One of my mirco-fiction pieces placed top-ten overall in a well-known international competition, out of an original field of thousands of writers. So much of finding a home for a story is hitting the right editor on the right day with a story that strikes the right note with them. According to my official spreadsheet, I wrote at least 20 short fiction pieces this year, ranging from 3,000-word short stories to 100-word micros.Īnd I got published! Seven times! Of course there are many rejections between those acceptances but I don’t even mind the rejections. But, on a personal level, some wonderful things have happened, too.Ģ020 has been a pretty amazing year for me, writing-wise. Obviously, I don’t need to detail the many ways in which this year has been difficult and draining and disappointing and dumpster-fire-like and many other D-words. Our early-March selves were so cute, weren’t they? With this pandemic coming, we might have to hunker down for a couple of weeks, but we’d be able to draw things on our driveway! I remember that day in early March when I swung over to Target after dropping my kids off at school and picked up a jigsaw puzzle and a bucket of sidewalk chalk.Īll the way through the self-checkout line, I patted myself on the back for my foresight. I can’t wait for you all to meet Marcellus the Octopus! (Just drop your email in that box to the right!)Ī million (trillion!) thanks to everyone who has supported me in writing this book, from my husband and family, my amazing critique partners and writers group, my incredible agent, Kristin Nelson, and my wonderful editor at Ecco, Helen Atsma. I’ll share more details in the weeks and months to come, but if you want to stay in the loop (and be the first to know when preorders are available!), the easiest way is to sign up for my mailing list. When a grifter comes to town, the three unlock a truth tied to her son’s disappearance thirty years ago. REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES tells the story of a widow who befriends an aquarium-dwelling octopus. I am beyond excited to announce that my debut novel, REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, will be published by Ecco/HarperCollins next spring! This story, and its quirky characters, have been brewing in my head for a while, and I’m so thrilled that I finally get to share them with you.

Shelby van pelt