I just got a review copy of a friend’s book in the mail. I have many author friends and appreciate their work. I am always delighted when someone uses their actual real life bio and actual real life lessons in their work. How they navigated their real life to get where they are now IS the story. What they really lived and how they really reacted IS important enough on its own, to stand without embelllishment. I grant everyone poetic license, however if you state you are telling an unaltered history, know that it may be read by everyone who knew you at every step of the way. They will delight in seeing any embellishment and in telling everyone they know that it was not the case. One mistruth and your credibility is jeopardized forever. WHO you are and WHAT you’ve lived is story enough, is interesting enough to stand on its own. The real story is when you’re brave enough to tell it.