Life, Embellished

Life, Embellishedby Susan WellsBennett
When my father finished reading my first novel, The Thief of Todays and Tomorrows, hecried. I know some of those tears were for the main character; however, most ofthem reflected a mixture of emotions having to do with the kind of daughter Iwas and am. Not long after, he told me he had always known I was a writerbecause I was such a creative liar as a child.
It's true: I was a liar. Not a "dog-ate-my-homework" liar orsomeone who says "no" when they mean yes,but a true embellisher. You see, life was never quite as exciting as I expectedit to be. The humdrumness of day-to-day life made me long for excitement andintrigue. So I created it whenever and wherever I could.
I once told three schoolmates that Sweden was preparing to invade the United States.Only one of them knew I was pretending (that's the polite word for "lying," ofcourse). I claimed to be privy to secret information due to my family'slong-standing connection with the Swedish Royals – my great-great-grandfatherworked as the stable boy to the King of Sweden (this is the kernel of truthupon which my story was based). Even at the time I remember thinking that ifthese two gullible girls would just look at a map, they would immediatelyrealize my story couldn't possibly be true. Why would Sweden bother with the U.S. when Norway is right next door?
Another time, I spotted an art gallery next to where myparents were shopping and asked for permission to go inside. My parents, whoare not particularly interested in fine art, told me to go ahead. I was onlynine or ten, so they probably also told me not to touch. They would have beenbetter served by telling me not to talk. Anyway, inside the gallery, asaleswoman approached me as I was looking at some lovely landscapes. She toldme the artist was from Idaho – and Iimmediately launched into a story about how my uncle was an artist who lived inIdaho.(Kernel of truth: I have one ne'er-do-well uncle who did, in fact, live in Idaho – he was more ofan asshole than an artist, though.) I kept the story spinning pretty well untilmy father came to retrieve me and the whole web came crashing down on me.

I know my parents were embarrassed by my lying. They thoughtI didn't appreciate the life they provided for me – that I somehow believed mylife should have been better. On the contrary, it was the life they providedfor me – one full of books and lots of museum trips – that stimulated myimagination. As an only child, I learned to entertain myself early on withadventures spun from the smallest details of the world around me. Withoutrealizing it, my parents created a storyteller.

So, the next time you catch your son or daughter in a lie,take the time to evaluate the creativity
behind it. Was it just a falsehood toprotect themselves from punishment? Or was it an embellishment – a story toldfor its own sake? If it was an embellishment, try not to be too hard on the kid– someday people might love to read his or her lies!
Biography: A third-generation Arizonan, Susan Wells Bennettwas born in 1971. Having spent many years working as an editor and writer incorporate settings, she began writing novels in 2009. She lives in Youngtown, Arizona,with her husband and their two dogs.

Links to my books:

Book Junkies Library: http://www.book-junkies-library.com/SusanWellsBennett.pdfAmazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Wells-Bennett/e/B0040DLBDI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/susan-wells-bennett?sort=DD&size=12&keyword=susan+wells+bennett&store=allproducts


Link to my blog: http://swellsbennett.blogspot.com/Twitter handle: @SWellsBennett
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SWellsBennett