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): Fiction
Jeffrey A. John
Jeffrey Alan John, Ph.D., is an author and freelance writer who experienced journalism as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor and public relations writer before entering a life in academia, which he continues as a Professor Emeritus at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of Lab Rats Can’t Say No: a story in the future, a science fiction mystery, and co-author with the late Frank L.…
Read MoreJeffrey Alan John, Ph.D., is an author and freelance writer who experienced journalism as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor and public relations writer before entering a life in academia, which he continues as a Professor Emeritus at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of Lab Rats Can’t Say No: a story in the future, a science fiction mystery, and co-author with the late Frank L. Johnson of A Bird in Your Hand: A story of ambiguous justice, a true-crime tale. Dr. John enjoys tennis, fly fishing and restoration of a decrepit Triumph TR3 sports car in his spare time. He and his wife Karin Avila-John live in Dayton’s Oregon Historic District. Learn more about Dr. John at his website http://www.wordwritesshop.com and visit him on Twitter at @Jeffrey23671313
E.M. Jones
E. M. Jones grew up in the rustic Ohio countryside. When he’s not working on his next book, he’s with his family, or busy exploring every local bookstore and library. If there is a creepy basement full of books, he will find it and spend too much time there. His short fiction has appeared in Mock Turtle Zine. The Darling Killer is his first novel.
Mark Sebastian Jordan
Based in the central highlands of Ohio, Mark Sebastian Jordan is published internationally as a music critic, is a specialist in the history of murder and mayhem in rural Ohio, and is known far and wide as a poet, storyteller, and humorist. His books include The Ceely Rose Murders at Malabar Farm (2021), The Witch of Mansfield (2023), Slammer: Private Dick (2017), Murder Ballads: American Crime Poems (2014), and The Book of Jobs (2010). He has contributed to such notable anthologies as I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio’s Appalachian Poets (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions), Eclipsing the Dark (Ohio Poetry Association), Gas Station Famous (OAC Books/Spartan Press), and Buzzkill Apocalypse (Night Ballet Press).
Mariel Jungkunz
Mariel Jungkunz is a former journalist and a graduate of the Las Hermanas mentorship program for unpublished kidlit writers at Las Musas Books. Originally from Puerto Rico, she currently resides in Ohio, where she works as an editor for dictionary.com.
John Kachuba
John Kachuba is the award-winning author of thirteen books. His most recent book is The Bottle Conjuror, an historical fantasy novel set in 18th-century England. Haycorn Smith and the Castle Ghost is a paranormal novel for middle-grade readers set in the haunted Chateau Laroche in Loveland, Ohio. Other novels include Dark Entry, a paranormal novel, and The Savage Apostle and Women of the Way, both historical fiction.…
Read MoreJohn Kachuba is the award-winning author of thirteen books. His most recent book is The Bottle Conjuror, an historical fantasy novel set in 18th-century England. Haycorn Smith and the Castle Ghost is a paranormal novel for middle-grade readers set in the haunted Chateau Laroche in Loveland, Ohio. Other novels include Dark Entry, a paranormal novel, and The Savage Apostle and Women of the Way, both historical fiction.
John’s nonfiction, Shapeshifters: A History, was published in June 2019 and was a finalist in the 2020 Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award. Several other works of nonfiction are about ghosts and the paranormal, humor writing, and occupational safety and health.
John holds MA degrees in Creative Writing from Antioch University Midwest and Ohio University and presently teaches Creative Writing at Ohio University and the Gotham Writers Workshop. He is a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Horror Writers Association, and the American Library Association’s Authors for Libraries.
John is a frequent speaker at conferences, universities and libraries, and on podcasts, radio and TV. John’s website is http://johnkachuba.com
Jay B. Kalagayan
Jay B. Kalagayan (MeSseD creator, writer and publisher) has been an annoyingly consistent entrepreneur and arts advocate in Cincinnati for more than twenty years. A Xavier University graduate from Erie, PA, Jay is founder of Know Theatre of Cincinnati and a co-founder of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. He is a writer of plays, cartoon strips, reviews, articles, marketing collateral, fundraising appeals, and geeky event calendars. His major influences are his wife Jan and daughters Meggie and Fi.
MeSseD is the nickname of the Metropolitan Sewer District and features sewer worker Lilliput. She is our tour guide to the weird, wild and wet world beneath our feet.
Creating a comic book like MeSseD has been a lifelong dream. With two seasons published, featuring artwork from friend and collaborator Dylan Speeg, Jay tours the country promoting MeSseD. He just finished his People’s Liberty project, the MeSseD Tunnel Tour, an immersive comic book experience taking place three stories underground.
Josephine Rascoe Keenan
Josephine Rascoe Keenan grew up in Arkansas’s oil patch, El Dorado, city of “black gold,” but is now a resident of Ohio. After working many years in theatre and film as a director and as an actress, during which time she had a feature role in a movie starring Johnny Cash, Josephine launched her encore career as a full-time writer of novels and short stories for young people.
In 2016, Pen-L Publishing launched Josephine’s three-book series entitled “The Days of Elvis,” about a teenage girl, Julie Morgan, who makes a casual decision to attend a concert featuring a new singer, Elvis Presley, and her life is changed forever. The cover art for all three books is her own work.
Josephine’s stories and poems have been published in Cricket magazine and Modern Maturity. Her plays have been produced in regional theatres and The Center of the Universe, was chosen as a winner of Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati’s New Play Contest.
When not writing, Josephine enjoys square dancing and cooking Southern dishes, such as hot water cornbread, little lady peas, and grandma’s champion peach cobbler.
Follow Josephine at
Facebook @ Josephine.Keenan1
Twitter @JRKeenan01
Instagram @KeenanJ17
Cassandra J. Kelly
Marlane Kennedy
Marlane Kennedy is the author of two middle grade novels published by HarperCollins: Me and the Pumpkin Queen and The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes. Both books were nominees to a variety of state award lists. She is also the author of the Disaster Strikes series published by Scholastic—adventures featuring ordinary kids in extraordinary situations that test their strength, smarts, and courage. Booklist praised the first release of the series: “Full of action and realistic friend dynamics…this holds strong appeal for both girls and boys and features a diverse cast of characters. A rare find in transitional chapter books.” A life-long Ohio resident, Marlane was born in Waverly, Ohio and now lives in Wooster, Ohio with her husband and daughter. Find her online at http://marlanekennedy.com.