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.
For more information about our collection and programming for authors, please click on the "Authors" main tab above.
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Jessica Strawser
Jessica Strawser is the author of six book club favorite novels: Almost Missed You, Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month selection), Forget You Know Me, A Million Reasons Why, The Next Thing You Know (a People Magazine Pick, now new in paperback), and her latest, The Last Caretaker. She is editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest, where she curates the Learn by Example column; a popular speaker at writing conferences; and a freelance editor and writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love, Publishers Weekly, and others. A graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, she lives with her husband and two children in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she served as 2019 writer-in-residence for the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. For more information, visit http://www.jessicastrawser.com.
Frances Smith Strickland
Frances Smith Strickland brings to The Little Girl Who Grew Up To Be Governor the perspective of an educational psychologist who believes that the clues to meaningful life work are found in a person’s early childhood traits.
Frances was born and reared on a farm in Simpsonville, Kentucky. She received a B.S. degree in education from Murray State University, a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Colorado, and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Kentucky. Prior to writing this book, she authored a screening test for children entering kindergarten. Most of her professional life has been spent in public education where she tried to help children with learning problems succeed in the learning environment.
Frances married a fellow psychologist, Ted Strickland, and moved to Ohio. When he entered politics, she left her field of education for a time, and became first Chief-of-Staff. After 12 years in the Congress, Ted was elected as Governor of Ohio and Frances became First Lady. In this role, her attention and energy was focused on children and families. She also worked with non-profits to broaden the scope of education by initiating the Governor’s Institute on Creativity and Innovation in Public Education.
The first edition of The Little Girl Who Grew Up To Be Governor was published in 1991. Frances wanted to document for the children of Kentucky—especially the girls—that women make wonderful leaders, and that they start out in life just like most little girls do. She wanted them to know that women can accomplish big dreams and how one woman—against all odds— made that happen. Thirty years later, as a resident of Ohio, she revised the book to explain in developmentally appropriate language more detail about how the political process works and the important role of government in improving the lives of everyone than was true in the original publication.
Now retired, Frances is focused on joining with others who are concerned that the mood of our country has shifted dangerously away from the collective good and community well-being. Using simple stories, she wants this read-aloud book to remind children that while times and circumstances always change, the need to treat each other fairly and to share never changes.
Sam Subity
Sam Subity loves writing stories that explore the magic and wonder of being a kid and is thrilled to share his writing with readers everywhere—both the young in age and the young at heart. When he’s not writing, you might find him running the trails of northern California where the endless, winding miles past fog and ocean inspire stories of adventure and mystery. Or he might be mowing his lawn. Because that’s what adults sometimes have to do. But in either case, Sam is very likely imagining himself fighting mythical creatures or at the prow of a dragon ship feeling the wind and sea spray on his face alongside his own Viking queen and their two Vikelets. His greatest hope is that in reading his books, you too may be transported to another place where, for a little while, you can exchange the ordinary for the extraordinary. https://www.samsubity.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.
Cindy Thomson
Known for the inspirational Celtic theme employed in most of her books, Cindy Thomson is the author of six novels and three non-fiction books, including her newest Celtic Son. A genealogy enthusiast, she writes from her home in Ohio where she lives with her husband Tom near their three grown sons and their families. Visit her online at http://www.cindyswriting.com
Samantha Tucker
Samantha Tucker (she/her) is an antiracist teacher, writer, and editor in Columbus, Ohio. Sam writes personal essays, memoir, and cultural critique, having earned her MFA and MA in creative nonfiction. Her essay “Fountain Girls,” originally published in Ecotone, is a listed notable in Best American Essays 2017 and is anthologized in Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: An Anthology. Other essays have been published with Literary Hub, Columbus Alive, BUST, Brevity, and Guernica. Her latest book, Collective Chaos: A Roller Derby Team Memoir, was written with co-author Amy Spears. Learn more at: https://www.theamericandreamstartshere.com/
Jane Ann Turzillo
Jane Ann Turzillo is the author of ten books. She has been nominated twice for the Agatha for Wicked Women of Ohio and Unsolved Murders & Disappearances in Northeast Ohio. She is also a National Federation of Press Women award-winner for Wicked Cleveland, Ohio Train Disasters, and others. A full-time author and speaker, she concentrates on true crime and history. Her current book is Northern Ohio Cold Cases. As one of the original owners of a large weekly newspaper, she covered police, fire and hard news. Visit her website at http://www.janeannturzillo.com.
Carmella Van Vleet
Carmella Van Vleet is a former teacher who has been a full-time author for over 20 years. She’s the author of over a dozen books, both fiction and non-fiction, for kids of all ages. Her debut middle grade novel, Eliza Bing Is (Not) A Big Fat Quitter, received the Christopher Award and was featured on multiple state award lists, including Choose to Read Ohio. And her recent middle grade, Nothing Is Little, was a 2023 Ohioana Book Award finalist. She also co-authored the picture book To the Stars! The First American Woman to Walk in Space (co-authored with astronaut Kathy Sullivan). Carmella lives in Columbus, Ohio. She can be found online at: https://carmellavanvleet.com/.
Marie Vibbert
Hugo and Nebula nominated author Marie Vibbert’s short fiction has appeared over 90 times in top magazines like Nature, Analog, and Clarkesworld, and been translated into Czech, Chinese and Vietnamese. Her debut novel, Galactic Hellcats, was long listed by the British Science Fiction Award and her work has been called “everything science fiction should be” by the Oxford Culture Review. She also writes poetry, comics, and computer games. By day she is a computer programmer in Cleveland, Ohio. Learn more at Wikipedia or at: https://www.marievibbert.com/
Tim Waggoner
Shirley Jackson Award finalist Tim Waggoner has published over thirty novels and three short story collections of dark fiction. Waggoner wrote his first story at the age of five, when he created a comic book version of King Kong vs. Godzilla on a stenographer’s pad. It took him a few more years until he began selling professionally, though. He teaches creative writing at Sinclair Community College and in Seton Hill University’s MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program. He hopes to continue writing and teaching until he keels over dead, after which he wants to be stuffed and mounted, and then placed in front of his computer terminal. For more ifnformation about Waggoner, check out his website at timwaggoner.com.