I got to meet the author of my favorite book, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt!!
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The event was held by the New Castle County Reads program which started in 2005. In 2010, the program began featuring an author. Some of the previous authors that have been a part of the program include Garth Stein (The Art of Racing in the Rain), Daniel James Brown (The Boys in the Boat), Christina Baker Kline (Orphan Train), and Brendan Slocumb (The Violin Conspiracy).
Not to brag about where I live but Delaware SHOWED UP!! This was the largest event to date for New Castle County Reads and it was also Shelby Van Pelt’s largest audience as well with 2000 people in attendance. Shelby mentioned that her previous largest crowd was in Dallas – with many people in Delaware being Philadelphia Eagles fans we were glad to BEAT DALLAS! People tailgated and dressed up to fit an aquatic theme. Delaware’s governor, Matt Meyer, was also in attendance!
The evening started with opening remarks and an introduction for Van Pelt. Van Pelt then began talking about her writing journey and how she came up with the storyline for Remarkably Bright Creatures. I found her relatable and witty.
“Humans. For the most part, you are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures.”
Some things I learned included:
- Tova is based off Van Pelt’s Swedish grandmother
- While writing this book, Van Pelt spend a lot of time at the Georgia Aquarium 🐙
- Van Pelt came up with Marcellus when she went down a YouTube rabbit hole watching naughty octopus videos
- Van Pelt is a self trained writer – she signed up for an adult creative writing class and her instructor enjoyed her writing and encouraged her to pursue it!
The night wrapped up with a Q&A followed by a book signing. I waited in line for almost an hour to get my book signed and it was totally worth it!!!
I hadn’t heard about this event previously – I only stumbled upon it when a local bookstore (Huxley and Hiro) posted about it on their Instagram page. This event was free and copies of Remarkably Bright Creatures were being sold at the venue.
After this event I definitely want to join a book club! There are a few in my area that meet at local breweries, the various libraries, and there are two independent bookstores that have book clubs as well – hopefully at my next check in I’ll have found one to join 📚
Happy reading 😊
