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): 2017
Linda Kass
Linda Kass is the author of three historical novels, Tasa’s Song (2016); A Ritchie Boy (2020), an IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Historical Fiction in 2021; and Bessie, which was named A Hasty Book List Most-Anticipated Historical Fiction Title for 2023. Bessie was released in September 2023. Linda began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. She is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Columbus, Ohio. Find her online at http://www.lindakass.com.
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
Anne Vittur Kennedy
Anne Kennedy began her career in corporate illustration and quickly jumped to children’s books. Having illustrated for many years, she is now happily writing and illustrating her own titles. A life long love of animals and humor are evident in her work. She says her dog, Banjo, who often supervises in the studio, has incredible “dog logic” which inspired her to write Ragweed’s Farm Dog Handbook. Her time spent on farms riding horses has played a part in her stories too. Anne is the recipient of many awards, including Teacher’s Choice, Green Earth Book Award, American Library Notable Book, an Irma S. Black Honor Book, and she is honored too to represent Ohio with her Ohioana Choose To Read book, The Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh!
Jonathan Knight
Jonathan Knight has written nine books on Cleveland sports. Called “one of the most articulate and devoted sportswriters in Ohio” by the Akron Beacon Journal, Knight has been praised by the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, and ESPN’s Grantland.com. He’s a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his two sons. You can learn more at http://www.jknightbooks.com and follow him on Twitter at @jknightwriter.
Mary Knight
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Mary has always enjoyed the power of a good story, whether it’s been as a children’s librarian, a freelance writer or a writer-in-residence teaching kids how to write. Several years ago, she decided to go back to school to learn how to write a novel. After graduating in 2013 from Spalding University’s MFA program in Writing, Mary completed her middle grade novel, SAVING WONDER, found the agent and editor of her dreams, and is now a published author with Scholastic.
Of all the things she appreciates in life, she especially values loving kindness, a good laugh, the wisdom of young people, and the ability to see the world through another person’s eyes. She believes this last quality, empathy, is the key to not only being a good friend and an awesome person, but being a good writer as well. “I must first step into the minds and hearts of my characters to discover their viewpoints,” she says. “Only then can I find the words to create their world.”
Mary and her husband now live in Lexington, Kentucky with their two cats.
Lorie Langdon
Lorie Langdon is one half of the author team that writes the best-selling DOON series, a young adult reimagining of the musical Brigadoon. A few years ago, she left her corporate career to satisfy the voices in her head. Now she spends her days tucked into her office, Havanese puppy by her side, working to translate her effusive imagination into the written word.
Lorie has been interviewed on Entertainment Weekly.com and several NPR radio programs, including Lisa Loeb’s national Kid Lit show. The DOON series has been featured on such high profile sites as USAToday.com, Hypable.com, and BroadwayWorld.com. Lorie’s solo debut, GILT HOLLOW, a YA romantic thriller, released September 27th 2016. GILT HOLLOW was recently named by Redbook Magazine as one of the “Books By Women You Must Read This Fall.”
Frank Lavin
Frank Lavin is the CEO and founder of Export Now, a U.S. firm established in 2010 to operate e-commerce stores in China for international companies. Export Now is the largest off-shore operator of China e-commerce stores, helping brands from around the world in strategy and operations.
In Government, Lavin served as Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce 2005-2007. In that capacity, Lavin served as lead trade negotiator for both China and India and was the senior policy official in the Department responsible for commercial policy, export promotion, and trade negotiations across the globe. Lavin was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore from 2001-05, where his duties included helping negotiate the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.
In the private sector, Lavin served in senior finance and management positions in Hong Kong and Singapore with Edelman, Bank of America and Citibank.
Previously, Lavin served in the George H.W. Bush and Reagan Administrations, working in the Department of Commerce, Department of State, National Security Council, and White House. Lavin served as Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs 1987-89.
Lavin earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service (Georgetown); an M.S. in Chinese Language and History (Georgetown); an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (Johns Hopkins); and an M.B.A. in Finance at the Wharton School (Pennsylvania).
He is a columnist for Forbes.com and has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and other periodicals.
Lavin is the co-author of “Export Now,” (Wiley) on market entry strategies. His World War II history book, “Home Front to Battlefront” was published in 2017 by Ohio University Press.
Lavin serves as Chairman of the International Council of the National University of Singapore School of Medicine, and serves on the Board of Directors of UOB, a Singapore-based regional bank. He also served as Steering Committee Chairman of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo USA Pavilion.
Tracy Lawson
Tracy Lawson’s passion for storytelling led her first into the world of dance and educational theater, and enjoyed a career as a dance teacher, studio owner, and choreographer that has spanned nearly three decades. A mid-life career change has yielded six books–a four-volume series of thrillers for young adults, and two nonfiction history books based on the lives of her pioneer ancestors. Tracy’s two newest novels are in the pipeline for release in 2020 and 2021. While her body of work may seem varied, the common thread that connects all her books is her characters’ pursuit of individual liberty. Tracy, who is married with one grown daughter and two spoiled cats, splits her time between Dallas, Texas and Columbus, Ohio.
@TracySLawson on Twitter
Tracy Lawson, Author on Facebook
Cathy Cultice Lentes
Cathy Cultice Lentes recently retired from teaching and working with students with disabilitie sas part of the Special Education/Psychology team in Meigs County, Ohio. In 2016, she published a poetry chapbook, Getting The Mail (Finishing Line Press). In addition to poetry, Lentes writes creative nonfiction and a variety of works for children. She earned her MFA in Writing for Young People from the Solstice Program in 2013. Wendy McVicker and Cathy Cultice Lentes admired each other’s work from afar before becoming good friends and have often published in the same literary journals and anthologies, most recently, I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing, Ohio’s Appalachian voices (Sheila-Na-GigEditions, 2022).
Scott Longert
Scott Longert is a graduate of the Ohio State University and has his M.A. in American History from Cleveland State with an emphasis on the post-Civil Wars years to the Great Depression.
Scott is a retired Park Ranger from the James A. Garfield National Historic Site where he specialized in Civil War talks concerning General Garfield and major battles of the war.
Scott has been writing about Cleveland baseball history for over thirty years and has five books published to date, his latest Cy Young: An American Baseball Hero released in June 2020.
A sixth book, Victory on Two Fronts is due for an early winter 2022 release.
Scott has taught part-time at Cuyahoga Community College, offering courses in several aspects of Cleveland baseball history. He lectures regularly at local libraries and community groups. Scott was recently interviewed for the upcoming documentary, War on the Diamond, a study of the rivalry between the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees.