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): 2024
Carolyn Grace
Carolyn Grace began writing poetry as a child, and has been completely in love with language ever since. Grace graduated from Berea College with an undergraduate degree in English composition and a minor in music performance. She went on to complete her master of fine arts in creative writing through the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University. Grace lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, Grant, and their dog, Fitzwilliam, who appears to be aware that he is named after literary royalty and acts accordingly. Grenadine and Other Love Affairs is her debut book of poetry.
D. M. Guay
D. M. Guay is a big geek, huge horror fan, and loves stand-up comedy. She mish-mashes her love of all that’s scary/gory/geeky/funny into stories about creeps and critters, ghouls and ghosts, and all of the unseemly things that go bump in the night. D. M. lives in Ohio. She loves Godzilla, tiki bars, liquid eyeliner, 24-hour horror movie festivals, and most of all, people who make art, despite adversity, no matter what life throws at them. She is a stage 4 kidney cancer survivor and donates some of her book profits to the Kidney Cancer Research Alliance. She also runs “Monsters In Your Inbox” a monthly round-up of B-horror movies, horror comedy books, and weird news. Learn more about her at DMGuay.com.
Kari Gunter-Seymour
As Poet Laureate of Ohio, Kari Gunter-Seymour focuses on lifting up underrepresented voices throughout Appalachia, including incarcerated teens and adults and women in recovery. Her poetry collections include Dirt Songs (EastOver Press 2024); Alone in the House of My Heart (Ohio University Swallow Press, 2022), finalist for the NIEA award; and A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen (Sheila Na Gig Editions, 2020), winner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award. A ninth generation Appalachian, she is the editor of I Thought I Heard A Cardinal Sing: Ohio’s Appalachian Voices, which received the 2023 “Book of the Year Award” from the American Book Fest and funded by the Academy of American Poets and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Women of Appalachia Project’s anthology series, Women Speak.
Gunter-Seymour is a retired instructor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University; the host of Spoken & Heard, a seasonal performance series featuring poets, writers, and musicians from across the country; a Pillars of Prosperity Fellow for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio and an artist in residence for the Writing the Land project. Her work has been featured on Verse Daily, World Literature Today, The New York Times, and Poem-a-Day. Find her online at http://www.karigunterseymourpoet.com, or on Instagram and Threads @karigunterseymour.
Sandra Gurvis
Sandra Gurvis (http://www.sandragurvis.com) is the author of 18 commercially published books and hundreds of magazine and web articles. Her titles include DAY TRIPS FROM COLUMBUS, 3rd ed.; OHIO CURIOSITIES, 2nd ed.; CAREERS FOR NONCONFORMISTS, which was a selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club; and more. Along having her books featured on radio, television and in newspapers and magazines, PARIS HILTON: A BIOGRAPHY was translated into Chinese and her second novel, COUNTRY CLUB WIVES was optioned as a television series by Insight Productions out of Toronto, Canada.
Recent titles include 111 PLACES IN COLUMBUS THAT YOU MUST NOT MISS, MYTHS AND MYSTERIES OF OHIO and a re-issuing of her first novel, THE PIPE DREAMERS. Her most current project, THREE RINGLING CIRCUS: THE HISTORY OF SARASOTA, FLORIDA AND THE FAMOUS RINGLING BROTHERS is forthcoming from Pineapple/Rowman in early 2024. She is currently at work on DOING HARD TIME IN SENIORVILLE, the first of a series of satire/mysteries set in The Villages of Florida.
A freelance writer for over 30 years, Sandra has written corporate profiles and technical articles for clients such as Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Ohio Health, Merrill Lynch, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Association of American Medical Colleges and publications such as Selling Power, Creativity, ASRT Scanner, Optical Technology, B’nai B’rith magazine, Currents and AAA Today. Additionally, she has created Web content for Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, Palm Beach Media, worth.com and many others. Along with rewriting and editing books on medical and business topics, she prepares newsletters and assists in the writing and publication of magazines and web content covering a variety of healthcare and business issues.
A major aspect of her work has been on the Vietnam protests and their aftereffects. Her nonfiction title, WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWER CHILDREN GONE? delves into all facets of the Vietnam era, from tracking the student protest and conservative movements to comparing the controversy surrounding Vietnam and the Middle East. Her novel, THE PIPE DREAMERS is a fictional exploration of the late ’60s/early 70s, mostly set in the small college town of Hampton, Ohio.
She has also written on this topic for the Ohio State Alumni Magazine, People and many other publications. Other bylines and credits include People, YM, Entertainment Weekly, Fiction Writer, Woman’s World, Parenting, The World and I, Coast to Coast, USA Weekend, Chicago Tribune, as well as travel articles, promotional materials and advertorials. Along with being selected for residencies and fellowships at the Mary Anderson Center in Mt. St. Francis, Indiana; the Vermont Writers Studio in Johnston; and receiving grants from the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) and the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas as well as certification from the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Sandra is a longtime member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). She lectures frequently on writing and her books and lives in Bradenton, Florida.
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Margaret Peterson Haddix is the New York Times-bestselling author of 50 books for kids and teens, including the Shadow Children series, the Missing series, and the Greystone Secrets series. Her newest book, The Ghostly Photos, is the second in a new series, Mysteries of Trash and Treasure. Her books have been published in more than 20 countries and honored with the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award and numerous state reader’s choice awards, including the Buckeye Book Award. Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio, and graduated from Miami University with degrees in English/journalism, English/creative writing, and history. Before her first book was published in 1995, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois. She and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio. They are the parents of two grown children.
S.R.D. Harris
Author S.R.D. Harris has always been a reading fanatic! Ever since she was featured in two children’s books as a young child and volunteered at her local library, she has dreamed of becoming a published author. Through hard work and determination, she achieved that dream when she wrote and published her first book, Future Miss President. Harris currently has 8 children’s books published and 2 more in production. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University and a Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Her mission is to write and publish high-quality, uplifting, and empowering diverse children’s books that will inspire a love of reading in all children! She has been featured on PBS/WOSU’s Broad & High TV show and in many publications to date. Harris and her husband have 3 daughters, and a rescued puppy named Gracie. Their youngest daughter, Camryn, is her co-author and collaborates on all of her books. Her 4th book, Gracie’s Grace, is in partnership with CHA Animal Shelter, to benefit their mission to help homeless dogs and cats find loving homes. When they are not reading, writing, cooking, or traveling, they enjoy volunteering and giving back. They have currently donated hundreds of their books to students all over Ohio, and Harris enthusiastically volunteers with Reading 365/The American Literacy Corporation. She believes all children can love reading if they connect with the right books for them. You can follow her on her website srdharrisbooks.com and major social media channels @srdharrisbooks. Her books are sold internationally and available in local libraries and bookstores.
Anastasia Hastings
Anastasia Hastings is from Brecksville, Ohio. Her newest release is book #2 of the Dear Miss Hermione historical mystery series, Of Hoaxes and Homicide. Publishers Weekly called the book “captivating” and gave it a starred review. The first book of the series, Of Manners and Murder” has been praised by The Wall Street Journal as evoking “…the shocking revelations of Wilkie Collins, the social acuity of Janes Austen and the comic melodrama of Oscar Wilde.” Learn more at: https://www.mystery-book-series.com/.
Kathryn Haueisen
Kathryn Haueisen loves to meet fascinating people and write articles and books about them. Sometimes she lets her imagination run wild and writes short stories about imaginary people, loosely based on people she’s met. She’s published seven books, both non-fiction and fiction. Her most recent books are historical novels about the famous Mayflower voyage, the 17th century issues in Europe that led to the voyage, and the first encounters between the New England settlers and the Indigenous peoples. She has published dozens of articles in assorted faith-based and consumer publications. Since retiring from active ministry as an ordained Protestant pastor she has been focusing on writing regular blogs and a monthly newsletter at http://www.howwisethen.com.
Anita M. Hessenauer
Anita M. Hessenauer is a freelance writer residing in Dublin, Ohio. She is a prolific author of both poetry and prose and has published articles in literary and religious periodicals. Her collection of poems, Authenticity was published in 2019, followed by her second poetry collection, We All Belong in 2021. Anita’s third poetry collection, Let Go was published in June 2023. Anita has a doctorate in French Literature from the University of Strasbourg, France and has taught at The Ohio State University, the University of Michigan, and Bowling Green State University. She is a fully professed Third-Order Carmelite. Anita’s poetry celebrates the inherent dignity of the human person, the sanctity of human life and the intrinsic value and worth of our natural world. Her poems challenge the reader to cast aside all preconceptions, prejudices, egotism, and a divisive mentality that prevents us from working for the good of the human person and of our created world. Anita’s books are available on Amazon and where books are sold. Learn more: https://anitamhessenauer.com/
Leanna Renee Hieber
Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost tour guide, and an award-winning, bestselling author of 16 novels and non-fiction books for Tor and Kensington Books such as the Strangely Beautiful, Eterna Files, and Spectral City series. She writes and narrates several speculative fiction series for Scribd.com. Her non-fiction book co-authored with Andrea Janes, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America’s Ghosts, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist for “Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction”. Leanna’s Strangely Beautiful series became a 3-time Prism Award winner and Darker Still was a Daphne du Maurier award finalist. A licensed NYC tour guide working for Boroughs of the Dead, Leanna has been featured on TV shows like Mysteries at the Museum and Beyond the Unknown discussing Victorian Spiritualism. She gives lectures and theatrical presentations around the country at conventions and prestigious institutions such as New York University, Miami University, the Cambridge Public Library, Morbid Anatomy and more, focusing on paranormal themes and 19th century women’s history. http://www.leannareneehieber.com.