BENEATH THE RAIN SHADOW is a unique experience in which Pacific Northwest horror authors Clay Vermulm and Tamara Kaye Sellman challenge each other to write short fiction based on mystery writing prompts (horror trope + PNW location + regional quirk), then return to critique the story first drafts live during the podcast.

Clay was inspired to start a live process-centered podcast by the popular writing podcast, Fiction Unboxed, in which a novel was written live on the show over 30 days. From it came a craft book and transcripts that highlight the challenges of collaboration and writing to a strict deadline.

The purpose behind BENEATH THE RAIN SHADOW is less ambitious from a production standpoint but likely more relatable. One part of the equation: the authors generate new work and celebrate a writing category known as Pacific Northwest Gothic. The other part: offer listeners (which could be writers or readers) live examples of actual critique sessions (structure, vocabulary, sensibility).

Tamara, a retired developmental editor, was shocked to discover during the pandemic years how so many writers were going through the creative writing process without ever receiving feedback on their work. Clay and Tamara originally met in an online critique group, the North Seattle Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Workshop, during the pandemic; both have found the experience necessary for developing craft and growing as writers. Together, they saw the podcast as an opportunity to give newer writers, in particular, some insight into why external feedback is so critical to the creative process.

Season 1 of BENEATH THE RAIN SHADOW, featuring co-hosts Clay and Tamara, launched in Dec 2024; its last episode (#14, a series postmortem) was posted in Spring 2025. The first collection of Rain Shadows was launched as the culmination of the podcast’s first season in July 2025.

Season 2 of BENEATH THE RAIN SHADOW launched in Jan 2026 with an enhanced team of co-hosts (adding WA state authors M. Leigh and Gordon B. White), an upgraded show format, livestream and recorded show options for listeners, and a new producer, Fermented Fiction. A second collection of Rain Shadows featuring all four co-hosts will be published and released in July 2027 and, like the first, collection, will feature stories generated during the 2026 second season podcast by all four co-hosts.