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Alisa Alering

Alisa Alering, author of the debut novel Smothermoss, grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania and now lives in Arizona. Their short fiction has been published in Fireside, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Podcastle, and Cast of Wonders, among others, and been recognized by the Calvino Prize. A former librarian and science/technology reporter, they teach fiction workshops at the Highlights Foundation.

alering.com

Smothermoss

Neely Tubati Alexander

Neely Tubati Alexander is originally from the Seattle area and currently resides in Arizona with her husband and two elementary-aged children. If she’s not tucked away writing, you can find her at some kiddo activity, drinking wine, or watching reality television, usually the last two together. She is also the author of Love Buzz.

www.neelytubatialexander.com

In a Not So Perfect World

Denny S. Bryce

Denny S. Bryce is an award-winning, best-selling author of historical fiction. A former professional dancer and public relations professional, Denny is an adjunct professor in the MFA program at Drexel University, a book critic for NPR, and a freelance writer whose work has been published in USA Today, Harper’s Bazaar, and FROLIC Media. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society, Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Tall Poppy Writers. Originally from Chicago, she now resides in Savannah, Georgia.

www.DennySBryce.com

The Other Princess

Tobias S. Buckell

Born in the Caribbean, Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times bestselling and World Fantasy Award-winning author. His novels and almost 100 stories have been translated into 19 different languages. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, and Astounding Award for Best New Science Fiction Author. He currently lives in Ohio.

tobiasbuckell.com

The Runes of Engagement

Christopher Buehlman

Christopher Buehlman is an author, comedian, and screenwriter from St. Petersburg, Florida, whose books include The Blacktongue Thief and The Daughters’ War. He tours the country most years, writing fantasy and horror and performing at Renaissance festivals. He and his wife, Jenn, travel with their rescue dog, Duck, and a black cat named Jane Mansfield, who is proficient in ninjutsu.

christopherbuehlmanauthor.com

The Daughters’ War

Mark Cecil

Mark Cecil is host of The Thoughtful Bro show, for which he conducts interviews with an eclectic roster of award-winning and breakout storytellers. Formerly a journalist for Reuters, he is Head of Strategy for literary social media startup, A Mighty Blaze, and has taught writing at Grub Street in Boston. This is his first book.

markcecilauthor.com

Bunyan and Henry; Or, the Beautiful Destiny

Ryan Chapman

Ryan Chapman is a Sri Lankan–American writer originally from Minnesota, and currently based in Kingston, New York. He is the author of Riots I Have Known, which NPR named “one of the smartest—and best—novels of the year,” among other accolades. His criticism and humor pieces have appeared in Bookforum, The New Yorker, The Guardian, McSweeney’s and elsewhere.

chapmanchapman.net

The Audacity

Terreece M. Clarke

Bestselling author and journalist, Terreece M. Clarke, writes love stories about courageous Black women, in extraordinary circumstances, who are loved completely and unapologetically. Her debut novel, Heartbeat: A Courageous Love Novel, is an international bestseller in two categories.

terreececlarake.com

Fingertips: A Courageous Love Novel

Phyllis R. Dixon

Phyllis R. Dixon is the acclaimed author of Intermission, Forty Acres, and Down Home Blues, which was shortlisted for the Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List by the Texas Library Association. She also is a contributor to the New Tri-State Defender book review column and to Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she is a former independent bookstore owner, previously worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, and serves on several nonprofit boards. She currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee.

phyllisdixon.com

A Taste for More

Jason B. Dutton

Jason B. Dutton is a Columbus-based author, where he does all he can to nurture his lifelong love of song, dance, and books. When he’s not writing, Jason loves to watch and passionately discuss movies, particularly anything involving Spider-Man. He can often be found singing, whether bystanders want him to or not, and as a writer with cerebral palsy, he delights in finding the humor, beauty, and possibility in life with a disability.

jasonbdutton.com

How to Dance

Amanda Dykes

Amanda Dykes’s debut novel, Whose Waves These Are, is the winner of the prestigious 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten Romance debut, and the winner of an INSPY Award. She’s also the author of All the Lost Places and Christy Award finalists Yours Is the Night and Set the Stars Alight.

amandadykes.com

Born of Gilded Mountains

Mazey Eddings

Mazey Eddings is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zadie. She can most often be found reading romance novels under her weighted blanket and asking her fiancé to bring her snacks. She’s made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain.

With roots in Ohio and Philadelphia, she now calls Asheville, North Carolina home. She is the author of A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake.

mazeyeddings.com

Late Bloomer

Alex Erickson

Alex Erickson has always wanted to write, even at a young, impressionable age. He’s always had an interest in the motive behind murder, which has led him down his current path. He’s always ready with a witty—at least in his opinion—quip, and tries to keep every conversation light and friendly.

Alex lives in Ohio with his family and resident felines, who provide endless amounts of inspiration.

alexericksonbooks.com

A Pose Before Dying

Jess Everlee

Jess Everlee writes decadent romance from the Northeast Ohio split-level she shares with her small family of furballs and fellow humans. She holds a B.A. from The Ohio State University, where she studied English and Gender Studies, focusing on Victorian Literature and public health topics. While that background resulted in an eclectic resume, her passion for reading and writing has never wavered.

www.jesseverlee.com

A Bluestocking’s Guide to Decadence

Sarah Gailey

Sarah Gailey is a Hugo Award winning and bestselling author of speculative fiction, short stories, and essays. Their nonfiction has been published by dozens of venues internationally. Their fiction has been published in over seven different languages.

Their most recent novel, Just Like Home, and most recent original comic book series with BOOM! Studios, Know Your Station are available now.

www.sarahgailey.com

Know Your Station

Anastasia Hastings

Anastasia Hastings is the author of the Dear Miss Hermione historical mystery series. In a review of the first book of the series, Of Manners and Murder, the Wall Street Journal says, “The book’s thrilling denouement evokes the shocking revelations of Wilkie Collins, the social acuity of Jane Austen and the comic melodrama of Oscar Wilde.” The second book of the series, Of Hoaxes and Homicide, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Anastasia lives in northeast Ohio with her husband, David, and her two dogs. When she’s not planning murders, she enjoys exploring old cemeteries and digging into family genealogy.

mystery-book-series.com

Of Hoaxes and Homicide

Miesha Wilson Headen

Miesha Wilson Headen is the winner of a Best Minority Issues Reporting Award from the Greater Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalists, aand a BINC Carla Gray Memorial Scholarship for Emerging Bookseller-Activists. She is the former mayor of Richmond Heights, OH, where she lives with her husband and two sons. She graduated from Columbia University and Ursuline College. She is also a preacher’s kid. Her latest work is as an editor of Cleveland Noir.

akashicbooks.com

Cleveland Noir

Lauren Kung Jessen

Lauren Kung Jessen is a mixed-race Chinese-American writer with a fondness for witty, flirtatious dialogue and making meals with too many steps but lots of flavor. She is fascinated by myths and superstitions and how ideas, beliefs, traditions, and stories evolve over time. From attending culinary school to working in the world of Big Tech to writing love stories, Lauren cares about creating experiences that make people feel something.

When she’s not writing novels, she works as a content strategist and user experience writer. She also has a food and film blog, A Dash of Cinema, where she makes food inspired by movies and TV shows. She lives in Nashville with her husband (who she met thanks to fate—read: the algorithms of online dating), two cats, and dog.

laurenkungjessen.com

Red String Theory

Stephen Mack Jones

Stephen Mack Jones is a published poet, award-winning playwright and winner of the Kresge Arts in Detroit Literary Fellowship. Stephen has received many accolades for his August Snow crime/thriller series, which won the Nero Award, and he has been shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and a finalist for the Shamus Award as well as the Strand Critics Award.

In 2018, the International Association of Crime Writers presented Stephen with the prestigious Hammett Prize for literary excellence in the field of crime writing. He currently lives in the suburbs of Detroit.

stephenmackjones.com

Deus X

Linda Kass

Linda Kass is the author of three historical novels: Tasa’s Song (2016); A Ritchie Boy (2020), an IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Historical Fiction in 2021; and Bessie, which was named A Hasty Book List Most-Anticipated Historical Fiction Title for 2023.

Linda began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. She is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Columbus, Ohio.

lindakass.com

Bessie: A Novel

Libby Kay

Libby Kay lives in Columbus with her husband. When she’s not writing, Libby loves reading romance novels of any kind. Stories of people falling in love nourish her soul. Contemporary or Regency, sweet or hot, as long as there is a happily ever after—she’s in love! When not surrounded by books, Libby can be found baking in her kitchen, binging true crime shows, or on the road with her husband, traveling as far as their bank account will allow.

Libby cohosts the Romance Roundup podcast with Liz Donatelli. Together they share their favorite romance books, authors, and tropes, as well as interview fellow romance authors and readers.

libbykayauthor.com

Faking the Fall

Yume Kitasei

Yume Kitasei is the author of The Deep Sky. She is half Japanese and half American and grew up in a space between two cultures—the same space where her stories reside. She lives in Brooklyn with two cats, Boondoggle and Filibuster.

Her stories have appeared in publications including New England Review, Catapult, SmokeLong Quarterly, and Baltimore Review. The Stardust Grail is her second novel.

yumekitasei.com

The Stardust Grail

Ananda Lima

Ananda Lima is the author of the poetry collection Mother/land, winner of the Hudson Prize. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poets.org, Kenyon Review Online, Gulf Coast, Witness, and elsewhere. She has an MA in Linguistics from UCLA and an MFA in Creative Writing in Fiction from Rutgers University, Newark.

Craft: Stories I wrote for the Devil is her fiction debut.

anandalima.com

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil

Tracey Livesay

Tracey is the 2021 Emma Award winner for Best Interracial Romance for Like Lovers Do, which was named one of the 100 Best Fiction Books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Virginia with her husband—who she met on the very first day of law school—and is counting down the days until they have an empty nest. (Don’t worry, their three kids are well aware.)

traceylivesay.com

The Duchess Effect

Meredith R. Lyons

Meredith grew up in New Orleans, collecting two degrees from Louisiana State University before running away to Chicago to be an actor. She fought in the Chicago Golden Gloves, ran the Chicago Marathon, and competed for team U.S.A. in the savate world championships in Paris. In spite of doing each of these things twice, she couldn’t stay warm and relocated to Nashville.

She owns several swords, but lives a non-violent life, saving all swashbuckling for the page, knitting scarves, gardening, visiting coffee shops, and cuddling with her husband and two panther-sized cats. Ghost Tamer is her first novel.

meredithraelyons.com

Ghost Tamer

Christine Ma-Kellams

Christine Ma-Kellams is a Harvard-trained cultural psychologist and writer whose fiction and essays have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Saturday Evening Post, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today and elsewhere.

Two of her short stories were also nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her empirical studies on culture and relationships have also been widely covered in GQ (Australia), Esquire (Middle East), Boston Globe, Vice News, Elle Magazine (UK), Yahoo News and more.

christinema-kellams.com

The Band

Sujata Massey

Sujata Massey was born in England to parents from India and Germany, grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and lives in Baltimore, Maryland. She was a features reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun before becoming a full-time novelist. The first Perveen Mistry novel, The Widows of Malabar Hill, was an international bestseller and won the Agatha, Macavity, and Mary Higgins Clark Awards.

sujatamassey.com

The Mistress of Bhatia House

Melissa Mogollon

Melissa Mogollon holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA from the George Washington University. Originally from Colombia and raised in Florida, she now teaches at a boarding school in Rhode Island, where she lives with her partner and dog. Oye is her first novel.

melissamogollon.com

Oye

Wanda Morris

Wanda Morris is the award-winning author of All Her Little Secrets, which has been praised by Karin Slaughter as “brilliantly nuanced” and reviewed by The Boston Globe, LA Times, New York Times, among others.

Her second novel, Anywhere You Run, won the Anthony award for Best Historical Novel of 2023 and was longlisted for the prestigious Mark Twain Voice in American Literature Prize. She is married, the mother of three, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

wandamorriswrites.com

What You Leave Behind

Chris Panatier

Chris Panatier lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, daughter, and a fluctuating herd of animals resembling dogs (one is almost certainly a goat). He writes short stories and novels, draws album covers for metal bands, and occasionally practices law.

chrispanatier.com

The Redemption of Morgan Bright

Vanessa Riley

Vanessa Riley is an award-winning author of historical romance, mystery, and fiction novels featuring realistic multicultural communities and powerful persons of color. To fuel her interest in the Regency and early-Victorian eras, she made time for attending renaissance fairs and consuming period novels and films while obtaining her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and a master’s in industrial engineering and engineering management from Stanford University, as well as a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State University.

www.vanessariley.com

Murder in Drury Lane

Andromeda Romano-Lax

Andromeda Romano-Lax worked as a freelance journalist and travel writer before turning to fiction. Her first novel, The Spanish Bow, was translated into eleven languages and was chosen as a New York Times Editors’ Choice, BookSense pick, and one of Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year. Her next novels, The Detour (2012), Behave (2016) and Plum Rains (2018) have covered subjects from classical art, to the early years of psychology, to artificial intelligence, aging and relationships in the near future. The Deepest Lake (2024) is her first thriller.

romanolax.com

The Deepest Lake

Ali Rosen

Ali Rosen is a writer of both cookbooks and novels and is the Emmy and James Beard Award-nominated host of “Potluck with Ali Rosen” on NYC Life. Her first novel is Recipe for Second Chances (2023). She has been featured on NBC’s Today Show and Food Network Kitchen and has written for publications including Bon Appetit, The Washington Post and New York Magazine.

Ali is originally from Charleston, SC but now lives in New York City with her husband and three kids and can usually be found cooking in her kitchen or curled up in a chair reading a romance novel.

ali-rosen.com

Alternate Endings

Alexandra Rowland

Alexandra Rowland is the author of fantasy books including A Taste of Gold and Iron, A Conspiracy Of Truths, and Some by Virtue Fall, as well as a four-time Hugo Award-nominated podcaster. They have a degree in world literature, mythology, and folklore, and all their work is supervised by their feline quality control manager.

alexandrarowland.net

Running Close to the Wind

John Scalzi

John Scalzi is one of the most popular sci-fi authors of his generation. His debut, Old Man’s War, won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, Redshirts (which won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel), The Last Emperox, and 2022’s The Kaiju Preservation Society. Material from his blog, Whatever, has earned him two other Hugo Awards.

He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

whatever.scalzi.com

Starter Villain

Toni Shiloh

Toni Shiloh is a wife, a mom, and an award-winning Christian contemporary romance author. Her novel In Search of a Prince won the first-ever Christy Amplify Award. It has also been praised by Oprah Daily, POPSUGAR, Library Journal, and Booklist, and is a Parable bestseller. Her books have won the Selah Award and have been finalists for the Carol Award and the HOLT Medallion.

As a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Toni loves connecting with readers and authors alike via social media.

tonishiloh.com

A Run at Love

Amy Spalding

Amy Spalding is the author of several novels, including the bestselling For Her Consideration, We Used to Be Friends, and The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles), which was named a best book of 2018 by NPR, The Boston Globe, Kirkus Reviews, and more. She is a recipient of the 2023 Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award for the authentic, funny, and diverse representation of the LGBTQ+ community in her books.

www.theamyspalding.com

At Her Service

Jessica Strawser

Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large for Writer’s Digest, where she served as editorial director for nearly a decade, and the author of six popular book club novels: Almost Missed You; the Book of the Month selection Not That I Could Tell; Forget You Know Me; A Million Reasons Why; the People magazine pick The Next Thing You Know; and her latest, The Last Caretaker, which was an Amazon Editors’ First Reads pick in November 2023.

She lives with her husband and children in Cincinnati, where she was named 2019 Writer-in-Residence for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

www.jessicastrawser.com

The Last Care Taker

Sarah Sundin

Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of When Twilight Breaks, Until Leaves Fall in Paris, The Sound of Light, and the popular WWII series Sunrise at Normandy, among others. She is a Christy Award winner and a Carol Award winner, and her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and have appeared on Booklist’s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years.” Sarah lives in California.

sarahsundin.com

Embers in the London Sky

Joseph Earl Thomas

Joseph Earl Thomas is a writer from Frankford whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Gulf Coast, The Offing, and The Kenyon Review. He has an MFA in prose from The University of Notre Dame and is a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Pennsylvania.

An excerpt of his memoir, Sink, won the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize and he has received fellowships from Fulbright, VONA, Tin House, and Bread Loaf. He is writing a collection of stories, Leviathan Beach, among other oddities.

josephearlthomas.net

God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer

Julia Vee

Julia was that GenX kid who rode her bike to the library or bookstore and spent all day there. On the way home she drank out of people’s garden hoses when she was thirsty. Now her life looks nothing like that but she still loves books and libraries. Julia remains largely unsupervised and gets paid to make up stuff.

juliavee.com

Ebony Gate

María Alejandra Barrios Vélez

María Alejandra Barrios Vélez is a writer born in Barranquilla, Colombia. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of Manchester and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and scruffy dog, Gus.

The Waves Take You Home is her first novel.

mariaalejandrabarriosvelez.com

The Waves Take You Home

Douglas Westerbeke

Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the United States. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award, which inspired him to write his own book.

simonandschuster.com

A Short Walk Through a Wide World

Kerry Winfrey

Kerry Winfrey is the author of the romantic comedies Waiting For Tom Hanks , Not Like the Movies, Very Sincerely Yours, Just Another Love Song, and Faking Christmas, all published by Berkley. She’s also the author of two YA novels. Kerry lives with her family in the middle of Ohio.

kerrywinfrey.com

Faking Christmas

Jane Simon Ammeson

Jane Simon Ammeson is the author of 16 books ranging from food and travel to true crime. She is the winner of the Lowell Thomas Journalism Competition in the “Travel Book” category and runs a popular travel/food blog. She reviews books for the Shelf Life blog and the New York Journal of Books.

www.janeammeson.com

Little Ohio: Small-Town Destinations

Fred Bartenstein

Growing up in bluegrass, Fred Bartenstein had the privilege of knowing and working with virtually all of the music’s first generations. The editor of Muleskinner News from 1969-1974, he has also been a broadcaster, musician, festival MC and talent director, founder of a regional association, scholar, educator, and a lifelong fan.

In his professional life, Fred has been a manager and consultant for nonprofits, government and business. He was named a Distinguished Achievement Award recipient by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2006 and is currently the chair/president of the IBMA Foundation.

fredbartenstein.com

Industrial Strength Bluegrass

Steve Basford

Steve Basford is a statistician for Ohio State home football games, a play-by-play sportscaster for Ohio Wesleyan University and Dublin Jerome High School sports, and the author of three books on sports. His sports production jobs have taken him to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

stevescollegefootballpage

Ohio State Football 2002: The Improbable National Championship

Richard Burry

Dick Burry has been a photographer most of his life. After retiring from the Department of Neuroscience in the College of Medicine at Ohio State Univeristy, he devoted his time to photography of buildings for many preservation organizations. He has exhibited in many galleries and has three photos on permanent exhibit at the Ohio Statehouse.

burry.zenfolio.com

Art and History in The Ohio Judicial Center: A Visual Tour

Renee Casteel Cook

Renee Casteel Cook is a Columbus-based author of culinary history and travel titles, including The Columbus Food Truck Cookbook and Ohio Ice Cream: A Scoop of History. Her passion for writing and chocolate are equally matched, making this book a labor of nothing but love. Her hope is to inspire future creators of all types to take the leap toward what they love.

www.reneecasteelcook.com

Ohio Buckeye Candy: A Sweet History

Curtis Chin

A co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the non-profits’ first Executive Director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in sixteen countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit, the Detroit Free Press, and the Emancipator/Boston Globe.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His essay in Bon Appetit was selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023.

curtisfromdetroit.com

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant

Tom Ewing

Tom Ewing was the guitarist/lead singer of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys for ten years. He is the editor of The Bill Monroe Reader and wrote the “Thirty Years Ago This Month” column for Bluegrass Unlimited.

uillinois.edu

Bill Monroe: The Life and Music of the Blue Grass Man

Ben Ferree

Ben Ferree is the former assistant director of officiating and sport management at the Ohio High School Athletic Association who now works as a civil rights investigator for the Ohio State University. He is a tenacious researcher, radio broadcaster and former sports journalist.

triumphbooks.com

Friday Night Lies: The Bishop Sycamore Story

David Goodrich

David Goodrich is a retired climate scientist who served as the Director of the UN Global Climate Observing System in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the author of A Hole in the Wind: A Climate Scientist’s Bicycle Journey Across the United States.

In addition to his cross-country trip, he has ridden down the Appalachians and across Montana, South Dakota, Texas, France and Spain.

pegasusbooks.com

On Freedom Road: Bicycle Explorations and Reckonings on the Underground Railroad

Rob Harvilla

Rob Harvilla is the host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s and a senior staff writer at The Ringer; he’s been a professional rock critic for 20-plus years with stops at the Village Voice, SPIN, Deadspin, and various other alt-weeklies that generally no longer exist. (Not his fault.) He lives with his family in Columbus, Ohio, by choice.

hachettebookgroup.com

60 Songs that Explain the 90s

Steven Heselden

Highlighting the rich tapestry of Columbus’ firefighting history, the 200th Anniversary History Book presents the most comprehensive historical collection since the organization’s inception in 1822. The 352-page book begins with a detailed accounting of the history of the CFD from 1822 to the present, highlighted with photographs to help tell the department’s story. Nearly 1600 individual photos of current personnel are proudly included. This publication is made possible by the dedicated vision of Columbus Fire Historians, the Central Ohio Fire Museum and the 200th Anniversary Yearbook Committee.

www.centralohiofiremuseum.com

Columbus Fire Department 200th Anniversary History Book 1822-2022

Conrade C. Hinds

Conrade C. Hinds is a retired architect, teacher, and auctioneer. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, he is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He has lived in Central Ohio for 47 years. He is retired from the Columbus Department of Public Utilities and Columbus State Community College. He is the author of four published books, including The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908, Columbus and the Great Flood of 1913, Lost Circuses of Ohio and Made in Ohio.

https://www.bookloft.com/conrade-c-hinds

Lost Circuses of Ohio

Dayna Jalkanen

Dayna Jalkanen is a proud Buckeye who was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended The Ohio State University, where she earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art Education. Her career path surprised her by leading her to museums rather than a classroom, and she has spent more than 17 years working in the field of museum education, including eight years as the Deputy Director of Museum and Education at the Ohio Statehouse.

She is the author of the book The Art and Artistry of the Ohio Statehouse, which gave her the opportunity to write about two of her passions: art and history.

statehouseshop.com

The Art and Artistry of the Ohio Statehouse

Mark Sebastian Jordan

Mark Sebastian Jordan wears many hats: Local history columnist, historical storyteller, music journalist, screenwriter, poet and more. He has had two books selected by the Ohioana Library Book Festival, has appeared as a history expert on multiple TV shows, has written program notes for the Cleveland Orchestra, and was the screenwriter for the short film “recovered” which was awarded Best US Short Drama Film at the Austin Revolution Film Festival.

www.bardfood.com

The Witch of Mansfield: The Tetched Life of Phebe Wise

Andrew King

Andrew King is an award-winning journalist who has experience in local news, sports reporting, copywriting and more. He has written for publications including The Athletic, The Columbus Dispatch, Major League Soccer and Columbus Monthly.

triumphbooks.com

Friday Night Lies: The Bishop Sycamore Story

Anya Liftig

Anya Liftig is a performance artist and writer. Her first book, a memoir titled Holler Rat, was published by Abrams Press in August 2023. Called “a searing debut” by Publishers Weekly and cited by Jo Ann Beard as a new influence in her writing, Holler Rat has become a USA Today best seller.

Her experimental film and video work has been screened in festivals in Canada, Greece, UK, Holland, France, and her essays have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and noted in Best American Non-Fiction.

anyaliftig.com

Holler Rat: A Memoir

Steve Martin

Highlighting the rich tapestry of Columbus’ firefighting history, the 200th Anniversary History Book presents the most comprehensive historical collection since the organization’s inception in 1822. The 352-page book begins with a detailed accounting of the history of the CFD from 1822 to the present, highlighted with photographs to help tell the department’s story. Nearly 1600 individual photos of current personnel are proudly included. This publication is made possible by the dedicated vision of Columbus Fire Historians, the Central Ohio Fire Museum and the 200th Anniversary Yearbook Committee.

www.centralohiofiremuseum.com

Columbus Fire Department 200th Anniversary History Book 1822-2022

David Meyers

A graduate of Miami and Ohio State universities, David Meyers is the author of numerous local histories, several novels, and a handful of works for the stage. He is also a lifelong resident of Columbus. For his varied efforts to popularize local history, he was inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.

explodingstove.com

Original Ohio: Dreamsville, The Magic City & Other Historic Communities

Doug Motz

Doug Motz is a lifelong resident of Franklin County and is passionate about Columbus and its history. He is a Past President of the Columbus Historical Society and has led tours for CHS, and the Columbus Landmarks Foundation.

He is a co-author of Kahiki Supper Club: A Polynesian Paradise in Columbus, Ohio, the Lost Restaurants of Columbus and Lost Restaurants of Central Ohio and Columbus. He lives in the Berwick neighborhood of Columbus with his husband Todd Popp and their dog, Gracie.

Find his book online.

Lost Restaurants of Central Ohio and Columbus

Keith O'Brien

Keith O’Brien is the New York Times best-selling author of Paradise Falls, Fly Girls, and Outside Shot, a finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, and an award-winning journalist. O’Brien has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico, and his stories have also appeared on National Public Radio and This American Life. A native of Cincinnati, he now lives in New Hampshire.

keithob.com

Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball

Kathy Schulz

Kathy Schulz is a retired college librarian from Wittenberg University. A native of northeast Ohio, she has deep roots in the state and degrees from three of its universities: a B.S. in Education from Ohio State, an M.L.S. from Kent State, and an M. Hum. from Wright State. This is her first traditionally published book.

undergroundrailroadohio.com

The Underground Railroad in Ohio

Susan Sleeper-Smith

Susan Sleeper-Smith is emerita professor of history at Michigan State University. She is author of Indian Women and French Men: Rethinking Cultural Encounter in the Western Great Lakes and editor or co-editor of several essay volumes, including Why You Can’t Teach United States History Without American Indians, Violence in Indigenous Communities: Confronting the Past, Engaging the Present, Rethinking the Fur Trade: Cultures of Exchange in an Atlantic World, Contesting Knowledge: Museums and Indigenous Perspectives, and New Faces of the Fur Trade.

msu.edu

Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest: Indian Women of the Ohio River Valley, 1690-1792

Peter Stark

Peter Stark is an adventurer and historian. Born in Wisconsin, he attended Dartmouth College and University of Wisconsin and set out to write adventure-travel articles about Greenland, Tibet and elsewhere for magazines such as Outside, Smithsonian, and The New York Times Magazine.

Based in Montana, he now specializes in researching and writing historical accounts of early American explorers in wilderness settings and their contact with Indigenous peoples. His most recent book is Gallop Toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation (Random House, 2023).

peterstarkauthor.com

Gallop Toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation

Michael Streissguth

Michael Streissguth is the author of ten books, including the critically acclaimed Johnny Cash: The Biography and Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris and the Renegades of Nashville (one of Rolling Stone’s top music books of 2013). He has written and directed three documentary films including the award-winning The Tower Road Bus and Nighthawks on the Blue Highway and served as a program advisor on Ken Burns’ Country Music (2019). He teaches in the Department of Communications and Film Studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

Website

Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music

Jane Ann Turzillo

Jane Ann Turzillo has been nominated twice for the Agatha for Wicked Women of Ohio and Unsolved Murders & Disappearances in Northeast Ohio. She is also a National Federation of Press Women award-winner for Wicked Cleveland and many others. A full-time author and speaker, she concentrates on true crime and history.

Her current book is Northern Ohio Cold Cases. As one of the original owners of a large weekly newspaper, she covered police, fire and hard news. She holds degrees in Criminal Justice and Mass-Media Communication from The University of Akron.

www.janeannturzillo.com

Northern Ohio Cold Cases

Maurice Vellekoop

Maurice Vellekoop was born in 1964 in a suburb of Toronto. A prolific artist and illustrator, he has worked non-stop for the last three decades. In addition to publications, his corporate clients include Swissair, Abercrombie & Fitch, Air Canada, Smart Car, LVMH, and Bush Irish Whiskey. He lives on Toronto Island with his partner, Gordon Bowness.

penguinrandomhouse.com

I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together

Alex Brown

Alex Brown is a queer, biracial Filipino-American writer who loves rooting for the final girl—especially if she’s a monster. Alex is also one of the co-creators and producers of The Bridge, a spooky, folklore-filled audio drama podcast that has over one million downloads to date! Alex’s Young Adult horror-comedy debut, Damned If You Do was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and was also selected for the 2024 TAYSHAS Reading List. Alex also co-edited Night Of The Living Queers, a YA Horror anthology in its second printing.

alexbrownwrites.com

Damned If You Do

Erik J. Brown

Erik J. Brown is the author of genre-blending books for teens. His debut, All That’s Left in the World, was a Goodreads Choice Award Finalist, received a starred review from Kirkus, and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Childrens Book Award.

His second novel, Lose You to Find Me was a USA Today Bestseller and received a starred review from School Library Journal. He lives in Philadelphia with his family.

www.erikjbrown.com

The Only Light Left Burning

Nora Shalaway Carpenter

Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s novels and anthologies have been named “Best of the Year” by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Bank Street Books, and A Mighty Girl, and have won accolades including the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her newest books, Fault Lines and AB(solutely) NORMAL, were both named to the 2024 TAYSHAS Texas state reading list.

Shalaway Carpenter holds an MFA from VCFA and serves as faculty for the Highlights Foundation’s Whole Novel Workshop. Hailing from rural West Virginia, she aims to disrupt stereotypes surrounding rural people as well as those living with mental health conditions.

noracarpenterwrites.com

Fault Lines

Ana Ellickson

Ana Ellickson writes about fierce girls, family curses, and everyday magic. The Vanishing Station is her debut novel, inspired by daydreams about jumping portals in the San Francisco subway. Roman the Renegade—her graphic novel script about street art and Filipino monsters—was awarded the 2021 New Visions Honor by Lee & Low Books. She lives in sunny Santa Barbara.

ellicksonwriter.com

The Vanishing Station

Jen Ferguson

Jen Ferguson is Michif/Métis and white, an activist, an intersectional feminist, an auntie, and an accomplice armed with a PhD in English and creative writing. Her acclaimed debut, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, won the Governor General’s Award and received six starred reviews.

In her remarkable second novel, Those Pink Mountain Nights, Jen writes about the hurt of a life stuck in past tense, the hum of connections that cannot be severed, and one week in a small snowy town that changes everything.

jenfergusonwrites.com

Those Pink Mountain Nights

Michael Thomas Ford

Michael Thomas Ford is the author of numerous books for both adults and young readers. A five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ books, he has also been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Firecracker Award. He lives in rural Ohio with his husband and dogs.

michaelthomasford.com

Every Star That Falls

Fern Haught

Fern Haught is an author, illustrator, and adjunct professor based in Cleveland Heights. They love crafting stories incorporating queer characters and their relationships, often set in magical worlds. Their two cats, Binx and Honey, are often looking over their shoulder while they work, and do a great job of being honorary co-authors. When they aren’t creating books they decorate cookies at a local bakery and do background painting for games. The Baker and the Bard is their debut graphic novel.

fernhaught.com

The Baker and the Bard

S. Jae-Jones

Jae-Jones (called JJ) is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the New York Times bestselling author of the Wintersong duology and the Guardians of Dawn series. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she now lives on the wrong coast, where she can’t believe she has to deal with winter every year. When not writing, JJ can be found working toward her next black belt degree in taekwondo, being run ragged by her twin dogs, Castor and Pollux, or indulging in her favorite hobby — collecting more hobbies.

sjaejones.com

Zhara

Kim Johnson

Kim Johnson held leadership positions in social justice organizations as a teen. She’s now a college administrator who maintains civic engagement throughout the community while also mentoring Black student activists and leaders. This Is My America was her debut novel.

She holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Maryland, College Park. Kim lives her best life in Oregon with her husband and two kids.

kcjohnsonwrites.com

The Color of a Lie

Susan Lee

Susan Lee has had a successful career as a HR executive at some of today’s most successful companies. She now channels her experience into writing lighthearted, quirky stories about the oftentimes hilarious human condition.

Susan is the author of the highly acclaimed young adult romantic comedies Seoulmates and The Name Drop. She currently lives in Southern California with a pack of feisty chihuahuas and a too-hearty obsession with K-pop and K-dramas.

www.susanleewrites.com

The Name Drop

Kellie M. Parker

Kellie M. Parker is an award-winning writer of YA fantasy and thrillers. She has college degrees in biology and nautical archaeology, but she’s always found her sense of adventure most satisfied by a great story. When not writing, Kellie can be found teaching her four children, camping, baking, and gardening. She lives with her family in west Michigan.

kelliemparker.com

Thin Air

Jessica Parra

As a lawyer and daughter of Guatemalan and Cuban bakers, Jessica Parra never objects to an extra slice of cake. She’s a Los Angeles native who loves to write about Latinas with big hair (and even bigger dreams), complicated families, and the healing magic of acceptance.

She’s the author of Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success and The Quince Project (both published with Wednesday Books), as well as many unfinished first drafts about cats living their best lives—all nine of them. When she isn’t drafting books you can find her sipping kombucha, cuddling with her kitties, or co-piloting the Millennium Falcon at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge.

jessicaparra.com

The Quince Project

Skye Quinlan

Skye Quinlan (they/them) is a queer, autistic author of YA fiction. They’re an avid reader, have an absurd amount of crystals and gemstones, and if they’re not tending to their garden, you can usually find them playing Animal Crossing. Skye lives in Ohio with their wife, two dogs, a snake, and two lizards.

skyequinlanbooks.com

Don’t Be a Drag

Christen Randall

Christen Randall (she/they) is a queer, fat, neurodivergent author of queer, fat, neurodiverse books. When they’re not writing joyful stories for the next generation of geeky gay kids, you can find them working at their local library branch or at home planning all the D&D campaigns they’ll run one day, they swear.

Christen lives in Covington, Kentucky. The No-Girlfriend Rule is her debut novel.

bychristenrandall.com

The No-Girlfriend Rule

Hal Schrieve

Hal Schrieve grew up in Olympia, Washington. Hir debut novel Out of Salem was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2019. Hal’s poetry has appeared in Vetch magazine, and hir comics have been featured in Stacked Deck Press’s 2018 anthology We’re Still Here. Hal works as a children’s librarian in New York.

halschrieve.com

How To Get Over The End Of The World

Kristen Simmons

Kristen Simmons is a critically acclaimed young adult author of more than a dozen books, including the Article Five trilogy, The Deceivers series, and The Glass Arrow. Kristen Simmons’ writing is inspired by her work with trauma survivors as a mental health therapist. She currently lives with her husband and son in Cincinnati, where she spins stories, herds a small pack of semi-wild dogs, and teaches Jazzercise.

kristensimmonsbooks.com

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead

Jonny Garza Villa

Jonny Garza Villa (they/them) is an author of contemporary young adult literature with characters and settings inspired by their own Tejane, Chicane, and queer identities. Their debut YA novel Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun was a Pura Belpré Honor Book and a Kirkus Best YA Fiction of 2021 selection and their sophomore YA—Ander & Santi Were Here—was a Barnes & Noble YA Book Club selection, an AudioFile Earphone Award Winner, and a Best YA of 2023 selection by Audible.

When not writing, Jonny enjoys reading, playing Dungeons & Dragons, visiting taquerías, listening to Selena, and caring for their many cacti children. They live in San Antonio.

jonnygarzavilla.com

Canto Contigo

LaDarrion Williams

LaDarrion Williams is a Los Angeles based-playwright, filmmaker, author, and screenwriter whose goal is to cultivate a new era of Black fantasy, providing space and agency for Black characters and stories in a new, fresh and fantastical way. He is currently a resident playwright/co-creator of The Black Creators Collective, where his play UMOJA made its West Coast premiere in January 2022 and produced North Hollywood’s first Black playwrights festival at the Waco Theater Center.

Blood at the Root is his first novel. His viral and award-winning short film based on the same concept, is currently on YouTube and Amazon Prime.

linktr.ee/ladarrionw

Blood at the Root

Justine Pucella Winans

Justine Pucella Winans is the critically acclaimed author of Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything, The Otherwoods, and One Killer Problem. When not writing, they can be found training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reading a ton of webcomics and manga, and actively avoiding real life scary situations. They live in Los Angeles with their husband and cats.

www.justinepucellawinans.com

One Killer Problem

Ann Zhao

Ann Zhao (she/her) is a student at Wellesley College, where she studies linguistics with a minor in women’s and gender studies. She enjoys cooking, baking, and knitting, but she does not enjoy cleaning up after herself when she’s done with these activities. Dear Wendy is her debut novel.

annzhao.com

Dear Wendy

V Anderson

Veronica Park Anderson (she/they) is a neurodivergent, queer, feminist millennial writer with a resume that Victor Frankenstein would disown for being “a bit much.”

V’s previous job titles include: award-winning community theater actor, professional lecturer on cruise ships, indie film producer, literary agent, and creative project manager; however, “writer” is the title that always fits. V plays competitive flat track roller derby as “Scarlet Five” #55 and prefers the pivot role, aka “surprise jamming.” Born in Alaska and raised in Oregon, she currently lives with her partner in Upstate NY and has two cats named Skeletor and Bo-Catan.

vpanderson.com

Blood City Rollers

Jenn Bishop

Jenn Bishop is the author of five novels for young readers, including the Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner Things You Can’t Say. Her books have been named Junior Library Guild selections and Bank Street College of Education best books and have been finalists for state book awards. She currently calls Cincinnati home.

jennbishop.com

Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up

Lindsay Bonilla

Lindsay Bonilla is a professional storyteller and author whose previous picture books include Parents’ Choice Award winner Polar Bear Island, I Love You with All of My Hearts, and The Note Who Faced the Music. She lives with her husband, two wild and creative kids, and her dog, Blitzen, in North Canton, Ohio.

lindsaybonilla.com

The Storyteller

Meghan P. Browne

Meghan P. Browne is the award-winning author of Indelible Ann: The Larger-than-Life Story of Governor Ann Richards, Dorothy the Brave, and The Bees of Notre-Dame.

Meghan holds a BA from The University of Arizona and an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She was born and raised in Austin, Texas where she now lives with her husband, Greg, their three children, a pasture full of goats and chickens, a thriving honeybee apiary, and two ranch dogs named Josie and Cricket.

meghanpbrowne.com

The Bees of Notre-Dame

Breanna Carzoo

Breanna Carzoo is the author-illustrator of the picture books Lou, Greenlight, and The Squish. She crafts illustrations with painted cut-paper collage and mixed media.

Her debut picture book, Lou, was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2022, was shortlisted for the 2023 Barnes and Noble Children’s and YA Book Awards, has been named on many state award lists, and both Lou and Greenlight received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. She lives in Austin, TX, with her husband and dog.

breannacarzoo.com

The Squish

Julia DeVillers

Julia Devillers is a bestselling and award-winning author of middle grade and YA fiction and nonfiction books. Her book was turned into the Disney Channel movie “Read It and Weep.” She recently sold a TV pilot to CBS inspired by her life.

Her newest book, Meet Isabel and Nicki, shares the teenage lives of American Girl twins living in the 90s.

juliadevillers.com

Meet Isabel and Nicki

Karina Yan Glaser

Karina Yan Glaser is the New York Times best-selling author of The Vanderbeekers series and A Duet for Home. A former teacher as well as employee of New York City’s largest provider of transitional housing for the homeless, Karina is now a contributing editor at Book Riot.

Karina lives in Harlem, New York City, with her husband, two children, and an assortment of rescue animals. One of her proudest achievements is raising two kids who can’t go anywhere without a book.

www.karinaglaser.com

The Vanderbeekers Ever After

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Margaret Peterson Haddix is the New York Times bestselling author of 50 books for kids and teens. An Ohio native, she worked as a newspaper reporter, a newspaper copy editor, and a community college instructor before her first book was published. Her books, including the Shadow Children series, The Missing series, and the Greystone Secret series, have been honored with many awards and translated into over twenty languages.

Margaret’s most recent book, The Ghostly Photos, is the second in the Mysteries of Trash and Treasure series.

www.haddixbooks.com

Mysteries of Trash and Treasure: The Ghostly Photos

Tatiana Hill

Tatiana Hill (she/her) is a Black and Latina illustrator by day and roller skater by night. Her art journey began alongside her love for anime in the early 2000s and culminated with a BA in Animation. Receiving awards for Best Art Direction, she would later apply her skill set in color and design to illustration.

Born in Los Angeles and a member of the roller skate community there, Tatiana enjoys participating in a space that celebrates diversity, identity, and found family. She illustrated The Roller World Tarot deck and Blood City Rollers, her debut graphic novel as an illustrator.

tatianahill.wixsite.com

Blood City Rollers

H.D. Hunter

Hugh “H. D.” Hunter is a storyteller, teaching artist, and community organizer from Atlanta, Georgia. He’s the author of Torment: A Novella, the Futureland trilogy, and Something Like Right, as well as the winner of several international indie book awards for multicultural fiction. Hugh is committed to stories about Black kids and their many expansive worlds.

thesoutherndistrict.com

Futureland: The Nightmare Hour

Nashae Jones

Nashae Jones is a freelance writer and an educator. Her pieces have appeared in publications such as HuffPost, McSweeney’s, Yahoo Voices among others. Currently she lives in Virginia with her husband, two kids, two cats, and one dog. She is passionate about diversity initiatives, especially in children’s literature.

nashaejones.com

Courtesy of Cupid

George Jreije

George is the Lebanese-American author of the Shad Hadid children’s fantasy series and the upcoming graphic novel, Tarik’s Bazaar Adventure. He has also written short stories published in collaboration with UNICEF.

George currently serves as a Creative Writing instructor with Gotham Writers Workshop in New York City. He has been a guest of honor as well as a featured speaker for WriteHive, WorldCon, SCBWI, and the Highlights Foundation.

georgejreije.com

Shad Hadid and the Forbidden Alchemies

Katie Mazeika

Katie Mazeika is an author/ illustrator who specializes in telling stories based on real people and events. She likes to highlight disabled voices in her work. Katie is the author and illustrator of Annette Feels Free and Beulah Has A Hunch! Katie has illustrated several other books, including three in the Chicken Soup for the Soul: Babies series.

www.katiemazeika.com

Beulah Has A Hunch! Inside the Colorful Mind of Master Inventor Beulah Louise Henry

Nicole Melleby

Nicole Melleby, a New Jersey native, is the author of highly praised middle-grade books, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season, ALA Notable book How to Become a Planet, Camp QUILTBAG (co-written with A. J. Sass), and The House on Sunrise Lagoon series.

She currently teaches at the Fairleigh Dickinson MFA Creative Writing program and lives with her wife and their cats, whose needs for attention oddly align with Nicole’s writing schedule.

nicolemelleby.com

Winnie Nash is Not Your Sunshine

Merrill Rainey

Growing up, Merrill Rainey spent most of his Saturday afternoons drawing, watching monster movies, and going on imaginary adventures. Today, he is a cowboy-boot-wearing, picture-book-creator and paper-toy-maker. Merrill’s work focuses on exploring creativity and imaginative play. His current titles include Roar! I’m a Dinosaur (winner of the Good Housekeeping Best Kids’ Board Book of 2022), Oink! I’m a Pig, and the Color, Cut, Create series.

His newest illustrated title Giants Are Very Brave People, written by Florence Parry Heide, is a reimagined classic picture book about a little giant that learns to be brave with the help of a new friend. Merrill also works for many children’s magazines like Highlights, Ranger Rick, and Humpty Dumpty.

www.littlerainey.com

Giants Are Very Brave People

Jenn Reese

Jenn Reese (they/she) writes speculative fiction for readers of all ages. Jenn is the author of Every Bird a Prince, the Oregon Book Award-winning A Game of Fox & Squirrels, and the Above World trilogy. They also write short stories for teens and adults.

Jenn lives in Portland, Oregon where they make art, play video games, and build cardboard forts for their cats.

jennreese.com

Puzzleheart

Debbie Rigaud

Debbie Rigaud is the author of A Girl’s Guide To Love & Magic, Simone Breaks All The Rules, Truly Madly Royally, and the co-author of Alyssa Milano’s New York Times bestselling Hope series and Sarah Mlynowski’s Best Wishes: The Sister Switch.

Debbie started her career writing for entertainment and teen magazines. She now lives with her husband and children in Columbus.

debbierigaud.com

Step by Step!: How The Lincoln Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice

Rafael Rosado

Born in Puerto Rico and based in Columbus, Rafael Rosado is a seasoned writer, director and storyboard artist for the animation industry. He began his career at Character Builders as an assistant animator and worked his way up to become a character designer, storyboard artist and commercial director. He worked on such shows as Fox’s Emmy Award-winning Life With Louie, HBO’s Happily Ever After and Fox’s Where in The World Is Carmen San Diego.

us.mcmillan.com

Call Me Iggy

A. J. Sass

A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, Ana on the Edge, and Just Shy of Ordinary, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby).

When he’s not writing, A. J. figure skates and travels as much as possible. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his husband.

sassinsf.com

Just Shy of Ordinary

Suma Subramaniam

Suma Subramaniam’s picture books include My Name is Long As A River, A Bindi Can Be, Namaste is a Greeting (Crystal Kite Award Winner), She Sang for India, The Runaway Dosa, and more. Suma is also a contributing author of The Hero Next Door (Finalist -Massachusetts Book Award). Her poems have been published in Poetry Magazine, What is Hope?, and other anthologies for children. She lives in Seattle with her family and a dog who will do anything for Indian sweets and snacks.

sumasubramaniam.com

My Name is Long As A River

Ali Terese

Ali Terese writes funny and heartfelt middle grade and YA stories. Free Period is her debut novel. It is a story of friendship and period equity complete with laugh-out-loud shenanigans, delightfully disgusting desserts, and some world-changing crafts.

Visit Ali online for book bonuses, giveaways, and resources like discussion guides, recipes, craftivism projects, and more.

aliterese.com

Free Period

DeAnn Wiley

Born and raised in Detroit, DeAnn Wiley is a self-taught illustrator with a master’s degree in counseling psychology. She advocates for social justice from the intersection of multiple identities—Black, Woman, Queer, and Disabled— and she stands in solidarity with other marginalized communities outside of her own.

When she’s not painting, she’s learning, growing, and healing, with each phase of her journey depicted in her art. She is the illustrator of Sarah Rising and the Sunday Adventures series. Homegrown is her author-illustrator debut.

deelasheeartistry.com

Homegrown

Kat Zhang

Kat Zhang loves traveling to places both real and fictional–the former have better souvenirs, but the latter allow for dragons, so it’s a tough pick. She is the author of the novels The Hybrid Chronicles, The Emperor’s Riddle, and The Memory of Forgotten Things, and the picture books Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao and Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon.

When not writing, spends her free time scribbling poetry, taking photographs, and climbing atop things she shouldn’t.

katzhangwriter.com

MEET THE 2024 AUTHORS

NickPetrie

POROCHISTAKHAKPOUR

KENNEDYRyan

VERONICAROTH

HANIFABDURRAQIB

FEATURED AUTHORS

More than 120 additional authors will be featured on panel discussions throughout the festival weekend. Hear about their brand-new books in your favorite genres.

2024 Featured Author Schedule

2024 Featured Children's Author Schedule