"Why do so many claim to be former skeptics?"
Because they were.
Josh McDowell was a skeptic.
C.S. Lewis was an atheist.
Lee Strobel was an atheist.
Saint Augustine was a skeptic of Christianity.
etc...
Christianity changes peoples hearts and minds....
While a student at Kellogg College in Michigan in the early sixties, Josh McDowell was challenged by a group of Christian students to examine the claims of Christianity. Josh considered himself an atheist and was sure that Christianity was worthless, but he accepted the challenge. He focused his energy on discrediting the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Instead, he discovered compelling historical evidence for the reliability of the New Testament and the Resurrection.
http://www.leftbehind.com/channelinteract.asp?pageid=498&channelID=79
"It's not whether the Bible is true or false. It's a collection of stories. Some are true, some are embellished and some are myth."
If the bible is true then it is not a collection of embellished stories and myths.