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
Will Hillenbrand
Will Hillenbrand is a renowned American author and illustrator of children’s books. He has written and illustrated over 78 picture books that young readers love and cherish for their imaginative, heartwarming, and whimsical illustrations. Some of his notable works include THE VOICE IN THE HOLLOW, LITTLE RED, TURTLE-TURTLE AND THE WIDE, WIDE RIVER, DOWN BY THE STATION and the “Big Bear” series, and the “Bear and Mole” series. He has collaborated with children’s authors, such as Jane Yolen, Margery Cuyler, Eric Kimmel, Daniel Pinkwater, and his spouse, Jane Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand’s books have won numerous prestigious awards, including the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal, Children’s Choice Awards, ALA Notable Books, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. In addition to writing and illustrating her books, Hillenbrand has served as the Author and Illustrator in Residence at Kent State University and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Will Hillenbrand is a highly regarded author and illustrator who loves visiting schools to enlighten his audience with ideas and spark their creative way of seeing and making. Learn more at http://www.willhillenbrand.com.
Conrade C. Hinds
Conrade C. Hinds was born in Nashville and graduated from Ball State University, where he studied architecture and industrial technology. He has lived in Ohio for forty years. A registered architect and a retired projects manager with the City of Columbus Department of Public Utilities, he is also a retired adjunct faculty member in the Engineering Technology Department at Columbus State Community College. His latest books is History of Buckeye Inventions, and he has published three other books: The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908, Columbus and the Great Flood of 1913, and Lost Circuses of Ohio.
Kate Hoefler
Kate Hoefler was born and still lives and writes in the rolling hills of Ohio’s Appalachia. She is the author of numerous picture books and loves the book-love her work has received at Ohioana: two of her books, RABBIT AND THE MOTORBIKE and COURAGE HATS, were both Ohioana Book Award finalists and Floyd’s Pick Honor books. Another kids’ book career highlight was when Henry Winkler read RABBIT AND THE MOTORBIKE for Jennifer Garner’s #savewithstories (although only Rabbit was wearing a leather jacket for it). Her newest book is IN THE DARK, and she hopes you’ll find the lightest of lights in it. She loves pottery, being an introvert, and cheese. Follow her on instagram: (@katehoefler).
Michelle Houts
Michelle Houts is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books for young readers, ranging from colorful, engaging picture books to adventurous middle-grade novels. Her newest book, HOPEFULLY THE SCARECROW (Flamingo Philomel, 2023) celebrates the power of hope and friendship when a scarecrow finds he has little control over his circumstances. Houts writes from a restored 1894 one-room schoolhouse. She is the creator of the 52 Letter Challenge. When she’s not writing, she is editing or encouraging young readers and writers through school visits and workshops.
Anna Lee Huber
Anna Lee Huber is the USA Today bestselling and Daphne award-winning author of the Lady Darby Mysteries, the Verity Kent Mysteries, and the Gothic Myths series, as well as the forthcoming historical fiction novel Sisters of Fortune: A Novel of the Titanic, and the anthology The Deadly Hours. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. She currently resides in Indiana with her family and is hard at work on her next novel. Visit her online at http://www.annaleehuber.com.
Annie Hunter Eriksen
Annie Hunter Eriksen is from Wooster, Ohio. Originally from Columbus, she came for the College of Wooster (’13), but stayed after falling in love with Wooster’s undeniable charm and realizing this town has the best ice cream in the world. Annie lives and breathes comics, cats, and coffee and had her first son in November 2022, whom she named after a superhero. Along Came a Radioactive Spider is about famed Marvel artist Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man. This is her second book. Find Annie at http://www.aheriksen.com and on Instagram at @ah_eriksen.
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. 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.
Mark Sebastian Jordan
Mark Sebastian Jordan writes the weekly History Knox column for KnoxPages.com, music reviews for Seen and Heard International, and program notes and music appreciation talks for the Mansfield Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and Mid Ohio Civic Opera. Jordan was included in the award-winning I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing: Ohio’s Appalachian Poets (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions 2022). He has appeared on numerous television shows, including Mysteries at the Museum, and was a background actor in the classic film The Shawshank Redemption.
Timothy R. W. Jordan
Mariel Jungkunz
Mariel Jungkunz is a former journalist and a graduate of the Las Hermanas mentorship program for unpublished kidlit writers at Las Musas Books. Originally from Puerto Rico, she currently resides in Ohio, where she works as an editor for dictionary.com.