CBC/QWF Writer-in-Residence: The truth about liars

At sleepaway camp in 1971, I told the girls in my cabinI was a princess.

Every night, they asked for stories about the royal court. I described my solid gold bed andthe round-the-clock room service from the royal kitchen.

I insisted on being called Princess Monique.

That July, I never once made myown cot. My 11-year-old ladies-in-waiting did it for me.

I don't remember feeling guilty for telling a lie.Besides, pretending to be a princess was way more exciting than just being me.

The trouble came several years later, when I was riding the 161 bus.A girl my age eyed me nervously.

"Excuse me," she whispered."Aren't youHer Royal Highness Princess Monique?"

That's when I learned it's easier to stick with the truth.At least in real life.

These days, I save that old impulse to lie for my fiction.

The kids' book I'mwriting now? It's about a girl pretending to be a princess.

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Most of us tell "white lies" to prevent hurting others.

Then there are biggerlies people lying about their age on dating websitesor about the value ofmerchandise they are bringing over the border.

In some ways, our lies reveal the truth about us. They hint at who we want tobe, and what matters to us.

This month, I had to do some serious sleuthing to find aMontrealerwilling to admit to having lied.

Knack for deception

Mark Correia likes lying.

A third-year student at the National TheatreSchool,Correia, 20, uses his knack for deception in his acting and his work as a magicianperforming at festivals and corporate events.

"I know how to pretend I am tellingthe truth," he said.

When we met at a bar near the Monument National, where Correia wasrehearsing for an upcoming NTS production, I asked him when he had last lied.

"Yesterday," he said. "I told a female friend who wanted to hang out that I had ameeting.Hanging out could have been awkward. I think she likes me."

Correia has been lying since his elementary school days in Oakville, Ont.

"Iused to get sent to the principal's office a lot. I'd sit in a chair outside her office, thenleave and walk the halls. I'd go back to class and say I'd met with the principal, andeverything was fine," Correia recalled.

Sometimes lying is easier than telling the truth.

In high school, Correia toldhis parents he was sleeping at a friend's house when he was really at his girlfriend's.

"I felt guilty lying to my mom. She still doesn't know," he said.

'We created a buzz out of nothing'

Correia says he especially enjoys pretending to be someone else a goodthing in an actor.

"Sometimes," he said, "you don't want to be yourself. If you delvedeep into your soul, you can have a nervous breakdown. But through the filter ofsomeone else, it's safe."

A few years back, just for fun, Correia pretended to be famous. He posted fakephotographs of himself in New York, then arranged for friends to meet him atToronto's Eaton Centre and ask for his autograph.

"We created a buzz out ofnothing," he said.

Mark Correia trolls Toronto's Eaton Centre, persuading people he's famous:

No Rosie

But be warned -- some lies can get out of hand.

That happened to Correia inGrade Four, when he pretended to have a girlfriend named Rosie.

Things fell apartwhen his friends realized there was no Rosie.

"They made fun of me for a long time," Correia said."If you're going to lie, you have to be able to think on your feet."

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For me, lies (even the ones that land us in trouble) are another sort of story.

They are, after all, stories we tell to othersand sometimes to ourselves.

I'll be back next month with my final installment as the CBC/QWFinaugural writer-in-residence. Until then, I'll be sleuthing for stories.

Catch Mark Correia and the NTS graduating class in their performance of Vacuum,from April 26 to 30 at the Monument National. For tickets, visit the Monument National's website.