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.
Sometimes you make the plans, spend the money, book the hotels then everything falls apart.
In Episode 26 of Shadows & Storylines, I step away from stories about my formative years and come back to the present. I talk about my decision to cancel my trip to the Decatur Book Festival after forecasts called for heavy rain, why I decided the financial risk simply wasn’t worth it, and what the experience taught me about trying to sell books as an independent author.
Then, just when I thought I had salvaged part of the weekend, my planned research trip to Aiken, South Carolina unraveled too.
I also talk about where I go from here: stepping away from expensive book festivals, concentrating more on online sales and advertising for the Fractured Horizons trilogy, continuing to build my audience, and looking toward the possibility of traditional publishing with Come Our Way.
Being an independent author is a business. Sometimes you make money. Sometimes you lose money. And sometimes the smartest decision is knowing when to pull the plug.
This is one of those weeks.
Thanks for watching Shadows & Storylines with Pelham Pugh.
Subscribe for more episodes about writing, growing up in the South, the stories behind my novels, history, travel, and everything that happens along the way.
Visit pelhampugh.com to learn more about my books and read the first chapter of Perfidious Tides free.
#PelhamPugh #ShadowsAndStorylines #IndependentAuthor #AuthorLife #WritingCommunity #SelfPublishing #FracturedHorizons #SouthernFiction
5 Oct 2026
Shadows and Storylines 25: Trucks, Coon Hunting & the Memories That Shaped Me
This week on Shadows & Storylines, I'm taking you back to the early 1990s—a time of old trucks, coon dogs, late nights in the woods, and friendships that helped shape the person I am today.
In 1992, I bought my first truck, a 1978 Ford F-150 four-wheel drive, and began spending my nights coon hunting in the swamps and woods of southeast Alabama. Along the way, I met a group of friends who would become a big part of my teenage years.
But this episode is about more than hunting and old trucks. It's about how a familiar song can suddenly take you back thirty years to a moment you thought you'd forgotten.
Recently, listening to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" brought back memories of those years so vividly that it inspired an idea for a new novel—one that may be the most personal story I've ever written.
Join me as I look back on the friendships, music, adventures, and memories of the early 1990s and how they continue to influence my life and writing today.
Visit my website: https://pelhampugh.com (https://pelhampugh.com)
Subscribe for more episodes of Shadows & Storylines, where I share stories from my life, discuss my writing, and reflect on the people and experiences that have shaped me.
#ShadowsAndStorylines #PelhamPugh #1990s #SouthernStories #CoonHunting #FordF150 #PinkFloyd #WritingLife
28 Sept 2026
Shadows and Storylines 24: From Segregation Academy to Public School & Teachers Who Changed My Life
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. It's about the teachers.I remember the educators who saw something in me long before I saw it in myself—the teachers who made history and stories come alive, who expected more from me, and who showed me what it meant to truly care about a student. Decades later, their influence is still with me every time I walk into my own classroom.Today's "influencers" have millions of followers. The greatest influencers I ever knew stood in front of a classroom.This episode is my way of saying thank you.#ShadowsAndStorylines #PelhamPugh #Teachers #GreatTeachers #AlabamaHistory #GrowingUpSouthern #1980s #SouthernStories #Podcast
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