Heather Latter
When Connor Belluz was in Grade 1 at St. Michael’s School, his teacher, John Cousineau, read the class a book called “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” about a principal who becomes a superhero.
“Two students took the idea and ran with it,” Cousineau recalled, noting Belluz, with illustrations by classmate Alex Armstrong, wrote a book called “The Giant Cookie,” in which their teacher become a superhero named “Captain Cousineau.”
“It was a great story,” he enthused, noting “Captain Cousineau” had to defeat the giant cookie with his heat vision.
That was when Belluz discovered a passion for writing and now, as a Grade 6 student at St. Francis here, he has his first published book entitled “Creatures of Doom.”
“He was seven years old when he wrote [‘The Giant Cookie’] and now he has come back to share another story,” Cousineau told the students who had gathered in the St. Michael’s School gym last Thursday afternoon.
Following a short assembly, Belluz, along with his parents, visited each classroom so the youngsters could ask him questions about his book and the writing process.
Additionally, the school was having a “superhero” theme day in honour of Belluz’s visit, so many of the students were dressed as superheroes.
Belluz even dressed up as “Captain Cousineau.”
“Creatures of Doom” is about Nick, a ninja that has come from the sky and must learn how to survive in the forest since he escaped.
It is an action book based on a prophecy that states: “When lightning flashes and hurricanes twirl, there stands a baby who will protect the world. Yet he will find another and one more of the same mother.”
Nick has to defeat the villian Zerny, an evil pink frog with green polka dots, and a number of other monsters.
Belluz said it took him about three years to complete the 100-page novel.
“I started working on it when I was in Grade 4,” he explained, adding his classmates at the time even lent a hand.
“[They] helped me with their ideas and imagination,” Belluz recalled.
“Incredibly, all their ideas turned into their characters.”
He noted he didn’t work on the book every day, but did spend many hours writing page after page.
Belluz added he likes writing as a way of expressing all of his “wacky” ideas.
“I always wanted to write a book but didn’t know that I would ever publish anything,” he admitted.
“I still can’t get it through my head—I’m 11 and I wrote a book.
“Sometimes when I or someone else reads it, I can’t believe I actually wrote it,” he added.
Belluz said he used the website www.lulu.com to self-publish the book.
He noted it wasn’t too difficult to publish it because you just have to send a PDF version of the story.
But the first time he ordered the book, they found some mistakes so they had to order it again.
“Sometimes coming up with ideas is kind of hard,” Belluz told the St. Michael’s School students.
But it is clear Belluz has plenty of creativity since “Creatures of Doom” features eight action-packed chapters and more than two dozen characters, including a chipmunk named “Sharpy,” a giant man-eating butterfly, a dog with retractable armor, a giant turquoise snake with four hands and six heads, and a slimy creature called a moogiemoogie.
In the acknowledgements of his book, Belluz thanked his family, friends, and classmates for pushing, helping, and supporting him.
“Big thanks to my mom and dad who pushed me to write more than 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and then 70 pages,” he wrote.
“[And] thank you to Mr. Cousineau for helping me believe in myself, by editing my first books, and being my inspiration, or in this case, ‘Captain Cousineau.’”
Belluz said he’s already working on his next book, called “Creatures of Doom: The Sky,” and thinks he probably will write a third one for the “Creatures of Doom” series.
He has a limited number of copies available to purchase, but the book also can be ordered by visiting www.lulu.com and searching for his name.
