Meeting Shelby Van Pelt

    Our local library hosted an author night with none other than Shelby Van Pelt, author of the now wildly popular book Remarkably Bright Creatures. If you haven't read it yet, you should go add it to your TBR right now. It's the story of a lonely old aquarium cleaner and an equally lonely old Giant Pacific octopus that somehow manage to bridge the gap between species and become friends. Oh and by the way, part of the story is told from the perspective of Marcellus the octopus. I've recommended a lot of books to friends over the course of my life, but I've never gotten weirder looks than when I open with "okay so there's this old lady and an octopus and the octopus is trying to help her understand what happened to her son." Ironically, I am 100% sure I gave the same look when my friend was recommending the book to me, so I guess everyone has to have "The Moment" when it comes to this one. It works, trust me.

    How a relatively small library managed to snag such a big name is a complete mystery to me, but I was so excited when I heard she was coming because I adored the book. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll have your heart ripped out 3 or 4 times along the way... it's a great time! Although I loved her work, I didn't know much about Van Pelt herself. Actually, I didn't really know anything about her at all. For all I knew, this was her 27th book and she'd be one of those people who are really tired of being on book tour and couldn't care less about what you thought of it. After hearing her talk and meeting her, I can now confidently say I'm a fan of both her and her work.

    The event was absolutely packed - standing room only packed (if you don't have very generous friends who saved you a seat) - and I ended up having to park a block away because there were so many people in attendance, but it was totally worth it. She talked about her writing process, the inspiration behind the main characters, the highs and lows of taking it to a publisher, and her experience getting to see her story come to life as it's currently being adapted for a Netflix movie that's set to release next year. 

    Despite her success from what I learned is her debut novel, I was struck by how humble and down-to-earth she is. She didn't shy away from discussing the insecurities she had throughout the whole process and attributed a lot of her success to luck. My Octopus Teacher, a nonfiction documentary about a filmmaker's friendship with an octopus, was coming out right around when she was pitching her book; it may very well have contributed to getting her foot in the door, but she modestly downplayed the novel itself despite having just told us about the years and years of effort and constant revisions that had gone into it. I think the 200+ people in attendance would happily set her straight on the luck question.

    Aside from being so approachable, she is absolutely hilarious. Upon walking in past a giant banner of her face, her first words were "wow, I've never felt so in touch with my pores before." The rest of the talk was peppered with octopus jokes and humorous stories, which made the whole experience so much more fun. She's also just a great speaker in general and really knows how to hold a room. My most favorite thing that I learned about Van Pelt, though, is that she used to be a numbers girl before she traded it for her writing career. She was so open and genuine about her struggle to figure out what she wanted to do; as someone who is in the exact same boat, right down to being an accountant (for now), it was so inspiring to see someone who had taken their dream and run with it all the way to a successful outcome. 

    After her talk, she took a few questions and then you could line up to get your book autographed if you wanted. Obviously, we wanted. We only had to wait about half an hour to get up to the front of the line and even though it was late and she'd talked to a LOT of people at that point, she was still so friendly and nice. When I mentioned being an accountant who was trying to figure out life and also enjoyed writing, she was super warm and offered a couple nuggets of wisdom while she was signing - and can I just say kudos to her for being able to multitask because this girl could NEVER. She also had a bunch of absolutely adorable octopus stickers you could grab and, although I didn't realize it at the time, she drew a little Marcellus in my book next to her autograph! There may or may not have been actual squealing when I got home and saw it.

    Overall, it was a super fun and informative event. They always say not to meet your heroes, but I guess that doesn't count if you don't realize they're your hero beforehand. We had a great time learning more about her and hearing about the book and, if I had to guess, I think it would've been hard not to have a great time. It's a different kind of experience when you get a bunch of people in a room who all care a lot about a specific thing, whether it's a book or a comic con or a sport. You're all there to nerd out over a common interest and it creates a special atmosphere that you can't get just anywhere. When you throw in that the person everyone is there to see is way cool and obviously cares about her fans, it takes it to a whole new level.

    TLDR: read Remarkably Bright Creatures and, if you ever get the chance, meet Shelby Van Pelt! Also please look at the Mini Marcellus she drew because he is so insanely cute it's almost criminal.