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
Erin Alon Brain
Gary Buettner
From Gary himself: “Who writes this stuff? Me. My name is Gary Buettner (Bit-ner) and I’ve been writing spooky stories since junior high, but I’ve been making up my own superheroes and stories since I was a little kid. Once, I even won a ten-speed bike by making up my own superhero for a contest on the back of a cereal box! I studied creative writing in college at Indiana University where I won a couple awards for my stories. I love everything about Halloween and sometimes I like to make stuffed toy monsters. When I was thinking about new monsters to make, I drew a picture of Frankenstein’s goldfish. Before I had a chance to sew it, I started wondering who would take care of such a crazy fish and the idea of a paranormal petsitter was born. I have four kids and I live with my family in Indiana. In fact, Mina from Monster Pets is named after my oldest daughter, Mina.”
Check out his website: https://gbuettner.wixsite.com/monsterpetsbooks
Marcy Campbell
Marcy Campbell is an author of picture books and middle-grade novels, which have earned praise from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, School Library Review, The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, and many others. She is the recipient of multiple book awards, including the Ohioana Award for Juvenile Literature. Her picture books have been selected for the Junior Library Guild and named a Best Children’s Book of the Year by Bank Street College and National Public Radio. Her debut middle-grade novel, Rule of Threes, was selected by the State Library of Ohio for the Choose to Read Ohio list for 2023-2024. Marcy’s books have been translated into eight languages. She lives in Ohio with her family and multiple furry and feathered companions. Visit her at marcycampbell.com.
Matthew Caracciolo
Matthew Caracciolo is the author of Moon Ohio and The Waygook Book: A Foreigner’s Guide to South Korea. As a travel writer, his work has appeared on Amateur Traveler, Only In Your State, Columbus Navigator, Columbus: A Book Project, and his blog Travel is Fatal on matthewcaracciolo.com. He’s currently a Tour Researcher and Writer with Shaka Guide and lives in the Columbus area with his family.
Mary Kay Carson
Mary Kay Carson is the author of more than fifty nonfiction books for young people about wildlife, space, weather, nature, and history. After studying biology in college, and a stint in the Peace Corps, she began her writing career working on the classroom magazine SuperScience at Scholastic in NYC. Her books have received more than a dozen starred reviews, as well as multiple awards, including the 2019 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books and the 2023 Giverny Award for Best Children’s Science Picture Book. She also gives presentations at schools and libraries. http://www.marykaycarson.com.
Richard F. Celeste
Richard F. Celeste was the governor of Ohio from 1983 to 1991. He has held a variety of positions in government and public service, most recently serving as president of Colorado College. He is currently a trustee of the Gates Family Foundation and Global Communities. The father of seven children, Celeste resides in Colorado with his wife, Jacqueline, and is involved with numerous charities.
Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar
Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar is an Indian American writer. Born to a middle-class family in India, she later migrated to the USA with her husband and son. She currently lives in the suburbs of Ohio. She is a technologist by profession and a writer by passion. Her stories and poems have appeared in numerous publications, print and online. Her work has been selected for Best Small Fictions 2022. She won first place in ELJ Micro Creative Non-Fiction Prize, placed in the Strands International Flash Fiction Festival. and is the runner-up for the Chestnut Review Chapbook Contest. Her stories have been shortlisted in the Bath Flash Fiction Awards and SmokeLong Micro Competition. She is currently a Prose Editor at Janus Literary and a Submissions Editor at SmokeLong Quarterly. Her debut flash fiction collection “Morsels of Purple” was released in 2021. More at https://saraspunyfingers.com. Reach her @PunyFingers
e.E. Charlton-Trujillo
Described as “a force of nature” by Kirkus Reviews, author, filmmaker and youth literacy activist e.E. Charlton-Trujillo has written several books for teens and children, most notably the ALA Winning and Choose to Read Ohio series Fat Angie. Their celebrated co-authored picture books with NYT Bestseller Pat Zietlow Miller include: Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules, Lupe Lopez: Reading Rock Star, and A Girl Can Build Anything. Trujillo’s short fiction appeared in the Read Across America selection Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican In America and the lauded anthology The Collectors edited by A.S. King. They are the co-founder of the literacy nonprofit Never Counted Out and a Madriana with Las Musas.
Cinda Williams Chima
Ohio-born author Cinda Williams Chima nearly failed first grade because she was always daydreaming. By junior high, she got in trouble for writing novels in class. Yet the magic of books took her from first grade failure to first generation college graduate to New York Times best-selling author of the Seven Realms, Heir Chronicles, and Shattered Realms teen fantasy series. Her newest duology, The Runestone Saga, (Balzer&Bray) launched November 2022 with Children of Ragnarok. It marries Norse mythology and witchcraft with magic, swordplay, romance and cut-throat politics. She is a winner of the Buckeye Teen Book Award and a Choose to Read Ohio author.
Terreece M. Clarke
Bestselling author and journalist Terreece M. Clarke writes epic love stories about smart, courageous Black women loved without reservation or hesitation. She is active in her artistic community, including as Lincoln Theatre Artist Fellow (2018 Cohort) and a member of the 100 Authors Project. A longtime journalist, she has written for various websites, magazines, newspapers, and as a YA and children’s book reviewer for Common Sense Media. Her work has garnered the attention of the New York Times, Disney, and Jezebel, and her company’s digital marketing clients have landed media appearances for national outlets including Fox Business News, BET, CNN, Ebony Magazine, The Root, and MSNBC. As a successful writer, journalist, entrepreneur, mother of three, and wife to one, she is often asked to lead discussions on women and parenting issues and diversity in media, pop culture, and tech. Terreece’s first book – Olivia’s Potty Adventures, a potty training storybook featuring an African American character – spent 16 weeks as a top new release. Heartbeat: A Courageous Love Novel, her debut romantic suspense novel became a top international romance novel in two categories and kicked off the bestselling Courageous Love Novel series. You can find Terreece writing through life on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook – come join the conversation! https://terreececlarke.com