B.A. Bellec: I have started a blog! To kick it off. Something really cool!
A Father’s Day Q&A.
When I wrote my novel, I did not treat parents kindly. This isn’t fair to my parents. They were both amazing. You see the fictional parents I created were based mainly on the parents of friends. This book was for those friends. The lost wallflowers. A path out of the chaos they were stuck in.
Dad, thank you for reading my book. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for showing me a path. Have fun. Relax.
To pay homage to all the dads out there, I present a Q&A with my father. The man that gave me the chance to take this crazy journey.
What does fatherhood mean to you?
Terry Bellec: To be a father really falls on the woman I fell in love with. See mom looked after most of the challenges raising you boys. I got my DNA from my dad and he was a fun person to be with and therefore I felt the same way and was not a strict person. My motto was that life is too short not to enjoy it. So to me, there were less rules and restrictions, it was more about the experience that I enjoyed with you boys. I admit I left most of the discipline for my wife to handle. See, I thought you boys were well adjusted and easy to be with. I hoped I would always be there if you needed help and try to pass on some of the wisdom I got from my parents, older brother, and sister. But I considered my wife as the rock in the family to balance life.
Tell me a story about your father:
Terry Bellec: He loved to play the horses at Hastings Park. And the last time I took him to the Track in the early 1990’s there was a horse named Better Bet Binky and we knew of this horse from previous times. We put a wager on him and right from the start of the race, the horse went to the lead. The horse went wire to wire in front, winning the race. That was a fond memory with my dad. I asked him one day, what is your proudest moment in life. He told me as a young man on the farm, he was responsible for training the team of farm horses. He trained them to back up as a team and it required a great deal of patience but it was very rewarding for him. When he went to the track, you would see that passion for training come out. We bonded at the track over that passion.
What was it like to read Someone’s Story? It has a heavy, dark theme around parents. There is even a character named Dad.
Terry Bellec: Well, I was surprised and wanted to tell everyone about it. I will admit I was apprehensive to read it. What if I did not like it and I didn’t want to face up to that challenge of possibly not enjoying it. But once I got into the story. I found it mirrors real-life feelings and has interesting characters. The ending of the story has some real emotion packed into it and wants you to retrace some of it to get a better picture. The Dad character in the story looks to be a fun person to be with. So, I can honestly say it is a creative book and my son may have found his labour of love.
What will you be doing on Father’s Day?
Terry Bellec: I feel for me, personally, to remember my dad and put flowers on his grave and remember the good times I had with him. So this Father’s Day is a chance to connect with your dad again and enjoy the moment because one day all you will have are memories of him.
B.A. Bellec 