About the Author

Theresa Chevalier lives in the beautiful Fraser Valley in BC.  Here she has the pleasure of raising four children as a single parent. She learned early on that in all situations there are choices to be made that will drastically impact the paths of our life. This knowledge along with her ability to read and write German gave her the tools for creating this novel.

Her own family has a rich history of migration and adapting to changing lifestyles.  She spent her childhood exploring the jungles of South America.  In Canada she has maintained her love of the outdoors by hiking the fabulous B.C. mountains, skiing, swimming, biking, and running whenever possible. She continues to take chances in life and love and experiencing all that goes along with it. Balance is a key ingredient to her life.  Knowing her limits so that she can give her best to family, work, and herself is of great importance.

Writing has become a passion to her and she has many ideas that she looks forward to bringing to life on paper.

From Theresa

There are times when I feel myself just bursting with passion for all that is life: sunshine, time with friends and family, all the incredible architecture in the world, the intricacies in shades of colors within a flower and the variety of flowers, bridges, the feelings ignited from the touch of another, the miracle of birth, the unknown in death and my list goes on and on. At these times I’m overcome with an intense desire to explore and learn all that I can about everything. I take chances and live outside my comfort zones. Sometimes things work out in my favor and sometimes they don’t and I live with the consequences and lessons learned. This is who I am.

I love getting to know people and everything that is unique about them. Your life story is interesting and unlike anyone else’s. I care about your happiness more than I care about your earthly possessions. This is who I am.

I have utmost appreciation for all who labor on land and sea to provide us with our daily meals. Farming is a job that keeps people busy seven days a week. When I bite into a crisp apple I don’t take your work for granted. This is who I am.

When we see someone for the first time we make an assumption about who they are and what kind of life they may have had. From the outside it can look as though someone has had it very easy. I’ve found that when we dig deeper, that most people have had to fight their way through some very tough circumstances at one point or another during their life. I am one of those people. I’ve become an expert in areas that I do not necessarily want much expertise in. But the battles have given me the ability to have compassion and understanding for others and where they are in life.

I believe that I show what I’ve learned about people and myself—through the characters that I’ve created and their life circumstances. Digging deeper into oneself is sometimes easier through others and so I put myself through all the roles that I create. Through my characters I test myself and the type of woman I am, the decisions I would make and the person I strive to become. There is always room to grow and learn. This is who I am.

In terms of my daily life: The past 9 years I’ve worked in management and accounting for a company in Abbotsford, B.C. called Clean Answers. There I’ve found incredible support and freedom to talk to people about my books even while on the job. Proudly on display on the front counter sits my book. Invariably, after ‘Clean Answers’ business is taken care of, our customers attention is drawn to the books and discussion starts. I feel utmost appreciation and thankfulness for the support of the owners and other staff.

At home I have 4 kids that are nearing the adult stage of life and I look forward to experiencing a bit of the empty nest syndrome. I know that when I’m away from my kids longer than a week that I do start to really miss them so I expect some of this. At the same time I’ve been doing the raising part solo for most of their lives and I’m ready to have some of the responsibility lifted off my shoulders and put onto theirs.

A key ingredient to my happiness in life is ‘balance.’ On a weekly basis I try to make sure that besides work and daily responsibility I’ve also found time for friends, family, physical activities such as hiking, swimming, tennis, and artsy creative things for my soul.

On a broader scale I try to keep up with current events and how people in other parts of the world are doing. There is so much more that I wish I could do for humanity. But I believe that if everyone takes moments of time to do selfless things for others that, slowly, we do make the world a better place. I am surrounded by people who’ve had huge positive impact on bettering the lives of others. I will do my best to keep following their example. Now you know a little more about who I am.

Why Shameful Innocence?

During my childhood and teenage years I had absolutely no interest in my family’s history. Then one time when I was in my early thirties my mother told me a poignant story of a family trying to survive the Russian Revolution. The terrors and horrors inflicted by the communist government just brought me to tears. That’s when I realized that I’d been handed a gift. Because I am able to read in German I was able to research many autobiographies with people who had lived during those times. This enabled me to create a family that is as real as all the events they lived through.

The world is very much aware of suffering of the Jewish people during WWII and of the degradation that African Americans went through during times of slavery. I was given an opportunity to bring to light the humble strength possessed by the Mennonite people as they also suffered unmentionable atrocities. I hope that by reading my novel people will take time to think about what their own actions might be during severe crisis. I hope that they will make the conscience decision to always treat others humanely.

Big Accomplishment

Setting goals and sticking to them is very important to me.  When making the decision to write "Shameful Innocence" I knew that it was no small under taking.  It, being my first novel, I did not have a team of people helping me with research which, at times, could take months till I found just the right piece to keep the story going and the setting authentic.

To complete the story it did take me 7 years.  Often, months would go by where I did not write a single word.  Like everyone else’s, my life would get busy with kids, work and obligations.  But the story was always in the back of my mind and I refused to give up.  I had decided that I would complete this novel no matter how long it took.  Completing "Shameful Innocence" was a huge personal accomplishment!

Award Winning Author

In April of 2009 I had the honour of receiving the award for 'Outstanding Artist in the Literary Arts' from the Abbotsford Arts Council.

I was and still am completely overwhelmed and grateful to be receiving such recognition from the great city that I call home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Fact

I love raspberry fields!  At the age of 7 my family immigrated to Canada.  That very first summer in the beautiful Fraser Valley I had to pick raspberries to earn money for school supplies.  Our 'Straw Boss' did not allow us children to slack at all.  But I didn’t mind.  Every year since that first year we had to pick during rain, extreme heat, and wind.  Where others may have suffered, I found joy and peace.

Today I live just blocks from the raspberry fields and they still inspire me as though painted by God! I drive, run, walk past them on a daily basis and will always take a deep breath and admire them in all their different stages and seasons. I could probably go on and on about raspberry fields!