9 Chantal Bellehumeur

SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT NO.9 – CHANTAL BELLEHUMEUR

Complementing the author spotlights I ran from 2011 to 2016, today’s Saturday Spotlight, the ninth, is of Chantal Bellehumeur. If you would like to take part in a spotlight, take a look at Saturday spotlights.

*

Chantal Bellehumeur was born in Mississauga, Ontario in 1981. She moved a lot as a young child and her family finally settled in Burlington where she started attending a French school. Her weekends and summers were occupied playing with her friends or younger sister Karine, going to the park or library, as well as taking gymnastics, ballet, and swimming lessons.

At the age of nine, Chantal passed her ballet class with honours and was ecstatic about her first recital. She performed the choreography alone during a talent show at her elementary school and was pleased by the compliments she received. Chantal would have loved to continue taking ballet lessons, but turning down dancing in a production of The Nutcracker discouraged and upset her, her family having to move to Ottawa two days before the show was scheduled.

Chantal never stopped taking pleasure in dancing. In high school, she took general dance classes and later started doing ballet bar at home to work out and keep her good posture, balance, and flexibility. Yoga was added to her routine.

She loves the performing arts and has always been a creative person, deeply enjoying making crafts and organised sales at the end of her driveway with her childhood best friend. Her and Sarah still keep in touch despite them now living in different countries.

Sarah’s move to Europe instigated Chantal’s current love of traveling. She’s been to London, Paris, New York, all the Disney parks in Florida, Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises, various cities in Belgium and Ireland, plus several cities in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Chantal still does arts and crafts. She also paints, her favorite medium being acrylic. During the pandemic, Chantal spent a lot of her time painting on the back of cut-out cereal boxes.

And she also wrote…

Before becoming a published writer, Chantal aspired to be an actress. She originally took acting lessons to overcome her shyness and fell in love with the stage. Chantal performed in a couple of amateur stage productions and joined a youth run theatre company where she acted and learned various backstage work. She was accepted into the theatre programme at Concordia University in Montreal but ended her studies after giving birth to her son Aidan.

Chantal didn’t entirely give up acting though. She was an extra in commercials, television shows, and movies. She originally met her husband Jeff on the set of ‘The Aviator’, but they didn’t start dating until about a dozen years later. They have been a couple for ten years.

Jeff has been her rock, supporting her writing and the volunteer work she did for Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. She was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2009. Her chronic digestive illness forced her to visit the ER on many occasions, why she got involved with the non-profit organisation. She was their superhero mascot during a few fundraising walks.

Chantal works full time for the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.

*

And now from the author herself:

My storytelling days began as a child. I used to come up with my own stories and started making mini books out of stapled pieces of paper shortly after learning how to write. I also illustrated my pages, although the drawings weren’t good. If I may say so, my artistic talents have significantly improved over time. So has my writing.

We didn’t own a computer until I was in my teens, so I wrote everything by hand, which was long and annoying. I always felt like I couldn’t write fast enough and always ended up with a sore hand. At least I didn’t have to write with a quill, although I do enjoy using this tool to write personal letters on occasion. I like sealing them with wax, just like in the old days.

I was thrilled when we finally got a computer, but it took a while for me to perfect my typing skills. I took lessons in high school and was gradually able to type faster. I was grateful for computers when embellishing my stories and doing corrections. Before, I would have to rewrite my drafts with the added material and edits, so would give up.

My goal wasn’t to become a published writer. Until this day, writing is a therapeutic hobby for me. I feel alive when I write; it’s like taking a breath of fresh air.

I’ve always been afraid that if I wrote as a career I’d start hating it or the ideas would run out. I’ve had writer’s block before, but it didn’t matter because there were no expectations or deadlines. Even when I wrote for a monthly magazine, I didn’t have to produce a story for every issue which took the pressure off. It was rare for me not to submit anything and once the magazine stopped publishing I felt a bit lost.

I started publishing in 2009, the same year I was diagnosed with a chronic digestive illness.

A lot of my work was done while on sick leave since I’m the type of person who always feels the need to be productive. I have a hard time sitting or lying down and doing nothing. I can barely even watch TV without needing to bounce up from the couch; especially when I’m taking a break from writing because my mind continues to be active.

I’m a multi-genre Canadian author with twenty published books available as kindle and paperback formats on Amazon and other platforms. Some of my short stories, flash fiction pieces, poems, and even personal recipes, have been featured in anthologies and emagazines. I also wrote a few articles for a local newspaper.

My head is often filled with ideas, and I sometimes feel like my characters are speaking to me in my head. I can only calm them down when I write (or type really). It fuels me, and sometimes I forget the world around me. It’s a nice distraction when I’m sick or feeling down.

**

You can find more about Chantal and her writing via…

***

Thank you, Chantal!

If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at Saturday Spotlights or email me for details.

Complete and Continue