The Strange Undeniable Truth

/ roughwighting

fiction, non-fiction, truth, writingMost often, stories that seem too amazing, too strange, too, well just too too, are the most real stories in our lives.

I know that’s the case for me.

I write fictional novels, because many would find events in my life just too unbelievable. Yet, when we all look deep into some of our experiences, aren’t they too wild for fiction?Mark Twain, truth stranger than fiction

Mark Twain hit the mark (!) when he declared: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

SO HERE’S THE TRUTH. (From last week’s post True…? or False?) 

The Right Wrong Man, Pamela S. WightI did walk in a bar and find a man I didn’t recognize reading an e-book while savoring a sip of beer. And he did slide his Kindle toward me, asking if I was the author, Pamela Wight, and then he displayed Chapter 3 of my book, THE RIGHT WRONG MAN.

What’s the possibility of this man recognizing me? I had recently joined a business networking group he belonged to, where I gave a “one-minute commercial” about my books.

What’s the possibility of this man then downloading his Kindle with my romantic suspense, starting to read it, deciding to stop at a bar he rarely frequents on his way home from work, and then finding the author enter that exact same bar?

This is the strange undeniable truth.

HERE’S THE SECOND TRUTH.

I did walk into the LBJ Library with my parents on a day it was closed. First Lady Bird Johnson, LBJ LIbraryopened in 1971, the library still looked spanking new two years later, soon after former president Lyndon B Johnson died. Lady Bird, newly widowed, decided to spend the day reminiscing within her husband’s archives.

What is the possibility that we could just walk through the front door of a closed-for-the-day presidential library with no one to stop us? What is the possibility of approaching what seemed a wax figure of the former first lady, and actually stepping up to jocularly say hello? What’s the possibility that I wasn’t thrown into jail?! Times were more innocent back then.

This is the strange undeniable truth.

deer, New Jersey DevilAs far as the third story, which several of you guessed, correctly, is false: How neat that no one denied the existence of the New Jersey Devil – but so many couldn’t fathom deer “getting it on” in August?

 

AHHH, HOW I LOVE THE STRANGE POSSIBILITIES OF TRUTH.

THE WINNER: David Prosser (https://barsetshirediaries.wordpress.com/) for being the first one to play the game, and the first one to guess that Story #3 is false.

THE SECOND WINNER: Jill Weatherholt: https://jillweatherholt.wordpress.com/) I just love her reaction to the truth. She decides Story #2 should be true, and if it isn’t? – she asks – who cares about the truth? Mark Twain would approve.

Thanks to Google Images.

43 thoughts on “The Strange Undeniable Truth”

  1. Thanks Pamela, I’m amazed not only to have been the first but to have been right.It was a fun quiz but it also showed just how many unusual things can happen, kind of like me being kicked out of bed last week when I sleep alone.
    xxx Sending you Gigantic Hugs xxx.

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    • Interestingly, strange things go bump in the day as well as in the night. Personally, I think life is meant to be strange. Makes it so much more interesting. Please send me your address via my email. xoxo Hugecongrathugxoxoxo

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  4. Sometimes I wonder whether truth sheds light on fiction, or vice-versa. Maybe a little bit of both 🙂 You remind us all, Pamela, that there are as many stories worth telling that we can see with our eyes as there are those that we see with our imagination. Thanks for sharing!

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    • You share a brilliant thought-no surprise. I definitely agree that fiction sheds light on truth. I believe that I have learned more from reading fiction throughout my years then any other kind of reading material.

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  5. Congratulations to David and Jill. Thanks for filling in the rest of your stories. I especially love the story of ‘meeting’ Lady Bird Johnson. 🙂 Seeing someone reading your story on his Kindle in a bar isn’t too shabby either.

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    • This could be fun to do at the next big family get-together, yes? Except I may not like the ‘true’ stories my now-adult children might tell. Just recently I found out they used to jump from the loft onto the door in my son’s bedroom and then jump down on his bed. Ack!

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  13. I think writing fiction is definitely a gift – that said, I am always amazed- to quote the saying ” you can’t make that shit up” how often the truth is really stranger. Was at a personal storytelling event the other day and this woman unravelled her tragedies and triumphs into the microphone- I had never heard anything like it. Who could have thought such things could happen to a person?

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    • And I loved having you over here playing the game. Maybe you should create such a contest over on your site. You could make the prize, um, how about that strawberry cake you just showed off??? :-0 🙂

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  19. I love your posts. Life is full of amazement. Just tried to email you re your meditation comment on my post, but your email didn’t work. Just like my WordPress, Comcast etc in the Maine sticks where we’ll be for another month. The price of beauty is to lose technology—necessary today while preparing for publication. Meditation has faded into the distance as my leader moved. I also like Tai Chi and Qi Gong when I can find them, also yoga. Right now I just aim for mindful walks in the woods,

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    • I love that you love my posts!! I went to my “Nia” dance class yesterday, and within the hour, to music, we practiced some Tai Chi and Taekwondo and Yoga within the dance. Heaven. In some ways, there is meditation in dance (as well as when I go for long walks). I hope YOU get in some more long walks in your beautiful Maine setting.

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  20. Thanks for this Pam, I found it such an uplifting read. It’s so true – life is so full of wonder and magic, and I forget to look out for it sometimes, like I take the miraculous truths of the everyday for granted when really, they are a loving reminder from life…anything is possible! Enjoy:-) Love and hugs, Harula xxx

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