Now confess, we all did things that were dishonest in
school. Mostly, this was about taking control of our lives at a time when every
aspect was controlled by someone else. This confession of mine (one of them,
anyway) goes back 50 years or more.
And it involves book reports. I used to make them up, both
written and oral. You've heard of fake news; well, these were fake books!
I thought up plots with made-up authors. This was so easy
I'm surprised everyone didn't do it. -- Or maybe they did! But I knew I could
never trust friends with my secrets. Kids of all sizes have big mouths.
It's not that I didn't have a love of reading. I was an
eager magazine & newspaper reader. My family subscribed to The Saturday
Evening Post & Reader’s Digest, and I looked forward to receiving both, as
well as The Miami Herald & The Palm Beach Post which I read daily. Rarely
was there time for books! Plus a book took up longer to read. Being young I
wanted to be free to enjoy other things.
I have a natural talent for plotting and creating
characters, along with an endless supply of tales for fiction despite my
preference for real life stories. My creative well never runs dry.
Thankfully, the teachers never asked to see any of these
books. But if they did, I would have a ready answer! --" My cousin took it
back north after her visit." And if they should persist, I would say,
"She lent it to a friend who lost it. "Fortunately, I was never
forced to do any explaining. The teachers never caught on.
As I grew, I didn’t want my talent and love of dreaming up
stories going to waste, so I decided to pursue becoming a novelist. My books
are no longer phantoms, but real!
