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.
Barbara Kussow
Barbara Kussow is the author of a novel, PORTRAIT OF ANNIE, and two novellas, THE SPENCERS OF OHIO; AN ABOLITIONIST FAMILY IN THE CIVIL WAR ERA and THE MERLIN SUBSIDIARY. She is a contributor to WRITING AFTER RETIREMENT (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014; ed. by Carol Smallwood and Christine Redman-Waldeyer). Poetry and short stories have been published in several print and online venues; book reviews and book columns have appeared in local papers. She edited and published Still Crazy, a literary magazine that published works written by and/or about people over age 50, from 2008-2017.Barbara’s education includes a B.S. and M.Ed. in English Education at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and an M.L.S. from Kent State University, Ohio.
Stephen Kuusisto
Stephen Kuusisto is the author of the memoirs Have Dog, Will Travel; Planet of the Blind (a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year”); and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening and of the poetry collections Only Bread, Only Light and Letters to Borges. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and a Fulbright Scholar, he has taught at the University of Iowa, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Ohio State University. He currently teaches at Syracuse University where he holds a professorship in the Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies. He is a frequent speaker in the US and abroad. His website is StephenKuusisto.com.
Jason R. Lady
Jason is an army brat who grew up moving around a total of seven times on military bases from Germany to Fort Knox, Kentucky. From a family of avid readers, Jason was encouraged to read fantasy and science fiction, and write his own stories and comic strips from an early age. Jason wrote his first novel-length story in high school–a parody of Robin Hood that starred all his friends, and got passed around on the bus and read on the way to cross-country races. Jason is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. When he’s not writing, Jason can be found working in Human Resources, talking about and enjoying 1980’s music and popular culture, watching Marvel movies, working on visiting all the MLB baseball stadiums, and following the Cleveland Guardians. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife and many great friends. His first novel, Monster Problems, was accepted to the 2020 Ohioana Library Association Book Festival and the 2020 Kentucky Book Festival. The prequel, Super Problems, was accepted to the 2021 Ohioana Library Association Book Festival, is rated IndieReader Approved, and is a Maxy Awards finalist. Time Problems is his third novel. Learn more at: https://www.jasonrlady.com/
Paula J. Lambert
Paula J. Lambert of Columbus, Ohio, has authored several collections of poetry including The Ghost of Every Feathered Thing FutureCycle Press 2022) and How to See the World (Bottom Dog Press 2020), a finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Library Book Awards. Lambert has been awarded two Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards and two Greater Columbus Arts Council Resource Grants. She has twice been in residence at Virginia Center for Creative Arts. She owns Full/Crescent Press, a small publisher of poetry books and broadsides specializing in hand-stitched, art-quality chapbooks. Through the press, she has founded and supported numerous public readings that support the intersection of poetry and science, including Ohio’s annual Sun & Moon Poetry Festival now hosted by the Ohio Poetry Association.
John-Michael Lander
John-Michael Lander is creating a voice. Through writing, speaking, and consulting, he helps individuals and organizations identify the signs of grooming, manipulating, and stigmatizing of sexual abuse and how to help survivors (of any type of abuse) face the past and find their true self. John-Michael battled with finding his true self and authentic voice. As an athlete, he endured sexual abuse from coaches, benefactors, and medical team which resulted in years of PTDS, depression, anxiety, and even suicide attempts. His research, The Grooming Trifecta, provides how grooming effects everyone no matter their sexual orientation, gender, or religious beliefs. John-Michael competed in international springboard and platform diving competition. His entertainment experiences include General Hospital, All My Children, national commercials, the lead in the independent films All the Rage and Pilgrim, and originated many roles on New York stages. He taught high school English for seven years at the nationally recognized Stivers High School of the Arts in Dayton, Ohio. John-Michael presented the speech “An Athlete’s Silence” at the TEDxDayton 2018 Convention and was a Keynote Speaker at the 2019 and 2020 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Global Summit in Washington, D.C. He is on the Board of Directors for The Army of Survivors. He has been honored to speak all over the world. He is the author of four novels: Surface Tension: Book One in the Surface Series, Cracked Surface: Book Two in the Surface Series, Spandau Ballet, and Life’s a Beach.
Melissa Landers
Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public–just ask her husband and three kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Loveland, “Sweetheart of Ohio,” where she writes science fiction adventures for Disney Hyperion.…
Read MoreMelissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public–just ask her husband and three kids. She lives outside Cincinnati in the small town of Loveland, “Sweetheart of Ohio,” where she writes science fiction adventures for Disney Hyperion. Visit her online at http://melissa-landers.com.
Jennifer Lane
Psychologist/author (psycho author) Jennifer Lane invites you to her world of romance, sports, and suspense! By day she’s a therapist, and by night she’s a writer. She can’t decide which is more fun.
Jen’s first psychological thriller launches in 2018: Twin Sacrifice. Psychologist Matthew Durante risks his own life to save his twin brother’s as their foster father tries to take them down.
Jen loves to create sporty heroines and hot heroes in her college sport romances. Volleyball wonder Lucia Ramirez finds her love match in Blocked despite the glaring political spotlight aimed on her family. In Aced, the second book in the Blocked series, it’s her brother Alejandro’s turn to get lucky in love. Spiked (Blocked #3) completes the series and features Lucia’s younger brother Mateo.
A swimmer and volleyball player in college, Jen writes swimming-based romances as well: Streamline, a military mystery, and the free New Adult novella Swim Recruit.
Stories of redemption interest Jen the most, especially the healing power of love. She is also the author of The Conduct Series, a romantic-suspense trilogy that includes With Good Behavior, Bad Behavior, and On Best Behavior.
Whether writing or reading, Jen loves stories that make her laugh and cry. In her spare time she enjoys exercising, attending book club, and visiting her sisters in Chicago and Hilton Head.
Ruth Emmie Lang
Ruth Emmie Lang was born in Glasgow, Scotland and has the red hair to prove it. When she was four years old, she immigrated to Ohio where she has lived for the last 27 years. She has since lost her Scottish accent, but still has the hair. Ruth currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and dreams of someday owning a little house in the woods where she can write more books. Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance is her first novel.
Ruth Emmie Lang
Ruth Emmie Lang was born in Glasgow, Scotland and has the red hair to prove it. When she was four years old, she immigrated to Ohio where she has lived for the last 27 years. She has since lost her Scottish accent, but still has the hair. Ruth currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and dreams of someday owning a little house in the woods where she can write more books. Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance is her first novel.