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): Fiction
Brieanna Wilkoff
Brieanna Wilkoff (she/her) believes wholeheartedly in the power of kindness, the importance of theatre, and the awesomeness of ’80s rock. She married her husband onstage at the oldest surviving theatre in central Ohio, and their first dance was to Bon Jovi’s “Thank You for Loving Me.” Her favorite musical is a three-way tie between Les Mis, Wicked, and Hamilton.
I’ll Be There for You is Brieanna’s debut young adult novel. It was inspired by her family’s commitment to kindness, including performing 100 kind acts in a single day. Brieanna lives in Westerville, Ohio, with her husband, daughter, and dog. You can visit her online at brieannawilkoff.com or follow her on Twitter (@BrieannaWilkoff), Instagram (@brieanna_wilkoff), or Facebook (Brieanna Wilkoff).
Carol Williams
Carol Williams has a long history of writing: ad agency copywriter, healthcare content wordsmith, insurance marketing scribe—you name it, she’s written a ton of it. She’s also managed to raise two children, creating lots of her own stories for kids along the way. Carol lives in Ohio with her husband and maybe a dog if she can ever talk said husband into it. The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney is her debut.
Jay S. Willis
From an early age, Jay was fascinated by storytelling, and wrote his first books in grade school by hand using typing paper packets stapled together for him by his mother. An avid Dungeons & Dragons role-player growing up in the 80s, obsessed with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jay’s reading and writing interests have always skewed toward the fantasy and science-fiction genres. Jay S. Willis is a graduate of both Capital University, and Capital University Law School. Jay has been a licensed attorney for nearly 30 years.
Ashley Willow
Ashley Willow lives in a small town in Ohio where there isn’t much action or drama… so she stays up late creating her own in a world of fiction. She has always loved to write and can either be found writing, reading, or somehow doing both. As an avid reader, she creates stories she would want to read. When she isn’t writing, she can be found spending time with her husband, children, three cats, and her big hairy dogs. Currently, she has at least five books published with many more to come. She is very active on social media, so make sure you follow here there as well under @ashleywillowwrites
David Wilson
TBA Graphic Novel - HarperCollins, 2024
Great Lakes Tarot Deck - Belt Publishing, 2022
Play Like A Girl Graphic Novel - HarperCollins Sept. 2022
The Everyday Web Comic Collection - Belt Publishing 2020
The Disposal of Dead Ned Feature Film (Winner, Best Dark Comedy - Poor Life Choices Film Fest)
Rust Belt Arcana - Belt Publishing 2018 SOCIAL
Instagram: @downpourdw
Twitter: @downpourdw
Vimeo: vimeo.com/davidjohnwilson
Spam Newsletter: tinyletter.com/DavidWilson Check out his website: https://www.workdavidwork.com/Read More
David Wilson assumes many roles—illustrator, designer, writer, and filmmaker. For work or speaking inquiries please contact: David@workdavidwork.com
PROJECTS
TBA Graphic Novel – HarperCollins, 2024
Great Lakes Tarot Deck – Belt Publishing, 2022
Play Like A Girl Graphic Novel – HarperCollins Sept. 2022
The Everyday Web Comic Collection – Belt Publishing 2020
The Disposal of Dead Ned Feature Film (Winner, Best Dark Comedy – Poor Life Choices Film Fest)
Rust Belt Arcana – Belt Publishing 2018
SOCIAL
Instagram: @downpourdw
Twitter: @downpourdw
Vimeo: vimeo.com/davidjohnwilson
Spam Newsletter: tinyletter.com/DavidWilson
Check out his website: https://www.workdavidwork.com/
Kerry Winfrey
Kerry Winfrey is the author of WAITING FOR TOM HANKS, a romantic comedy from Berkley, as well as the YA novels LOVE AND OTHER ALIEN EXPERIENCES and THINGS JOLIE NEEDS TO DO BEFORE SHE BITES IT, both from Feiwel and Friends. When she’s not writing, she’s most likely baking a pie or watching far, far too many romantic comedies. She lives with her husband, son, and dog in the middle of Ohio.
TG Wolff
TG Wolff writes mysteries that play in the gray area between good and bad, right and wrong. She creates puzzles, meant to be solved. Diverse characters mirror the complexities of real life and real people, balanced with a healthy dose of entertainment. TG Wolff holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.
Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson (jacquelinewoodson.com) is the author of more than thirty books for young people and adults including Another Brooklyn, Red At The Bone, and The Day You Begin. She received a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2023 E. B. White Award, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award, and was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming, won the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, and the NAACP Image Award. Her books for young readers include Coretta Scott King Award and NAACP Image Award winner Before the Ever After, New York Times bestsellers The Day You Begin, and Harbor Me, Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, After Tupac and D Foster, and Each Kindness. In 2018, she founded BALDWIN FOR THE ARTS (https://baldwinforthearts.org), a residency serving writers, composers, interdisciplinary, and visual artists of the Global Majority. Her most recent novel, Remember Us, is set in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.
Jennifer Wortman
Jennifer Wortman is the author of the story collection This. This. This. Is. Love. Love. Love (Split Lip Press, 2019). Her fiction, essays, and poetry appear in TriQuarterly, Copper Nickel, Glimmer Train, Electric Literature, Brevity, Hobart, North American Review, Juked, and elsewhere. A native of Gambier, Ohio, she currently lives with her family in Colorado, where she serves as associate fiction editor for Colorado Review and teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop.
Robin Yocum
- A Perfect Shot (2018 – Seventh Street Books)
- A Welcome Murder (2017 - Seventh Street Books)
- A Brilliant Death (2016 - Seventh Street Books);
- The Essay (2012 - Arcade Publishing); and
- Favorite Sons (2011 - Arcade Publishing)
Robin Yocum is known for his fiction set in the Ohio River Valley.
His most recent novel, The Sacrifice of Lester Yates, was released in April of 2021 by Arcade CrimeWise, an imprint of Arcade Publishing.
He is the author of five additional works of fiction:
- A Perfect Shot (2018 – Seventh Street Books)
- A Welcome Murder (2017 – Seventh Street Books)
- A Brilliant Death (2016 – Seventh Street Books);
- The Essay (2012 – Arcade Publishing); and
- Favorite Sons (2011 – Arcade Publishing)
Favorite Sons was named the 2011 Book of the Year for Mystery/Suspense by USA Book News. A Brilliant Death was a Barnes & Noble No. 1 bestseller and a finalist for both the 2017 Edgar Award and the Silver Falchion Award for best adult mystery.
He also has written two works of non-fiction: Dead Before Deadline . . . and Other Tales from the Police Beat (2004 – University of Akron Press); and Insured for Murder (1992 – Prometheus Books), which he co-authored with Cathy Candisky.
Yocum joined the Columbus Dispatch in 1980. He worked at the paper for 11 years, including six years as the senior reporter on the investigative desk. He won more than 30 local, state and national journalism awards in categories ranging from investigative reporting to feature writing. Before joining the investigative team, he covered the police beat for four years, which was the basis for his book, Dead Before Deadline.
Prior to joining the Dispatch, Yocum was the associate sports editor of the Martins Ferry, Ohio, Times Leader, and a reporter for the Lancaster, Ohio, Eagle-Gazette.
He is the principle at Yocum Communications, a public relations and marketing consulting firm in Galena, Ohio, which he founded in 2001.
Yocum grew up in the Ohio River village of Brilliant, Ohio.
He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.