Kimberly Roda was raised on a small rural farm in Central Pennsylvania. Her parents were idealists who valued family above everything else. They were big proponents of living healthily, well before the farm-to-table concept was reembraced by society. During a time when the world was enamored with Doritos and Fruit Roll-Ups, Kimberly and her three siblings weathered an upbringing that was authentically organic.
Roda’s father also believed that seeing and experiencing the world firsthand was of utmost importance. The family traveled endlessly with suitcases full of ramen noodles and granola bars, checking off most of North America’s national parks, as well as cathedrals, monuments, castles and ancient ruins in Europe and Mexico.
As a young girl living in the 1980s, the family had one television set which received three channels, but only when the rabbit ears on top, were moved around in just the right way. So, she read every book she could get her hands on. She wrote poems, screen plays, talent show skits, short stories, and opinion pieces for local newspapers.
She was accepted to Sweet Briar College on a financial scholarship and graduated with honors and a degree in English and Creative Writing. After moving to Washington DC, Roda worked for several non-profit publishers in their advertising and marketing departments. She later joined the Information Technology Association of America and stayed there for over ten years as their Vice President of Membership. There, she learned the art of how to effectively communicate with senior-level executives, writing a lifetime’s worth of succinct emails and marketing materials.
Roda eventually chose to start a family and she retired from the professional world.
Which brings us to today. After fifteen years of being the mother volunteer, and twenty years of editing and writing pro bono for every friend and family member who asked, she found the time to complete her own fictional novel. She will continue to offer up editing services for very reasonable fees, or chocolate and wine.