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.
S. Andrew Swann
S. Andrew Swann is the pen name of Steven Swiniarski. He’s married and lives in the Greater Cleveland area where he has lived all of his adult life. He has a background in mechanical engineering and—besides writing—works as a Database Manager for one of the largest private child services agencies in the Cleveland area. He has published over 20 novels since 1993, which include science fiction, fantasy and horror. Currently he is working on the Dragon* series of light fantasy novels for DAW books, the first of which, Dragon•Princess, came out May 2014. The second, Dragon•Thief is expected in 2015.
Nita Sweeney
Nita Sweeney is the bestselling wellness author of the award-winning running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink and co-creator of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration & Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving. Her third book, Make Every Move a Meditation was featured in The Wall Street Journal. Her most recent book, A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindfulness Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment, was released in fall of 2023. A mindfulness coach, certified meditation leader and mindfulness teacher, mental health advocate, ultramarathoner, retired attorney, and former assistant to writing practice originator Natalie Goldberg, Nita founded the groups Mind, Mood, and Movement to support well-being through meditation, exercise, and writing practice; and The Writer’s Mind, to share using writing practice to produce publishable work. For twenty years, Nita published the central Ohio writing resource, Write Now Columbus. She lives in central Ohio with her husband, Ed, and their yellow Labrador retriever, Scarlet.
Download your free copy of Nita’s eBook, Three Tools for a Happier, Healthier Mind, or the infographic, Meditation Myths, on Nita’s website.
Linda Swink
Linda D. Swink is an Air Force veteran who served on active duty as a photographer with a Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and in the reserves as a base photographer. As an Army wife of ten years, she learned to appreciate the rigorous duty assignments of those wearing the Army green. Her father served with the Marine Corps during World War II in the Battle of Peleiu, giving her a deep respect for the men and women serving during wartime. Her first book, Speak With Power and Grace: A Woman’s Guide to Public Speaking, now in its third edition, has helped thousands of women become more confident while making speeches. Her second book, In Their Honor: The Men Behind the Names of Our Military Installations, is a collection of 524 short biographies that tell of courage, dedication, and patriotism. Her latest book, Life on a $5 Bet: Major General Mechenbier, is a biography of an amazing man who survived nearly six years being held in the infamous Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam. Linda is a professional speaker and lives with her family in Hamilton, Ohio.
Dave Szalay
Dave Szalay is an award winning illustrator, working author, and college professor. Dave, his wife, and three cats live along a steam that runs through the nearby Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. They have two adult sons and a granddaughter. http://www.daveszalay.com
William Tabac
- William L. Tabac is a practicing lawyer and emeritus professor of law at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He has published several law journal articles on a wide range of subjects and written about legal matters for The New York Times Magazine and The Plain Dealer. He was the producer and host of The Law and You, an award-winning Cleveland radio program, and a legal commentator for WKYC-TV.
– Talzoya
Talzoya is a nuclear physicist by education and the author of numerous scientific publications. “Of Lovers, Lonely Hearts, and the Psychotic Spell Called Falling in Love” is the result of both an introspective effort and the learning derived from published works by other experts in relation to the topic of falling in love, ranging from fiction and nonfiction books to peer-reviewed scientific publications. Talzoya takes pride in distilling knowledge from fields as distinct as sexology, biology, biochemistry, evolutionary psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience into a readable format accessible to all, so that we may all benefit from the findings of science.
Don Tassone
After a long career in the corporate world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots. He is the author of a two novels and seven short story collections. Don and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. Visit him at https://www.dontassone.com.
Barney Taxel
Barney Taxel has lived, photographed, taught, and lectured in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1967, when he moved there from New York City, where he was born and raised. In addition to his award winning career as a commercial photographer, Taxel has several photography books to his credit, including The Lake View Cemetery: Photographs From Cleveland’s Historic Landmark, Cleveland’s West Side Market: 100 Years and Still Cooking, and Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. For more on Taxel, check out his website at barneytaxel.com.
Laura Taxel
Laura Taxel is an award-winning journalist and author. At twenty-one, she earned a favorable review in the New York Times. Her most recent book, Cleveland’s West Side Market: 100 Years & Still Cooking, coauthored with Marilou Suszko, was published by the University of Akron Press in 2012. After more than forty years, she is still thrilled to have a career telling stories.
Christine Taylor-Butler
A native of Cleveland Ohio, Christine Taylor-Butler is the author of more than eighty books and short stories for children including Rosa Parks (Scholastic), the award winning “Sacred Mountain: Everest” (Lee and Low), and a middle grade science fiction adventure series The Lost Tribes (Move Books). Although she’s always wanted to be a writer, Christine was encouraged by her math teacher to try her hand at engineering. As a result, and always an overachiever, Christine holds dual degrees in Civil Engineering and Art & Design from MIT. Still the tug to write was too great. Now she’s known as much for her science writing as her fiction. To learn more visit: