They truly seem to see us, in a way that’s almost a bit unnerving. And while those moments of connection were rare, they were always worth the wait. I spent a lot of time just observing at aquariums, hoping to have an octopus moment. I don’t know whether a captive octopus would be capable of such a snarky disposition, but I did want the logistics of what he was perceiving and doing, physically, to be somewhat believable, if at a stretch.įor the basics, I relied on nature journalists like Sy Montgomery, whose wonderful nonfiction book Soul of an Octopus helped me shape some of the interactions between Marcellus and Tova. I did a lot of research! But most of it happened after I’d already become quite attached to Marcellus, as a character, and his personality. How familiar were you with the giant Pacific octopus prior to writing Remarkably Bright Creatures? Did you have to do a bit of research? In that person who seems to always keep their world in motion, perhaps in fear of the reality that stillness might bring. And like the inspiration with Marcellus, it just kind of occurred to me that there’s a character in there. Cleaning, ironing, crocheting, crosswording. Like Tova, she was a tiny Swedish woman who was as sweet as she was stoic.

Tova is loosely based on my late grandmother. Are Tova, Marcellus, Cameron, or any of the other characters in the novel inspired by or based on specific individuals (or creatures)?

The scene that I wrote in that class eventually became the first pages of this novel. Exasperated and frustrated at the bumbling humans who were trying to keep him confined. A little while later, I was in a writing workshop, and we had this prompt to write from an unexpected point of view, so my mind immediately went to that octopus. What was your inspiration for Remarkably Bright Creatures?Īn internet video, of all things! This was a few years ago, and I saw this clip of an octopus who was determined to escape its enclosure, and I just thought…there’s a character in there.

Remarkably Bright Creatures is her first novel and she recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Shelby Van Pelt lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family.

Shelby van pelt