Rhonda Fischer

Personal Biography of Rhonda Fischer

Rhonda Fischer - Rhonda has been writing stories and poetry all of her life. Rhonda is a classically trained pianist who attended college at the Eastman School of Music, U of R in Rochester, NY. Rhonda won first place in a New York Piano Competition with 200 of the finest pianists in the country in 1980. She also designed the music curricula for pre-school children for 10 years through Marywood College in PA, and studied journalism at the University of New Mexico.

Rhonda was hired to write children’s stories for the Los Angeles Times kids section. She writes articles for American Chronicles, World News, WP News, Associated Content, World Sentential, and the Times Herald in NY. She is a professional book reviewer for all major publishing houses and self publishers. Rhonda has held writing workshops in Philadelphia, PA. Her stories, articles, and book reviews have been published in over 1,000 print and online publications. She is the CEO and founder of Whim Publishing in 2008, and author of the award-winning book Randy Kazandy, Where Are Your Glasses? Rhonda is a member of SCBWI and is an agent for Kids Book Animations in Los Angeles, CA.

Contact information:
Rhonda Fischer
www.randykazandy.com
E-mail: gotmusic6@yahoo.com

Commentary by the Author

"I actually lived the poem that I had recited so many years back, Foreign Lands. We moved all over the country, from Albuquerque to Texas, to Philadelphia, to upstate New York, and now live in Kansas. So up into the cherry tree I did climb and did vision my world as farther than my own back yard. I had a vision to travel and explore the unknown. I have been to many pleasant places that I had not seen before. I saw the blue skies and experienced warm beautiful weather, as well as the magic of snow. I am now next to the sea among the ships. My home is adorned with flowers. And playthings do come alive.”

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”

—Forest E. Witcraft (1894-1967), teacher, scholar

Closer look of Rhonda Fischer’s life

Growing Up

I grew up in a small town in upstate NY called Canandaigua. I was the second child out of six. I had three brothers and two sisters and a chow named Wolf. We also had several horses. Every summer my sister and I would ride from morning until dark. My horse's name was Dynamite and my sister's horse was Molly. We used to participate in 4-H, where I learned to train all the horses that we owned.

I will never forget the beautiful Christmases we had at home. The house was decorated beautifully and Christmas dinner was prepared with so much love. We sang 'til the wee hours of the morning around the piano. I remember my aunt and uncle dancing, and my father always singing to us. I cherish those memories.

My love of books started when my mother used to read wonderful stories to my siblings and me every night. She especially loved poetry and she had us memorize and recite poems from Robert Louis Stevenson’s book A Children’s Garden of Verses. When I was 15 years old my father bought me a book called The Treasure Chest which was a beautiful compilation of quotes and poetry. To this day, it is my most treasured book and I have used it all my life.

I started playing the piano in first grade and grew to love classical music. One of my fondest memories is of my little sister, Judi, on her first day of piano lessons. She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to find the piano teacher’s house, although it was clearly visible from the school. So I borrowed a piece of chalk from the teacher's blackboard and drew a line on the sidewalk from the school all the way to the piano teacher's house and told my sister to just follow the chalk.

Family

I've been married now for thirty years and have four beautiful children. My oldest son, Oliver, is in a post-graduate program at Georgetown University. My second child, Nicholas, just graduated with an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and has started his own investing company. My daughter, Sarah, is an economics major at California State University Fullerton. And my youngest, Timothy, is studying economics at the University of Pittsburgh. My husband, Gordon, has always supported and believed in me, and my family will always be my inspiration.

Creating Randy Kazandy

I have spent twenty years writing poetry and brainstorming ideas for children’s books with my family. I came up with the character Randy Kazandy after learning about the struggles my brother in law, Randy, had with his eyesight during his youth. He had to have surgery on his eyes as an infant, and got his first pair of glasses when he was only seventeen months old. I was inspired by his story and created Randy Kazandy to teach children that it’s okay to wear glasses.

When my youngest son left for college, I knew the time was right to start getting my ideas in print. After a lot of hard work and many sleepless nights, I was finally able to publish my first book: Randy Kazandy Where Are Your Glasses? To me, finally seeing my book in print and being able to share it with the public has made all the late nights and long hours worthwhile.

My Family in the Book

As my family has always been my greatest inspiration, I decided to include my family members throughout the pages of Randy Kazandy Where Are Your Glasses? Randy Kazandy’s appearance was inspired by my two young nephews. Miss Dibble and Dr. Bee are representations of my mother and father. Baby pictures of my son, Nicholas, were used to create the baby in the shopping cart. The baby's mother was drawn to look like my daughter. My brother, Spencer, can be seen emptying the trash can into the Tipsy Trash truck, while my son, Oliver, is the truck driver. My niece was the inspiration behind Randy’s mother. My youngest son and my sister are both in the waiting room. Randy’s father is based off my husband.

Randy Kazandy Where Are Your Glasses? was written in loving memory of my father, Edmond Spencer Dibble Jr. and my brother, Spencer Joseph Dibble. May their memories live on forevermore.