Guest Post

Liar, Liar by Leigh Hershkovich 

            People lie to themselves on a constant basis. Over the course of an hour, a day, a week or a year, a person can lie to themselves hundreds of times, in order to hide the reality that they do not want to face. In fact, at times, it is fair to assume that there are more lies bouncing around in a person’s mind that there are truths. The truth is often difficult and unpleasant to hear, and eventually, the lies become so familiar and welcoming that one mistakes them for the truth. The lines between fiction and reality become skewed, leaving a person in an alternate reality altogether. For a while, living in this mindset is new and exciting. That is, until the lies become the truth, at which time a person will fabricate a new life for themselves, over and over again as long as it takes them to find satisfaction. It’s a vicious cycle. We tell ourselves that our minds are much more at ease than they are. Another drink will not hurt, another cigarette will help, another pill popped will ease the pain. 

 

            The characters that make up the world of Shattered Illusions (Due on May 23rd from Full Court Press), lie to themselves so many times over the course of the novel that even I, the author,  at times cannot tell fact from fiction. These strong, capable people are brought down in shame by the lies they tell themselves in order to survive in an all too cruel world. When four strangers witness the murder of a local businessman, they become entangled in one lie after the other, as each one tries to determine exactly what they saw, without letting their emotions get in the way of their accusations. Their minds deceive them, and as time goes on, it is impossible for any of them to tell exactly what happened. Even Sarah Grigg, the lone bystander whom the murdered man shielded with his dying body, allows the words exchanged between them in the final moments of his life to disappear from her memory, as though to ease herself from the guilt she feels over not being able to save this strangers life.    

            It is something that all people do on a constant basis, yet when one will never allow their actions to be caught. We sneak through life like thieves, silently praying that our lies will never be found out. We shift the paradigm to believe whatever we wish were reality, and soon enough, the paradigm becomes that exactly reality. For Ella, Marco, Sarah and Michael, their lives are ruled by such lies. We all do it. How can we tell for sure that in fact, the entire foundation in which we base our lives are not in fact, all lies? Force fed from infancy to believe a certain stigma, such beliefs and ideals only grow with time. How are we to know if the reality we live in is a reality after all? It may impossible to ever unwind the thread of lies.

 

            And yet, we continue to live our lives with a hint of normalcy. How can one continue to live under false skies, when all along, they aware that it is they who spin the tall tales? However, there are times where it becomes easier to live with the lies, because, after all, they take on the skin of truth. 

To quote Danny Michaels: “What will the truth give you, exactly? The clarity that you want out of life? Days filled with more confusion? It will not give you wealth, it will not give you happiness, and it certainly cannot give you back lost time. The “truth” can only provide the disadvantage of a fantasy, the disarray of a shattered world, the opposite of peace of mind. The truth will break you, tear you apart, leave you for the wolves. And don’t tell me that you can handle that, because you don’t know the first thing about what you can and can’t handle. Take it from me—living in a world of lies makes so much more sense.” (Shattered Illusions, pg 100.) 

Isn’t there after all, a bit of truth in every lie we fabricate? Aren’t our lies, at the end of the day, pieces of life that we wish for that are too out of reach, or out of contact with reality? As the characters progress through the investigation, we see more and more as they come to terms with the fabricated lives they’ve been leading, and finally put the lies to rest. For it is when the reality we are faced with is a happy, blissful one, can we put the lies to sleep and face the world.  

So how can a person find the balance between fiction and reality? If only I had the answer. For all you know, maybe this too has been merely an illusion. 

Shattered Illusions will be available May 23rd from Full Court Press. Be sure to check us out on Facebook or by visiting our website for more details.

Leigh Hershkovich is an Author, blogger and all around book fanatic. You can learn more about Leigh and the world of Shattered Illusions by visiting......

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Leigh Hershkovich’s writing career began almost at infancy. Born and raised in The City by the Bay, Leigh was never seen without a pen and paper by her side, and was never without a story to share. With her vivid imagination and sharp writing tactics, she has taken the world by storm twice over. Now, with her debut novel Shattered Illusions, readers will get a first time glimpse into her first full fiction attempt.

An avid reader, accomplished pianist, passionate scholar of the language and the arts, Leigh currently resides in New York with her imagination.