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
Skye Quinlan
Skye Quinlan (they/them) is a queer, autistic author of YA fiction. They’re an avid reader, have an absurd amount of crystals and gemstones, and if they’re not tending to their garden, you can usually find them playing Animal Crossing. Skye lives in Ohio with their wife, two dogs, a snake, and two lizards. Learn more at: https://skyequinlanbooks.com
Eman Quotah
Eman Quotah grew up in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, and Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Toast, The Establishment, Book Riot, and other publications. She lives with her family near Washington, D.C. Bride of the Sea is her first novel.
Merrill Rainey
Growing up, Merrill Rainey spent most of his Saturday afternoons drawing, watching monster movies, and going on imaginary adventures. Today, he is a cowboy-boot-wearing, picture-book-creator and paper-toy-maker. Merrill’s work focuses on exploring creativity and imaginative play. His current titles include Giants Are Very Brave People (2023 Cybils Awards nominee) written by Florence Parry Heide, Roar! I’m a Dinosaur (winner of the Good Housekeeping Best Kids’ Board Book of 2022), Oink! I’m a Pig, and the Color, Cut, Create series. His newest title My First Town: A Building Block Book, is a modern take on the classic children’s building block toys. Young builders are able to punch, build, and stack a 3D city of their own. My First Town empowers children to know that if they can fold a sheet of paper four times to create a block and add a little bit of creativity and ingenuity, then they can build anything! Merrill also works for many children’s magazines like Highlights, Ranger Rick, and Humpty Dumpty. You can see more of his work at littlerainey.com or follow him on Instagram @littlerainey
Ted Rall
An award-winning cartoonist, graphic novelist, and essayist, Ted Rall was born in Massachusetts and grew up in Kettering, Ohio. Rall has been a political cartoonist and op-ed columnist for United Press Syndicate since 1996, his work appearing in more than 100 newspapers around the country, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Village Voice. He serves as President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Rall has twice won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and in 1996 was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning. Visit his website: http://rall.com/.
Raul Ramos y Sanchez
Cuban-born Raul Ramos y Sanchez grew up in Miami’s cultural kaleidoscope before becoming a long-time resident of the U.S. Midwest. After a successful career in advertising that included founding an ad agency with offices in Ohio and California, Ramos turned to more personally significant work. Works of fiction by Raul include the Class H Trilogy (America Libre, House Divided, and Pancho Land), the coming of age novel, The Skinny Years, and Mustang To Paducah. The author and his work have been featured on television, radio and print publications across the country along with a host of online media sources. Visit Raul on his website, http://www.raulramos.com/.
Kerry Rea
Kerry Rea lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and their small army of dogs. She grew up in Youngstown, Ohio and graduated from The University of Notre Dame. She believes that happily ever after is always possible. Learn more at her website: https://www.authorkerryrea.com/
James Renner
James Renner is the author of several true crime books, as well as the novels The Man from Primrose Lane and The Great Forgetting. His latest work is the nonfiction thriller, True Crime Addict. He sometimes teaches Composition and Fiction Appreciation at Kent State University and the University of Akron.
Mike Resnick
Science fiction writer Mike Resnick holds a record thirty-six Hugo Award nominations, including five wins. Resnick has written sixty-four novels, over 250 short stories, two screenplays, and has edited forty anthologies. His most recent book is The Fortress in Orion.
Read MoreScience fiction writer Mike Resnick holds a record thirty-six Hugo Award nominations, including five wins. Resnick has written sixty-four novels, over 250 short stories, two screenplays, and has edited forty anthologies. His most recent book is The Fortress in Orion.
James Reston
James Reston, Jr. was an assistant to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall before serving in the US Army from 1965 to 1968. He is the bestselling author of seventeen books–including The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews, which helped inspire the film Frost/Nixon (2008)–three plays, and numerous articles in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times Magazine. He won the Prix Italia and Dupont-Columbus Award for his NPR radio documentary, Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown. He lives with his wife in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Adam Rex
Adam Rex is the author and illustrator of more than forty books for kids. These include New York Times bestselling picture books like Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, School’s First Day of School, (with illustrator Christian Robinson), and Chu’s Day (with author Neil Gaiman). His work has been adapted for film and television. He’s won some awards, including the Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children’s Literature and the National Cartoonists Society Book Illustration Award. His debut novel was shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. He used to make art for games like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. Sometimes he still does. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his dog, son, and wife. Learn more at https://www.adamrex.com/