The Fun of Fibbing!

As we continue our grand celebration of Adam Shaugnessy’s The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable Fib, the Emus Debuts are chiming in to share their own stories of fibbing. What little (or big!) lies have we all told? Let’s have a quick read to find out, and in the meantime, get psyched for Adam’s AMAZING novel!

Tamara Ellis Smith: When I was in kindergarten I told my class that my parents has gotten a divorce.  They had not gotten a divorce.  (And I can report that they haven’t yet.  Forty-eight years and going strong.)  All of my friends’ parents were getting divorces—or at least two of them were.  🙂  I remember feeling the attention energy in the room shifting and honing in on these friends and wanting desperately to harness some of it.  So I did.  I told this big fib, embellished with details like how I never ever got to even see my dad.  Attention on me.  I loved it.  I basked in it.

Two days later one of my friend’s mothers drove to our house.  The minute she got out of the car and I saw the expression on her face, I knew I was cooked.  And after her conversation with my mom…I felt it, boy oh boy.

Not so happy mom.  Not so happy me.

But great practice for making up stories!

Jason Gallaher: A few years back, I used to have this habit of making up a new life whenever I traveled on an airplane. If ever the person next to me asked what I did for a living, I would improvise fake work-related reasons for heading to our destination. My favorite Jason Alter Ego was when I told my seat neighbor that I was moving to Las Vegas to join the latest Cirque de Soleil show (for the record, the most flexible thing I can do is touch my toes while stretching). It was fun to pretend for a little bit, and fortunately nobody ever asked to stay in touch via social media to find me out! I thought of the many faces of Airplane Jason as a great off the cuff writing exercise!

Janet Fox: For years I told people I was a writer, long before I became published. This was a fib that worked magic.

Mylisa Larson: My first documented fib was when I was a very little kid and my mom served eggs for breakfast. They were not a favorite. They disappeared rather quickly but since I was an inexperienced fibber, my plate and silverware disappeared along with them which made my mom just the tiniest bit suspicious. She asked if I had eaten the eggs and when I said I had, she switched tactics and asked where my plate had gone. I showed her—plate, eggs, silverware, all neatly covered by a napkin and stashed in the shoe closet.

Carole Gerber:  I consistently take 5 pounds off when I must state my weight. My weight is in the normal range. Those pesky 5 pounds don’t enhance my self-image, but they certainly accentuate my belly and rear end!

And there we have it! Getting excited about the lives of lies? Want to read about a really UNBELIEVABLE one? Then order your copy of Adam Shaugnessy’s AWESOME The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable Fib now!