Shadows and Storylines

In Episode 24 of Shadows & Storylines, I look back at one of the biggest transitions of my childhood—leaving a segregation academy and entering public school after my family lost the farm. It was a different world. There was culture shock, bullying, adjustment, and the complicated realities of growing up in rural Alabama during the 1980s. But this episode ultimately isn't about the schools...

In Episode 23 of Shadows & Storylines , I go back to where much of my story began—a peanut farm in Southeast Alabama. I remember the tractors, peanut fields, livestock, long days, and the Ford 4100 that has been on our farm since 1982. But this episode becomes about something deeper: the farm crisis of the early 1980s and the day my family lost the farm. I was only a child, but some memories n...

From die-cast Ford tractors to He-Man, Transformers, and long afternoons spent on an Alabama farm, this episode is a look back at the toys and imagination that helped shape me into a writer. I share memories of growing up in southeast Alabama during the 1980s, building stories on the floor with Ertl tractors and action figures, and how those childhood adventures eventually led to writing the Fract...

Every community has a story. Every family has a place that shaped who they became. In this deeply personal episode of Shadows and Storylines , I take you back to the old farmhouse that has sheltered six generations of my family and to the small community of Elamville, Alabama . Together, we'll remember the country stores, the old church, the oak tree, front porch conversations, and the people...

Season 2 comes to a close as I reflect on where this podcast has been, where it's headed, and what's coming next across the Pelham Pugh channel. In this episode I talk about: The future of Shadows & Storylines The upcoming hiatus for American Shadows Continuing adventures on The Wandering Writer My progress on Come Our Way The new genealogy series Bloodlines & Backroads Plans for a...

Have you ever wondered if clicking Like , Share , or Subscribe really makes a difference? In this episode, I pull back the curtain on what it's really like to be an independent author and content creator. From writing novels like Perfidious Tides to producing American Shadows , The Wandering Writer , and this podcast, I share how every book, video, and story comes together—and why your support is...

What does heavy metal have to do with writing fiction? More than you might think. In this episode of Shadows & Storylines , I discuss the unexpected inspiration behind my novel Live the Last Day . From the emotional storytelling of Metallica and Alice in Chains to biographies, documentaries, and memories of Panama City Beach in the 1980s, I explain how music helped shape some of the book's...

What happens when a historic site receives death threats simply because of the history it preserves? After visiting the Jefferson Davis Historic Site near Fitzgerald, Georgia, I had a conversation with the museum director that left me thinking long after I drove home. The threats he described raise a bigger question: What happens when we stop preserving history and start trying to erase it? In thi...

A recent Goodreads review of Last Castle in the Sky stopped me in my tracks. As independent authors, we expect criticism. Not every reader is going to enjoy every book, and that's perfectly fine. But sometimes a review hits differently. In this episode of Shadows & Storylines, I discuss a recent three-star review that described Last Castle in the Sky as "A Cure for Insomnia" and...

What happened when armed troops entered a Florida State University campus during the Vietnam War era? In this episode of Shadows & Storylines , I explore the little-known story of The Night of the Bayonets , a dramatic confrontation that unfolded at Florida State University in 1969. I also discuss how this forgotten moment in Southern history became a key inspiration for scenes and themes in m...

In Episode 14 of Shadows & Storylines , author Pelham Pugh discusses one of the most controversial topics in modern publishing: artificial intelligence. How much AI is too much? Does using AI make someone less of a writer? Can independent authors realistically compete without it? In this episode, I explain exactly how I use tools like ChatGPT, Adobe AI features, and other software in my writin...

In this episode of Shadows & Storylines, I talk about the books that influenced my love of reading and eventually led me to become a writer. From the library at Clio Elementary School to discovering "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls, this is the story of the book that hooked me on reading and has remained my favorite for more than forty years. I also discuss:• Growing up in...

After finishing the Fractured Horizons trilogy, one question keeps coming back to me: am I truly done with the Bruce family? In this episode, I talk honestly about the future of the series, the characters whose stories still haunt me, and why I intentionally left parts of the ending open. From Burt Williams and Vern Bruce to Jefferson Black and the Confederados of Brazil, there are still stories w...

Back after a year away, I’m diving back into Come Our Way, a Southern story rooted in the farming crisis of the 1980s, real-life memories, and the people who lived through it. In this episode of Shadows & Storylines, I talk about restarting the manuscript, rewriting the first nine chapters, and why this story feels more personal than anything I’ve written before. I also discuss the role the At...

Shadows and Storylines returns for Season 2 as Pelham Pugh comes back from hiatus to talk writing, history, YouTube, forgotten stories, and the road ahead for the summer of 2026. In this episode: • The return of American Shadows Season 3 • The forgotten Great Clayton Train Wreck of 1913 • Family stories passed down through the Wiregrass • Visiting the CSS Hunley in Charleston • Upcoming Revolution...

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 Fest...

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 — thi...

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...

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...

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,...

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 histo...

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...

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...

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 p...