Tessa Yang: I’m Constantly Surprised by My Own Writing
In this interview, author Tessa Yang discusses how the film Jaws helped inspire her debut novel, The Jellyfish Problem.
Tessa Yang is the author of the short story collection The Runaway Restaurant. Her work has been published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, The Cincinnati Review, Joyland, Foglifter, and elsewhere. She has an MFA from Indiana University and currently lives in Upstate New York.
In this interview, Tessa discusses how the film Jaws helped inspire her debut novel, The Jellyfish Problem, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Tessa Yang
Literary agent: Sarah Burnes
Book title: The Jellyfish Problem
Publisher: Berkley
Release date: June 2, 2026
Genre/category: Fiction
Previous titles: The Runaway Restaurant
Elevator pitch: A marine biologist investigates rumors of a giant jellyfish menacing a tiny island off the coast of Maine while wrestling with her grief over the death of her best friend.
What prompted you to write this book?
My initial inspiration for The Jellyfish Problem was Jaws. I somewhat guiltily love that movie, because while I think it’s narratively perfect, I also love sharks. I wanted to try writing my own sea monster story where the protagonist wasn’t going to be motivated by a desire to destroy the monster. I also think the pandemic played an inspirational role. The Jellyfish Problem is a book about grief, isolation, and relearning the importance of community—things that were on my mind a lot in 2021–22 when I began writing it.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It was about five years from the start of draft one to publication. The very sketchy idea I had to write about a sea monster stayed the same, but nearly everything else changed. The island setting became smaller and more isolated, the verb tense changed from present to past, new characters emerged, a monster-worshiping cult got axed, and the tone of the book became a little lighter with each draft. The final product isn’t too much like Jaws at all; it’s much more a story about self-discovery and friendship.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
This is my second book, so I went into the process with some idea of what to expect. That said, there were some big differences between publishing a short story collection with a small press and publishing a novel with a major imprint like Berkley. The Jellyfish Problem underwent a much more comprehensive revision process after the book sold. I worked with two editors for nine months, reshaping the novel’s structure, cutting characters, and tightening individual scenes. My first book also didn’t have an audiobook version, so it was really exciting to learn about that process: narrator casting, resolving pronunciation questions, etc. Lastly, I have an incredible marketing/publicity team from whom I’ve learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into building buzz months before a book comes out.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I’m constantly surprised by my own writing. That’s what keeps it interesting! The main character, Jo, surprised me a lot. She became crankier, funnier, more confident, and more loyal. I was very surprised by jellyfish, by the real-life superpowers I learned they have. And the ending of the book surprised me. For the longest time, I had no idea how to solve the titular “problem”. I was stranded in the dark with the characters, trying to find my way out.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
A healthy respect for the unknown. There are a lot of unknowns for Jo, as there are for all of us, and while I don’t believe fiction is self-help, seeing a character muddle through something we recognize in our own lives can be clarifying.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Figure out what makes you weird and write deeply into that. I almost stopped writing The Jellyfish Problem repeatedly because I couldn’t imagine anyone would want to read it. It was too weird! And it turns out that weirdness—Jo’s weirdness as a jelly-loving introvert—is one of the things that’s resonating with readers.
