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
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/.
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.
Brad Ricca
Brad Ricca is the Edgar-nominated author of six books, including the new graphic novel (with artist Courtney Sieh) Ten Days in a Mad-house and the Ohioana Award winning Super Boys. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Learn more at: https://www.trueraiders.com/
Donald Tunnicliff Rice
Donald Tunnicliff Rice is a freelance writer based in Columbus, Ohio. His essays, short stories, and satires have appeared in periodicals ranging from The New York Times to Scholia Satyrica to the Journal of Caribbean Literature. He is the author or editor of nine published books. Cast in Deathless Bronze: Andrew Rowan, the Spanish-American War, and the Origins of American Empire earned Rice a $5,000 Individual Achievement Award from the Ohio Arts Council. He is currently working on a novel set in Tampa just prior to the start of the Spanish-American War.
Natalie D. Richards
New York Times Bestselling Author Natalie D. Richards is the author of nine “page-turning thrillers” (School Library Journal), including Five Total Strangers (2020) and Seven Dirty Secrets (2021). Four Found Dead (2023) is her ninth bone-chilling novel. Her first middle-grade novel is called 15 Secrets to Survival and has been hailed as, “a teamwork oriented update to Hatchet.” A champion of literacy and aspiring authors, Richards is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries, and writing groups. She lives in Ohio with her three children and (very) large dog, Wookiee. Visit her at http://www.nataliedrichards.com.
Joyce Richardson
Joyce Richardson received her MA in creative writing from Ohio University. She taught high school and junior high English and drama in Athens County, Ohio for over twenty years. Her poetry collections include The Reader, Sailing without a Sail, and Delia’s Gone. Joyce’s Appalachian novel, On Sunday Creek, was written with the help of an Ohio Individual artist grant.
The first art mystery novel, Nude Descending a Staircase (Museitup Publishing) came out in the spring of 2011. Book 2 of the museum mystery series, Nude with Red Hat, was published as a paperback in November, 2016. Joyce is currently working on her third mystery, Reclining Nude.
Joyce enjoys traveling with her husband, Phil, also a writer, and painting Chagall-like images whenever she finds herself in San Miguel, Mexico. Her website is MuseumMystery.com
Tara Rigsbee
Tara Rigsbee is a mother of two beautiful girls and was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Tara hold a bachelor degree in Human Services and is a Certified Life Coach. Tara has recently started her own business called “Butterfly Bloom Dream Builder” and her goal is to run her business full time and continue to inspire others and help them build their dreams. After going through a life changing event and getting through her recovery she decided to go to Virginia Beach, VA to complete her book, and resided there for thirteen months. Tara is now living back home in Columbus, Ohio.
Robert Roman
Robert J. Roman was born in Connecticut and raised in Ohio. He attended The Ohio
State University where he double-majored in psychology and American history/American
studies. There he saw tens of thousands of students, who otherwise seemed to
agree on almost nothing, be of one mind about their football team. He holds a master’s
degree in psychology from New York University and currently lives in New York City.
Mary Doria Russell
Widely praised for meticulous research, fine prose, and the compelling narrative drive of her stories, Mary Doria Russell is the award-winning author of six bestselling novels, including the science fiction classics The Sparrow and Children of God; the World War II thriller, A Thread of Grace; and a political romance set in 1921 Cairo called Dreamers of the Day. With her latest novels, Doc and Epitaph, Russell has redefined two towering figures of the American West: the lawman Wyatt Earp and the dental surgeon Doc Holliday. The daughter of a sheriff, Mary grew up with cops and guns but also holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan and taught anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry.
Marilyn Sadler
In 1983, Marilyn Sadler created the Alistair series of children’s books for Hamish Hamilton in London, England and for Simon & Schuster in the United States. The books have been featured throughout the years in Cricket Magazine and the Book-of-the-Month Club.
Shortly thereafter, the P.J. Funnybunny collection of children’s books was published under the Dr. Seuss Beginner Books logo for Random House. “It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny” received an International Classroom Choice Award its first year. Since that time, fifteen books have been added to the series.
Marilyn has also had a variety of other characters and series published with Western Publishing and Troll Publishing
Marilyn’s television credits include two PBS Reading Rainbow programs featuring Alistair, an Alistair program for the BBC, three ABC Weekend Specials featuring P.J. Funnybunny, and a show based on her children’s book, Elizabeth and Larry, for Showtime’s Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.
Between 1999 and 2004, The Disney Channel produced three Original Movies based on Marilyn’s book, Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century. Each of Disney’s Zenon movies had exceptionally high ratings, with Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century and Zenon the Zequel among the highest rated shows in the history of The Disney Channel. According to Nielsen Media Research, the Zenon movies reached an audience of more than 10 million viewers.
In 2004, Playhouse Disney began production on Marilyn’s animated series, Handy Manny. Handy Manny premiered September 16, 2006, as the highest rated Playhouse Disney series premiere of all time. Since its debut, Handy Manny averages approximately 2 million viewers a week, has generated consistent critical acclaim and developed a deeply loyal audience.
In 2009, Marilyn was nominated for an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of Handy Manny in the category of “Outstanding Special Class Animated Program”.
In 2015, Harper Collins Publishers released the first of a series of math-based detective stories featuring Charlie Piechart by Eric Comstock and Marilyn. Titles include, “The Missing Pizza Slice”, “The Missing Hat” and “The Missing Dog”.
Visit Marilyn at: marilynsadler.net