Author Profiles
Ohio has a rich literary heritage as well as some wonderful contemporary authors. Learn more about them here! You can sort by various categories and see who has participated in our annual book festival by using the category search on the left, or search by keyword (including partial author names) by using the search field on the right.
- You are searching within category(ies): 2023
Jen Devon
Jen Devon writes cinematic contemporary romances about complicated, imperfect people finding their perfect match.A former biology academic and lecturer, she currently works in the tech industry and dreams of writing full-time. She’s an avid gardener, photographer, and boardgamer, a thrift store enthusiast and unapologetic nerd. She’s a mom of five (three kids, two rescue mutts) and lives in central Ohio with her engineer husband. https://jendevon.com/
Srirupa Dhar
Srirupa Dhar is Indian by birth and has been living in the United States since 1998. She completed her M.A. and M.Phil. from University of Calcutta, India. She has a third Master’s degree in English with Technical Writing Certification from University of Alabama in Huntsville, U.S.A. Srirupa taught as a young college lecturer in Calcutta, West Bengal and as a junior high school teacher in Columbus, Ohio. She has also worked as an interpreter in Columbus. She is a voracious reader and takes an avid delight in many forms of art. Currently, she is a writer, primarily of fiction. Her debut novel called “For A Drop Of Rice-Water” has recently been published by a traditional publishing house. Some of her short stories have been published in “The Bangalore Review”, “The Seattle Star”, “The Statesman” and “Café Dissensus.” One of her short stories has been published in “Muffled Moans Unleashed”, an anthology on child abuse and sexual violence. Some of her nonfictional works have appeared in collections of essays. One of her distinguished nonfictional articles called “Self-realization of Women through Binaries in Chokher Bali and Ghare Baire” has been published in “Reading Rabindranath: The Myriad Shades of a Genius.” Occasionally, Srirupa acts in plays in Columbus. She is part of an amateur dramatic society.
Meredith Doench
Meredith Doench is the author of the Luce Hansen thriller series and Whereabouts Unknown. Her writing has also appeared in many literary journals. She is a board member of Mystery Writers of America, Midwest Chapter, and is a senior lecturer of creative writing, literature, and composition at the University of Dayton in Ohio. For more information about this author and to view book purchase information, visit http://www.meredithdoench.com
Joyce Dyer
Joyce Dyer is a nonfiction writer who was raised in Akron. Her books include In a Tangled Wood: An Alzheimer’s Journey, Gum Dipped: A Daughter Remembers Rubber Town, and Goosetown: Reconstructing an Akron Neighborhood. Her essays have appeared in publications such as the North American Review and the New York Times, as well as anthologies. She has taught English and writing at Western Reserve Academy and Hiram College—where she directed the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature. She’s received prizes such as the Appalachian Book of the Year Award, the David B. Saunders Award in Creative Nonfiction, and Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. Pursuing John Brown: On the Trail of a Radical Abolitionist (2022), her new book, is a mix of memoir, biography, history, and travel writing and begins in Hudson, where John Brown grew up—and where the author now lives. To understand her ambivalence toward this controversial American figure, she sets out on a ten-year journey to John Brown sites across the country. The process forces her to confront hard questions about America—and herself.
Jeffrey Ebbeler
Jeff Ebbeler has been creating art for children for almost twenty years. He and his wife Eileen both attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He has illustrated over 50 children’s books. Jeff has given many lectures and demonstrations in grade-schools, colleges, and museums about the process of bringing words to life through pictures. Jeff and his family currently live in Cincinnati.
Kathy S. Elasky
Kathy S Elasky is a retired teacher/counselor from SE Ohio. She lives on a small farm with her husband, dogs, one cat, several squirrels and the occasional raccoon and possum. She loves reading to her grandkids, sewing, church activities and of course writing and illustrating books.
Alex Erickson
Alex Erickson is the author of both the Bookstore Café and the Furever Pets mysteries. When he’s not writing, he enjoys spending his time gaming or playing music. He lives in Ohio with his wife, son, and their three crazy cats. He can be found online at alexericksonbooks.com/
Erin Flanagan
Erin Flanagan is the author of two short-story collections and three novels including Deer Season, winner of the 2022 Edgar for Best First Novel, and the most recent Come with Me. She is an English professor at Wright State University and a regular book reviewer for Publishers Weekly. For more information about her and her writing, please visit http://www.erinflanagan.net or say hello on Twitter and Instagram at @erinlflanagan.
Patti Flinn
Patti Flinn is an author of romance (two novels and two novellas under the name Ava Bleu), one children’s book in both English and French, two historical novellas, and the anticipated 3‐book series THE LAST FAVORITE’S PAGE.
Patti’s first romance novel, THE DIVA OF PEDDLER’S CREEK won the 2010 Romance Writers Ink Award for Romantic comedy and her second, GLORIOUS SUNSET, was a finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Award. In 2022, after shifting to 18th‐century French historical fiction, Flinn penned VÉRONIQUE’S JOURNEY (winner of the Independent Book Publishing Assn Ebook Award for Fiction) and VÉRONIQUE’S MOON featuring a young woman of African descent sewing her way into French high society.
Based on French historical figure Louis‐Benoit Zamor, THE LAST FAVORITE’S PAGE series explores what life might have been like for this black man who was forever known as a traitor for turning over Madame Jeanne du Barry to the French Revolutionary Tribunal. The first book in the series, THE GREATEST THING, was released November 30, 2023.
Patti lives in Central Ohio and loves listening to smooth jazz, reading, and collecting and trying recipes from unique and antique cookbooks in her spare time. After returning to school for her MBA, Flinn created the “Exploring My Happy” blog to encourage women Gen X and older to keep pursuing their dreams, no matter their age. https://gildedorangebooks.com.
Amanda Flower
Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over fifty mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and RomanticTimes, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. Her first Emily Dickinson Mystery, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, was a Agatha Award winner and Mary Higgins Clark Nominee. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, and Sourcebooks. A former librarian, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their adorable cats. http://www.amandaflower.com/.