for meaning in forgotten places. This isn’t a how-to podcast or a highlight reel. It’s reflection. Observation. And the long shadows that follow us into the work we do. New episodes every Monday.

Episodes

  1. Shadows and Storylines 8: The Brutal Truth About Query Letters | Is Anyone Even Reading Them?

    6D AGO

    Shadows and Storylines 8: The Brutal Truth About Query Letters | Is Anyone Even Reading Them?

    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 works This episode is for you. Subscribe for more honest conversations about writing, publishing, Southern noir, and the creative life. #WritingLife #QueryLetters #LiteraryAgents #SelfPublishing #SouthernNoir #PelhamPugh

    23 min

  2. FEB 16

    Shadows and Storylines 7: Panama City Beach the Way I Remember It

    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.

    20 min

  3. FEB 9

    Shadows and Storylines 6: This Ain't Dallas

    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.

    21 min

  4. FEB 2

    Shadows and Storylines 5: Why Pelham Pugh?

    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

    18 min

  5. JAN 26

    Shadows and Storylines 4: Ochlockonee

    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.

    13 min

  6. JAN 19

    Shadows and Storylines 3: LV

    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.

    21 min

  7. JAN 12

    Shadows and Storylines 2: The Original Jessie

    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.

    19 min

  8. JAN 10

    Shadows and Storylines 1: The Place That Made Me: Elamville, Alabama

    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.

    17 min
  • 8 Episodes

About

Shadows & Storylines is a voice-only series about place, memory, and the quiet moments that shape a life and the stories that come from it. Each episode explores the people, landscapes, and experiences behind the writing — from the Wiregrass of southeast Alabama to backroads, historical sites, family history, and the imperfect search for meaning in forgotten places. This isn’t a how-to podcast or a highlight reel. It’s reflection. Observation. And the long shadows that follow us into the work we do. New episodes every Monday.

Information

  • Creator
    Pelham Pugh
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Pelham Pugh
  • Show Website
    Shadows and Storylines