On a cloudy Friday afternoon, New York Times bestselling author, Shelby Van Pelt orders a tea from our downtown tea room, Revival Tea. Arriving early, she sat humbly taking in our Spokane scene.
Born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, Shelby Van Pelt’s debut book, Remarkably Bright Creatures, is based around our Pacific Northwest home base. The book was an instant hit, remaining on the NYT Bestsellers list for over one year.
Now, the award winning book is being broght to life by Netflix. With stars like Sally Field starring in the motion picture, not only fans, but the author herself cannot wait for its debut.
If you’re wanting to purchase this incredible book, consider shopping at one of our fantastic local bookstores featured in our recent article here.
Shelby’s Northwest Connection
Jordy: Now people are gonna be pleasantly surprised, you know, obviously Spokane is in as well because you have a connection to Spokane. Like, can you tell us what that is?
Shelby: Well, I tried to cover all corners of Washington state in this book. Um, as you probably know, I’m from Tacoma, Washington, so, um. Yeah, I, I have family that are here. Yes. And it’s actually been been really great. I’m out here doing some book events I was speaking of down in Pasco last night, and figured I’m just gonna come up to Spokane and see some family before I head back to Chicago.
Jordy: Yes. So you’re from Tacoma. The book is obviously based around the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle area. Can you tell us about how growing up in Tacoma inspired you to write the book where you did?
Shelby: Well, I think it’s so funny because, um, prior to being in Pasco yesterday, I was out in Paul’s boat in western Washington. And the folks at this event, lovely event in Paul’s boat, uh, benefiting the, the sea center there, which was a, a Western Washington University’s aquarium, downtown Paulsville. But the folks in Paulsville. To claim. So obey as being their city.
Jordy: I was wondering if Sowells Bay was going to be popping up.
Shelby: Um, and it’s funny because I did a live in event in Edmond’s. And they also wanted to be like, we are Sowell Bay. And I have to be like, no guys. It’s actually, it’s actually just fictional. Yes. It, it’s not popping up. It is not, it’s also not Tacoma. Yeah. I mean, Tacoma’s much, much larger than this fictional town in the book. Yeah. Um, but I just, I really love writing about small towns. I love the sense of claustrophobia that you get mm-hmm. When you have people that are sort of forced to, to, to be in each other’s lives. Another thing about writing in the Pacific Northwest that I love- Is that, I feel like there is a sense of claustrophobia here as well. Maybe not so much over here on the east side.
Jordy: No, no, no. We feel it.
Shelby: Yeah. But when you go over into those rainforests with those big dreams and the moss and the low clouds, it’s like you just kind of feel like you can’t escape it. Yeah. Um, and for me that was really like important to provide someone, but the intimacy that I needed to create in the story.
Jordy: So you grew up Tacoma. When did you venture Otherwhere?
Shelby: Oh man, I, so I hit 18. California and I thought this was I thought that was I so cool. I went and did college in southern California. I’ve since lived all over. I hopped to Ohio. I hopped to Boston, to New York, to North Carolina, to Atlanta, and then we ended up moving, um, when my kids were young, we ended up moving to the Chicago suburbs, which is where my husband’s from. So I haven’t lived full-time in the Pacific Northwest since I was 18, and it’s been so funny. I remember coming back home when I was in college, and you know, I thought, again, I was in this like writing the Southern California high. I’m like, it’s rainy here. Everything’s so small. Like, ugh.
You know, and then fast forward 10 years, I come back as like a more fully fledged adult.. And I’m like, oh my gosh, this is the most beautiful place in the world.
Jordy: Yeah. Peaceful.
Shelby: How did I ever want to get out of here? Right.
Jordy: Why was I running?
Shelby: Why was I running? But I think that’s obviously a, that’s how it, normal thing, you’re 18, you wanna run.
Jordy: I did the same.
Shelby: It is one of my favorite places.
About Her Writing Process
Jordy: When you wrote this book, did you write this book over in Chicago where you were living?
Shelby Van Pelt: I started in Atlanta, actually. Many, many years ago- I finished it in Chicago. I finished most of, probably the last 70%, um, during the pandemic.
Jordy: And before the interview, we had kind of talked about how writing has not always been your career. You’ve had a day job.
Shelby: I did.
Jordy: Walk us through what you were doing before everything happened.
Shelby: I was doing a lot of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. I was okay at it.
Jordy: What was your title somewhere?
Shelby: I was a consultant. Yeah. I was, I was one of those consultants who runs numbers and makes decisions.
Jordy: Like a nine to five?
Shelby: Oh, like nine to nine. And I had burned out of that. There was a lot of travel, A lot of unpredictability. Yeah. I did it for about a decade. I think it was when I got to the point wher not only was I having to do all of these spreadsheets, but I started having to manage other people doing spreadsheets. And I was like, I just don’t, I don’t actually want to do this for the rest of my life. I have this kind of moment of like, what do I want to be when I grow up? And I remember, you know, thinking back to when I was a kid and I loved to write stories, and I’ve always been a big reader and I’ve always been a big writer, even though I had never tried to write fiction. I had written a blog and I had written like for the, for the student newspaper and that sort of thing.
Shelby: So I decided to try fiction. I figured why was the downside, right? You know, make some stuff up. Absolutely. So, and then here I am. It’s wild.
Becoming a New York Times Bestseller
Jordy: You became a New York Times bestseller. Tell us about like what that call was like, how the journey has been since then?
Shelby: Yeah, it’s been a wild ride. So I remember, so we hit the New York Times list. The very first week that the book came out back in May of 2022. We knew that the book was gonna be close, they have some kind of, you know, data on what it’s gonna do.
We didn’t know whether I was gonna hit the list or not. And as it turned back, it hit the list at number 15, which is the last spot on the list. But you know, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
Jordy: Not at all.
Shelby: Number 15 or number two, we made the list. So it was so exciting. But I, I will always remember when I got the call.
And I knew that I, I picked up the phone and it was my editor, and she said, I’m gonna patch in, you know, publicist agent. I’m like, okay- they would not be patching in all these people.
Jordy: Totally
Shelby: So it was very, everyone screaming, and you know. But I was sitting on my bed folding socks. And throughout this conversation, I continued to fold the socks. And then the conversation ended and I continued to fold the socks and put them away.
And looking back on that, I feel like. It was just, you know, such a, a moment of like wearing all these hats, right?
Jordy: Yeah.
Shelby: Like, yes, I’m a bestselling author there, but the socks are still here. My kids are still doing what they’re doing, we’re in that COVID era a little bit still- So yes. Whenever I think of the call, I think of holding socks.
Jordy: I love that. That’s still like humbling at the same time.
Shelby: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Nothing’s changed here.
Family Life and Balancing It All
Jordy: You have two kids. You have a husband. Yes. Can you tell us how balancing having this New York Times bestselling book is and doing real life?
Shelby Yeah. Well, it’s been a little bit of a reversal of roles in our house. So my husband worked long hours, but my kids were little. Traveled a lot. I definitely had the, the experience of of early motherhood, of solo parents. Doing a lot of that stuff on my own, which was stressful.
Shelby Van Pelt: And like, you know, and looking back, I have fondness for those years, but I also have, it’s hard, like, wow, that was hard. So it has been interesting since this book has come out and, and has done everything that it’s done. I’ve had so many travel opportunities; he is now the stay at-home parent. Which is so good for him. So incredible. So good for my kids. So good for me to see that. You know, and I don’t think it’ll be that way forever.
Jordy: So now he’s getting to kind of not ride the wave, but ride the wave of his wife being in a bestselling author.
Shelby: No, he’s so supportive and thinks it’s so great.
Jordy: Yeah. I mean, obviously it is so great. Everyone thinks it’s so great. How does that reception, like, how does that sit with your soul? That people are absolutely like. So touched and moved by your work of art. Well, it’s, it’s really crazy to me to go from when I was writing this, you know, and you’re putting the words on the page and you’re thinking about how they’re going to be received.
Shelby: I mean, I try not to think about that too. But of course you’re thinking like, how is this gonna, you know, how is this gonna land? What is this going to evoke in people? My critique group would read it, but I didn’t know that anyone really beyond that was gonna read it.
Shelby: And that to have so many people have read it and have reacted to it, it’s been amazing.
Jordy: Well, obviously, the storyline is one of a kind.
Shelby: It’s so true, there are not a lot of octopuses in fiction.
A Unique Subject
Jordy: How were you able to tap into creating something so unique?
Shelby: I mean, I don’t know how to explain it other than when I had the idea to do this kind of cranky octopus narrator, like the voice just kind popped in my head. Like, I don’t know where any of these things come from. I don’t, I’m not a person who really believes in like prior lives or something like that. But if I did, I would say like, this must have been like a prior life. Yes. Mine. Like, wow, it was there. Yeah. Um, and, and that happens a lot with characters. I just kind of like hear the voice.
Shelby: I’m very much a person who has whatever that like hyper fantasia or you hear a lot of voices and see a lot of things in your head, and then, well…
Making The Movie
Jordy: you’ve obviously brought it to life. Now this is obviously getting made into a movie What was hearing that, what was finding out that that was gonna come to life like for you?
Shelby: Well, it’s been, it’s been a long journey. We actually sold the option rights fairly quickly after the book came out. And that’s pretty common. For the books that hit the bestseller list, someone is gonna snap up the option. Most of those books do not actually get made into movies. It’s just sort of the first step. So we, you know, we sold the option, and then there were like a couple of years where nothing really happened. You know, of course, we have the writer’s strike, so that took some time outta the process too.
Shelby: I remember getting the news that that. Netflix was on board – that Sally Field was on board. I mean, I literally, when I was writing it, because and I had picture in my mind of Sally Field.
I remember getting the news that that. Netflix was on board – that Sally Field was on board. I mean, I literally, when I was writing it, because and I had picture in my mind of Sally Field.
Shelby van pelt
Shelby: Her demeanor, just everything.
Jordy: I just feel like I might bawl my eyes out at that movie.
Shelby Van Pelt: I watched a rough cut a couple months ago, and I cried. So.
Jordy: Really?
Shelby: Yeah.
Jordy: I have chills just thinking about it-is it just crazy for you that this is happening.
Shelby: Well, the craziest thing is that the character of Tova. That’s who Sally Field is playing in the movie. Um, I really put a lot of my grandmother into her. And so to see Sally Field, like as Tova AKA as my grandmother, um, doesn’t get, I spent a week on the set when they were filming. And I swear, felt like I was seeing a ghost when I saw her for the first time.
Jordy: Wow.
Shelby: She looked exactly like my grandmother.
Jordy: Really? Wow. Wow. So you pulled inspiration from your grandma for Tova. What about, what about the grief? Are you pulling the grief from anywhere in your life? Or like how were you able to put that in like such beautiful terms for people who may have not gone through grief, but like you think it’s still empathizes with everyone who’s gone through it in the book?
Shelby: Yeah. Well, I feel like grief is, I mean, it’s one of the most primal human emotions. Um, I feel like we often tend to talk about it in terms of someone who’s died, and certainly that is a big source of grief For Tova in the book. Certainly, but you know, I feel like I really wanted the grief to feel kind of like, um, like every day.
Shelby: This isn’t necessarily a big explosive thing. Yeah. It’s just there. Um, and I feel like that is something that like every human being carries that in some way or another, whether they’ve lost people in their lives, whether they’ve lost pets, or whether they’re just mourning.
Being on Set
Jordy: Your experience being on set. Can you walk us through that?
Shelby: Oh, it was so much fun. Well, so my kids ye are 11 and nine and they came onto the set with me. And, um, your, your kids are littler, so this is in your future, lemme tell you.
Shelby: They will think that you are not cool. And you’re not cool anymore. But on that movie set, I got to be cool. With my, with my director chair. My kids were, they were kind of blown away. It was really fun. Um, yeah, it was just, it was eye opening to me. I had never been on a movie set before. Yeah, just seeing the number of people, but the number of hours that it.
Shelby: All day. Sometimes to film a scene that’s like shooting one scene, not even the post-production, you know what I mean? That goes into it. It’s crazy. It um, it was interesting. This is probably getting way more than anyone wants to-
Jordy: Lay it on me.
Shelby Van Pelt: You know, to think, you think of, okay, you’ve got a script and you’re gonna make a movie and in my mind I was like, okay, the actors then recite the script and they film it, and then that’s the movie. But it’s not really that, it’s almost its own creative process, right? Of course, yes, you have the script. And the script is a guideline. But so much of it is just these actors generating this pile of material.
Shelby: Yeah. And then the job of like the director and the producers is to take this enormous pile of hours and hours of footage of this take that’s a little bit with this vibe and that one, that’s with that vibe and this thing versus that angle and, and, and really tell almost like a brand new story.
Shelby: I think it really helped me to see that process and, you know, to see the movie as Yes, of course it’s based on the book. But it is also its own work of art. And I, I hope that, you know, people see it as that also, but I hope they love it and they’re like, oh yeah, I love the books. I love the movie, but I think I want people to love them on their own as well, also.
Jordy: Absolutely. I feel like that says a lot about you, that you’re. You want, you’re letting that have its own moment too.
Shelby: Yeah. Well that’s because I’m happy with how they did it.
Jordy: I love that. Because not everyone is though. You know what I mean? So I feel like that’s good for fans to know going into do. That you’re happy with.
Shelby: I’m very happy with that.
Jordy: Well I know I told you about one of my best friend’s moms was very excited I was chatting with you, and she last she had one question. When can she expect something?
Upcoming Work
Shelby: That’s a good question. I’m asking myself. I am working on another book.
Shelby: I hope to be able to share more about it soon. You got it. But it’s kind of still in progress. Yeah. I thought a lot about, should I write a sequel? Sure. Should I write a prequel? Yeah. I spend some, some hours plugging away on my laptop. Yeah. Trying to write. Like young Marcellus, the Octopus Valley Ocean.
I hope to be able to share more about it soon. You got it. But it’s kind of still in progress. Yeah. I thought a lot about, should I write a sequel? Sure. Should I write a prequel?
Shelby Van Pelt
Shelby Van Pelt: Which is still such a cool concept to me. But I kept running into these world building problems. Yeah. Where I’m like, okay, so he’s in the ocean before he’s captured It’s a prequel. Yes, yes. Who is he talking to? Totally. You have to build it. And it was just like a lot of these scenes just describing an octopus.
Shelby: So, and you know, there’s only so much of that you can do. So I, you know, I haven’t ruled out that I would do that someday. Yes. But I think for right now, the, the book I’m working on is another standalone novel. I hope it has some of the same vibes. Yes. I think, um, there is, there is some grief in it, but I think it’s a little bit more along the lines of what I was saying a moment ago about how we feel grief for such a wide variety of things.
Shelby: And sometimes it’s easy to pigeonhole it into this like. Uh, you know, death of someone trapped. And in this book, I’m really exploring the grief over, um, over a family that doesn’t have the life that they thought they were gonna have. You think something that they thought. What’s gonna be something else, right?
Shelby: But then how you can have grief from that, that’s legitimate. And also still really love, I think that’s totally, hat one does not like exclude the other.
Jordy: Both can be true.
Shelby: I feel like this is something that a lot of, like women my age are going through. It’s a classic midlife crisis in some ways, right? You wake up and you’re like, how did I get here? Yeah, no, totally. I know that will come. Well, it’s already come from me at some point. You know what I mean?
