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.
Tracy Subisak
Tracy Subisak is the Taiwanese and Polish American author-illustrator of award-winning Jenny Mei Is Sad. She has also illustrated many books, including: This Book Is Not For You!, by Shannon Hale, and Amah Faraway, by Margaret Chiu Greanais. Tracy lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, her dog Lala, and many, many plants. You can visit her online at tracysubisak.com and on Instagram at @tracysubisak.
Sam Subity
Sam Subity loves writing stories that explore the magic and wonder of being a kid and is thrilled to share his writing with readers everywhere—both the young in age and the young at heart. When he’s not writing, you might find him running the trails of northern California where the endless, winding miles past fog and ocean inspire stories of adventure and mystery. Or he might be mowing his lawn. Because that’s what adults sometimes have to do. But in either case, Sam is very likely imagining himself fighting mythical creatures or at the prow of a dragon ship feeling the wind and sea spray on his face alongside his own Viking queen and their two Vikelets. His greatest hope is that in reading his books, you too may be transported to another place where, for a little while, you can exchange the ordinary for the extraordinary. https://www.samsubity.com
Jeff Suess
Jeff Suess is the author of Lost Cincinnati and Hidden History of Cincinnati (The History Press) and the librarian of the Cincinnati Enquirer, where he keeps the newspaper archive and writes about Cincinnati history. He regularly does presentations on local history and leads discussions on graphic novels at the Mercantile Library and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Jeff also writes fiction and has had stories published by Pocket Books, Post Mortem Press and DC Comics.
Jeff grew up in Modesto, California, and graduated from San Francisco State University. He lives in White Oak on Cincinnati’s West Side with his wife, Kristin, and their daughter, Dashiell.
Marilou Suszko
Marilou Suszko is a journalist, food writer, culinary educator, and author of books including Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate (Hippocrene 2007), The Locavore’s Kitchen (Swallow Press 2011), and Cleveland’s West Side Market: 100 Years & Still Cooking (University of Akron Press), which she coauthored with Laura Taxel.…
Read MoreMarilou Suszko is a journalist, food writer, culinary educator, and author of books including Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate (Hippocrene 2007), The Locavore’s Kitchen (Swallow Press 2011), and Cleveland’s West Side Market: 100 Years & Still Cooking (University of Akron Press), which she coauthored with Laura Taxel. Her work has been published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Our Ohio, and Ohio Magazine as well as regional and national publications.
Joe Sutphin
Joe Sutphin is an illustrator and cartoonist of children’s books and graphic novels. His body of work includes the official graphic novelization of Richard Adams’s masterwork Watership Down, the re-envisioned edition of Helen Taylor’s timeless classic Little Pilgrim’s Progress, Andrew Peterson’s beloved Wingfeather Saga, and many others.…
Read MoreJoe Sutphin is an illustrator and cartoonist of children’s books and graphic novels. His body of work includes the official graphic novelization of Richard Adams’s masterwork Watership Down, the re-envisioned edition of Helen Taylor’s timeless classic Little Pilgrim’s Progress, Andrew Peterson’s beloved Wingfeather Saga, and many others. His love of nature and the living creatures in the fields and woods around his home has informed his art for much of his life. Joe lives in a barn in Ohio with his wife Gina and a bunch of cats. Learn more at joesutphin.com
Paul M. Sutter
Paul M. Sutter is the cosmological researcher and community outreach coordinator for the Department of Astronomy and The Ohio State University. He is also the chief scientist at the COSI Science Center (Center of Science and Industry). As a new, fresh voice in science communication and an astrophysicist, writer, speaker, producer, and on-air host of podcasts and TV programs, Sutter strives to bring science to new audiences. He is the creator of the Ask a Spaceman! podcast, a contributing editor to Space.com, and the founder of Active Galaxy Productions, a company that blends science with art in groundbreaking ways. Sutter has authored over sixty academic papers on topics ranging from the earliest moments of the Big Bang, to the emptiest places in the universe, to novel methods for detecting the first stars. He has given over 100 seminars, colloquia, and conference talks at institutions around the world. Watch him on YouTube, listen to him on Space Radio, and follow him on social media. Details can be found at http://www.pmsutter.com/outreach.
Jordan Riley Swan
Jordan Riley Swan is a wild word hunter living in the far and dangerous reaches of rural Ohio. He spends his nights tracking down big-game stories, capturing them in paper cages, and training them to be better tales. The first novel he’d dared to use the keys of his typewriter to release back into the wild was The Heart’s Bidding. Since then he has released many, many more…
S. Andrew Swann
S. Andrew Swann is the pen name of Steven Swiniarski. He’s married and lives in the Greater Cleveland area where he has lived all of his adult life. He has a background in mechanical engineering and—besides writing—works as a Database Manager for one of the largest private child services agencies in the Cleveland area. He has published over 20 novels since 1993, which include science fiction, fantasy and horror. Currently he is working on the Dragon* series of light fantasy novels for DAW books, the first of which, Dragon•Princess, came out May 2014. The second, Dragon•Thief is expected in 2015.
Nita Sweeney
Nita Sweeney is the bestselling wellness author of the award-winning running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running with My Dog Brought Me Back from the Brink and co-creator of the writing journal, You Should Be Writing: A Journal of Inspiration & Instruction to Keep Your Pen Moving. Her third book, Make Every Move a Meditation was featured in The Wall Street Journal. Her most recent book, A Daily Dose of Now: 365 Mindfulness Meditation Practices for Living in the Moment, was released in fall of 2023. A mindfulness coach, certified meditation leader and mindfulness teacher, mental health advocate, ultramarathoner, retired attorney, and former assistant to writing practice originator Natalie Goldberg, Nita founded the groups Mind, Mood, and Movement to support well-being through meditation, exercise, and writing practice; and The Writer’s Mind, to share using writing practice to produce publishable work. For twenty years, Nita published the central Ohio writing resource, Write Now Columbus. She lives in central Ohio with her husband, Ed, and their yellow Labrador retriever, Scarlet.
Download your free copy of Nita’s eBook, Three Tools for a Happier, Healthier Mind, or the infographic, Meditation Myths, on Nita’s website.
Linda Swink
Linda D. Swink is an Air Force veteran who served on active duty as a photographer with a Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and in the reserves as a base photographer. As an Army wife of ten years, she learned to appreciate the rigorous duty assignments of those wearing the Army green. Her father served with the Marine Corps during World War II in the Battle of Peleiu, giving her a deep respect for the men and women serving during wartime. Her first book, Speak With Power and Grace: A Woman’s Guide to Public Speaking, now in its third edition, has helped thousands of women become more confident while making speeches. Her second book, In Their Honor: The Men Behind the Names of Our Military Installations, is a collection of 524 short biographies that tell of courage, dedication, and patriotism. Her latest book, Life on a $5 Bet: Major General Mechenbier, is a biography of an amazing man who survived nearly six years being held in the infamous Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam. Linda is a professional speaker and lives with her family in Hamilton, Ohio.