Entertain. Empower. Encourage.
Books By Randy Mazie
A
Year of Encouragements
Press
Presents
Give the Gift of Reading
About Randy
To learn about me,
you have to play one of my favorite games:
FIBBER!
You decide whether what I'm saying is:
Fact or Fib
Reel or Fishy
Crow or Cluck
(this last being a little fowl)
Here's how to play:
Mark all the items you believe to be true with a “T” and all the items you think are untrue with an “F.”
Then either draw a line connecting each true-false statement that matches up or place the same number next to your “T” and your “F” indicating that the two of them match. For example, “T1” and “F1.”
Got it?
When you're done, click on the box with all the statements
and you'll get a pop-up with the correct answers.
Form without answers
so you can mark each item either T or F and match up the items that correspond to each other
Click on this tiny image which will pop-up large with all the answers.
No cheating!
Try playing this game with your kids sometime.
I call it "Fibber."
You take something that happened in real life
and you each make up a story that's so EXAGGERATED and so UNBELIEVABLE
that the other other person finally blurts out,
"FIBBER!"
It's a fun game to play in the car on a long trip when everyone is getting really bored.!
Hey, let's play FIBBER!
Click here
to read a poem about
the first time I taught my
son how to play FIBBER.
I know you'll get a smile out of it
So, Why Am I Telling You This?
Because what I do as a writer and poet is a bit like fibbing.
I take something from my life, something I’ve observed,
or just some weird idea that pops into my head, and I run with it.
Like playing my game of Fibber.
I toss around an idea like I chew bubble gum, stretching it out as far as I can until
I can press it against the inside of my lips and blow it into
one big, beautiful bubble hoping to watch your eyes grow wide, and
then smile and giggle in surprise when it finally bursts.
That’s when I know I’ve done my job.
How Did I Start Writing?
The first piece I can remember writing (and still have) was in 6th grade.
It was a term paper for school
(yes, they actually made us write term papers back then in the 6th grade).
I titled it What Is Man?
We had a class unit about human history and development for a while.
I used quotes from our class lessons, home readings,
and threw in some biblical references.
I wrote about how man has searched for meaning in life throughout history—
pretty heady stuff for a sixth grader.
After that, I went on to write a second Gospel, craft an Encyclopedia Britannica, and invent the World Wide Web—long before Al Gore claimed to have created it.
(Fibber!)
What Have I Learned?
I still write about the meaning of life,
but I do it now through poetry,
complemented by illustrations from amazingly talented
grade school, college, and professional artists.
Exaggeration—fibbing, as you now know it—wondrously captures
what life, especially family life, is all about,
creating a verbal caricature we all relate to.
Through my writing, I’ve found answers to my 6th-grade question, "What is Man?"
And like my metaphor about bubble gum, I’ve learned to laugh
as the bubble bursts in my face.
Ultimately it’s all about laughter blended with love,
appreciation, and a generous portion of caring.
It also helps to add a little give-and-take,
a cup of forgiveness (for both oneself and others), and a few quarts
of understanding, acceptance, and the courage to change (though mostly me).
Enough About My Philosophy and Fibbing—Here’s the Real Deal.
(Thanks for reading this far. It's been fun.)
I started writing poetry in high school, influenced by Bob Dylan, and I did win the Creative Writing Award upon graduation (I didn’t trip on the steps though). In college, I had poems published in a local newspaper and my school magazine, plus I worked as an assistant editor in my junior and senior years. I graduated with a major in Human Relations and a minor in English My writing at the time was greatly influenced by e. e. Cummings and the Vietnam war.
I went on to earn a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) from Columbia University and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Barry University. For a decade, I worked with various social agencies including the New York State Office of Mental Health, followed by over 30 years with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. During that time, I published numerous nonfiction articles in professional magazines.
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Since retiring from my position with Miami-Dade, I’ve published short stories and poems in journals such as Defenestration, The MacGuffin, The Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review, DASH, Light, The Gyroscope Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal and the website YourDailyPoem.com. My work has also appeared in poetry collections, including The Anthology of Transcendent Poetry (2019) and The Reach of Song Anthology (2021-2022).
Today, I live by the spirit of my website, A Year of Encouragements, aiming to encourage and empower others—and myself—while living life to the fullest. It's been a journey of growth, laughter, and, of course, a bit of fibbing along the way.