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.

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Marcus Jackson

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Susanne Jaffe

Susanne Jaffe is a former New Yorker who was a long time-editor and executive in publishing. She was the editor-in-chief of Avon Books; senior vice-president of Simon & Schuster; editor-in-chief of a division of Random House. Along the way she edited everything from true crime to historical romance, celebrity fiction, mysteries and thrillers. In July 2001, Susanne became the executive director and creative director of Thurber House, the nonprofit literary center in Columbus, where she moved to and still lives.…Read More

Susanne Jaffe is a former New Yorker who was a long time-editor and executive in publishing. She was the editor-in-chief of Avon Books; senior vice-president of Simon & Schuster; editor-in-chief of a division of Random House. Along the way she edited everything from true crime to historical romance, celebrity fiction, mysteries and thrillers.

In July 2001, Susanne became the executive director and creative director of Thurber House, the nonprofit literary center in Columbus, where she moved to and still lives. She resigned in 2016 to concentrate full-time on her writing.

Susanne had two new novels published in January 2017: La Patrona and Her Mother’s Daughter. Both are available as ebooks, as are four additional novels that were originally traditionally published. For reviews of the two new books, please go to: http://www.amazon/author/susannejaffe.com.

In addition to her writing, Susanne teaches creative writing and is a ‘book doctor’ and editor on a freelance basis.

Susanne considers herself above all a storyteller, someone who wants to engage the reader on a journey with characters they can emotionally relate to.

For more information about Susanne and her books, and to follow her blog, go to: http://www.susannejaffe.com.

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Michele Jakubowski

Raised in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Michele Jakubowski has the teachers in her life to thank for her love of reading and writing. While writing has always been a passion for Michele, she believes it is the books she has read throughout the years, and the teachers who assigned them, that have made her the storyteller she is today.…Read More

Raised in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Michele Jakubowski has the teachers in her life to thank for her love of reading and writing. While writing has always been a passion for Michele, she believes it is the books she has read throughout the years, and the teachers who assigned them, that have made her the storyteller she is today. Her books include the Sidney & Sydney and Perfectly Poppy series as well as The Sleuths of Somerville and Ashley Small and Ashlee Tall. Michele lives in Powell, Ohio, with her husband, John, and their children, Jack and Mia.

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Judy Orr James

Judy James retired in 2016 from the Akron-Summit County Public Library where she was employed for more than 35 years. In 2001, she was hired as manager of the Special Collections Division to create a new department at Main Library devoted to local history and genealogy. She received her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University, and is also a graduate of the National Archives Modern Archives Institute.…Read More

Judy James retired in 2016 from the Akron-Summit County Public Library where she was employed for more than 35 years. In 2001, she was hired as manager of the Special Collections Division to create a new department at Main Library devoted to local history and genealogy. She received her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University, and is also a graduate of the National Archives Modern Archives Institute. The Special Collections Division maintains one of the most comprehensive genealogy collections in the state of Ohio, along with a growing collection of local history materials, including the archival collections of the Summit County Historical Society. Special Collections also coordinates the Summit Memory Project (http://www.SummitMemory.org), a collaborative, digital “scrapbook” of Summit County history. During her time at the library, Judy collaborated with numerous community and professional organizations including the University of Akron, Summit County Historical Society, Summit County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, Cascade Locks Park Association, and the City of Akron, among others. In 2010 she received the Akron Women’s History Project Woman of the Year Award for Innovation. Judy was born and raised in Akron and is married to Jeff James, a local attorney. They have two grown children.

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Regina Jeffers

Regina Jeffers, a public classroom teacher for thirty-nine years, considers herself a Jane Austen enthusiast. She is the author of several Austen-inspired novels, including Darcy’s Passions, Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Phantom of Pemberley, Christmas at Pemberley, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, Honor and Hope, and the upcoming The Mysterious Death of Mr.…Read More

Regina Jeffers, a public classroom teacher for thirty-nine years, considers herself a Jane Austen enthusiast. She is the author of several Austen-inspired novels, including Darcy’s Passions, Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Phantom of Pemberley, Christmas at Pemberley, The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, Honor and Hope, and the upcoming The Mysterious Death of Mr. Darcy. She also writes Regency romances: The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashemere, A Touch of Grace, and The First Wives’ Club. A Time Warner Star Teacher, Smithsonian presenter, and Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, Jeffers often serves as a consultant in language arts and media literacy. Currently living outside Charlotte, North Carolina, she spends her time with her writing, gardening, and her adorable grandson. Visit her online at http://www.rjeffers.com.

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M. C. Jeter

M. C. Jeter is the indie author of The Gems, a new adult fantasy novel. She is set to graduate from the Ohio State University in May 2024 with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in American Sign Language. For fun, M. C. likes to read, write, dance, sing and play on her Nintendo Switch.…Read More

M. C. Jeter is the indie author of The Gems, a new adult fantasy novel. She is set to graduate from the Ohio State University in May 2024 with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in American Sign Language. For fun, M. C. likes to read, write, dance, sing and play on her Nintendo Switch. As of right now, M. C. has many diverse stories bouncing around in her brain that she is so excited to share with the world. M. C. Jeter began writing her debut novel in fourth grade and as she grew, her main character did too. From starting at 10 years old to ending at 17, Ruby, the main character of The Gems, will take you on an adventure full of love, regret, and challenges.

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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.…

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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. 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

Angela Johnson

An Ohioana Award-winning writer of novels and poems for children, Angela Johnson is also a three-time winner of the American Library Association’s Coretta Scott King Award, presented annually for “outstanding inspirational and educational works that promote understanding and appreciation of the cultures of all peoples.” Johnson was born in Alabama and grew up in Windham, Ohio.…Read More

An Ohioana Award-winning writer of novels and poems for children, Angela Johnson is also a three-time winner of the American Library Association’s Coretta Scott King Award, presented annually for “outstanding inspirational and educational works that promote understanding and appreciation of the cultures of all peoples.” Johnson was born in Alabama and grew up in Windham, Ohio. Now a resident of Kent, Ohio, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2003. Visit her website: http://www.ajohnsonauthor.com/.

NF Johnson

NF Johnson attended college and worked for Kent State and The Ohio State. His preferred mode of transportation in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s was using his thumb. He hitchhiked over 15,000 miles crisscrossing the Midwest. His work has been published in Flash Fiction Press. A Time to Wander is his first novel. He now resides in Dublin, Ohio with his wife and two dogs.…Read More

NF Johnson attended college and worked for Kent State and The Ohio State. His preferred mode of transportation in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s was using his thumb. He hitchhiked over 15,000 miles crisscrossing the Midwest. His work has been published in Flash Fiction Press. A Time to Wander is his first novel. He now resides in Dublin, Ohio with his wife and two dogs. NF’s has worked stints as a bartender in the 70’s, psychiatry in the 80’s, Sleep Medicine in the 00’s, and is now retired. He’s a regular tailgater at OSU games and a loyal Minnesota Vikings & Twins fan. He enjoys cooking for extended family and friends.

https://www.facebook.com/author.NF Johnson/ https://www.instagram.com/a_time_to_wander/?hl=en

A TIME TO WANDER

An email exchange between former college lovers take them back to their college years at Kent State, the 1970’s. The Vietnam War is raging. Anti-war rallies hit the breaking point. It was a time of bell bottoms, vinyl, incense, free love, and travel by thumb. Kris and Lena on May 1, 1970 were strangers on two quite different paths, a thrown beer bottle shatters the lives they have known, bringing them together by chance. Lena is attracted to Kris and his live-in-the-moment personality. When he invites her to join him on a winter break hitchhiking trip, she kicks aside her uptight attitude and accepts the adventure. The trip is harrowing at times, comical during others, and poignant as Lena and Kris learn about themselves and each other. The events that shape and seal the fate of their relationship in unpredictable ways is revealed in the authors’ female/male alternating perspectives. Inspired by true events, A TIME TO WANDER is a magical tale of freedom before the future takes hold.

Press Releases and Reviews

Top Finalist in the American Book Festival 2019

THE WRITER’S BLOCK INTERVIEW ON LA TALK RADIO https://drive.google.com/…/19Ek-y4eViqfn59N_J0Fl4pr1-…/view…

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL PRESS RELEASE

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20190627/book-talk-may-1970-events-figure-into-novel-by-kent-state-graduates?template=ampart

Medium.com Book Review https://medium.com/@patpendleton/heady-days-6b19b15badba

5 STAR REVIEW BY READER’S FAVORITE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR https://www.amazon.com/gp/customerreviews/R2ZZV3QL6W0PWH/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1625268750

–Teri Case, Author of TIGER DRIVE and IN THE DOGHOUSE

EXCERPT from A TIME TO WANDER

The cursor hovers over the SEND button. I swivel my chair away from the screen and gaze out the window. Slowly I get up from the desk and head toward the attic. Sitting in a cobwebbed corner is my grandmother’s old steamer trunk she gave me when I left for college. I open the lid and catch the faint scent of patchouli. I rummage through sealing wax, sandalwood incense sticks, and tarot cards. There, lying at the bottom… my college journal. I slide my hand over the time-worn cover and open it up, my heart pounding. Should I be doing this? A photo sticks out from between the pages. A long-haired Kris with wire-rimmed glasses, patched jeans and an army jacket stands holding a cardboard sign with the word “Chicago” scrawled in black magic marker. Next to him, a smiling girl flashes the peace sign. Silver hoop earrings peek out from under her long frizzy hair and even in the faded photo, there’s a shine in her eyes. I remember that girl. And that chance meeting in the middle of all the chaos.

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Richard O Jones

After twenty-five years writing the first draft of history as a writer and editor for his hometown newspaper, the Hamilton Journal-News, Richard O Jones left the grind of daily journalism in the fall of 2013 for a life of true crime. He is the author of two books on the History Press imprint, Cincinnati’s Savage Seamstress: The Shocking Edythe Klumpp Murder Scandal (October, 2014) and Ohio Bluebeard: The Strange Confessions of Alfred Knapp (Spring, 2015), and maintains the True Crime Historian blog, where he remembers the scoundrels, scandals and scourges of America’s past and publishes the Two-Dollar Terror series of novella-length ebooks.…Read More

After twenty-five years writing the first draft of history as a writer and editor for his hometown newspaper, the Hamilton Journal-News, Richard O Jones left the grind of daily journalism in the fall of 2013 for a life of true crime. He is the author of two books on the History Press imprint, Cincinnati’s Savage Seamstress: The Shocking Edythe Klumpp Murder Scandal (October, 2014) and Ohio Bluebeard: The Strange Confessions of Alfred Knapp (Spring, 2015), and maintains the True Crime Historian blog, where he remembers the scoundrels, scandals and scourges of America’s past and publishes the Two-Dollar Terror series of novella-length ebooks. Mr. Jones, a creative writing graduate of Miami University, Ohio, spent most of his career as an arts journalist and has won numerous awards for his reviews and profiles. In 2004, he was named a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts Theatre and Musical Theatre program at the Annenberg School of Journalism. The Ohio Associated Press named him Feature Writer of the Year in 2011. Since leaving the newspaper world, Mr. Jones has become an active member of his local history community as a board member of the Butler County Historical Society, a member of the History Speakers Bureau and a regular presenter at Miami University in a program titled “Yesterday’s News.” The Michael J. Colligan History Project of Miami University presented Mr. Jones with a Special Recognition for Contributions to Public History for his coverage of the Centennial Commemoration of the Great Flood of 1913. Visit him online at http://www.truecrimehistorian.com.

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