Author Bios
- Michael Banks
- Michael is a full-time freelance writer. His hobbies and interests include model building, travel, dogs, language, classic cars, the blues, collecting books and old toys, old radio, and history in general. Michael is the author of Before Oprah: Ruth Lyons, The Woman Who Created Talk TV, a book of local television, and 41 other books.
- Emma Carlson Bernay
- This is her first appearance at Mad About Books. Emma writes books for children and young adults on a variety of topics, including history, biography, contemporary issues, and popular culture. She also writes juvenile and young adult fiction.
- Tim Callahan
- This is his first appearance at Mad About Books. He has written four novels of family and romance. His series Kentucky Summers is being used in area schools and has been selected for the Kentucky Book Fair the past three years.
- Joseph Clark, Ph.D.
- Dr. Clark is the author of My Ambulance Education, Life and Death on the Streets
Of the City, his memoir of working as an ambulance EMT in New York City while
juggling schoolwork and a personal life. He’s now a professor of neurology at
University of Cincinnati so his college studies worked out!
- Amy Cooper
- Her book The Hills of Circleville, a book of ekphrastic poetry with matching
photography, is being used in a classroom in Louisiana and is widely read in
nursing homes throughout Ohio. She is also the author of Wicked Dreams, a
fiction novel.
- Josie Daval
- This is her first appearance at Mad About Books. She writes children’s books and
is the author of The Wright Twist about Orville and Wilbur Wright.
- Ercel Eaton
- Ercel is well-known in the Hamilton area for her books and newspaper columns about growing up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
- Valerie Edwards Elliott
- She co-authored a booklet titled Walking Tour of the Uptown Oxford Historic District which received an Excellence Award from the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums in 2002. She served as an archives editor for Curtis Ellison’s Miami University, 1809-2009: Bicentennial Perspectives, published in 2009. She has attended Mad Anthony Writers’ Conference twice.
- Curtis W. Ellison
- He is the author of Miami University, 1809-2009: Bicentennial Perspectives,
published in 2009. This is his first time to attend the conference.
- Andrea Foy
- Andrea is a graduate of Dayton’s Wright State University, she currently resides outside Dayton Ohio where she is attending grad school in Organizational Leadership and volunteers for her community. She writes non-fiction, young adult, and self-help books. She is the author of Hire Power: How to Find, Get, and Keep a Job.
- Sue Gossett
- This is Sue’s first appearance at Mad About Books. Author Sue Gossett is a true Audie Murphy historian, having followed his career since 1954. She is also the author of another Empire Publication, The Films and Career of Audie Murphy.
- Amy Heyd
- Amy is a graduate of the University of Dayton. She has been a finalist in many cooking contests, including the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Her award -winning recipe was published in 100 Pillsbury Bake-Off Finalist Recipes. Amy enjoys entertaining friends with delicious food and conversation, especially with her husband and three children. Amy will talk about her book, Saints at the Dinner Table.
- Greg Hoard
- Former television personality, award-winning sports writer, Editor for Cincinnati Profile and author of the best-selling biography of Joe Nuxhall, Joe, Rounding Third and Heading for Home, and the recently released, Gary Burbank, Voices in My Head.
- Elizabeth J. Johnson
- Elizabeth writes about local history and is the author of To Dwell With Fond
Reflection: Families Who Lived in the McGuffey House, 1833-1958. This is her first time attending the conference.
- Vivian Kline
- Vivian B. Kline, a widow, mother of three, and grandmother of six, moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in midlife. She has been a professional artist-craftsman, an organizer, and a writer of three books. When chapter two of this current work won a prize in a competition at Sinclair College, she was encouraged to expand and complete this book. Her book Let Freedom Sing of 19th Century Americans, An Historical Novel, Or Could It Be a Musical? was reviewed on March 28, 2010, on WVXU on a
Program called “Around Cincinnati.”
- Cathy Liggett
- Cathy Liggett knew writing fiction was for her after reading aloud a junior high English assignment and watching the class--at least the girls--well up with emotion. Yet it wasn't until much later in life that she seriously tried her hand at storytelling again. This is her second appearance at Mad About Books. Cathy writes Christian women’s fiction, and her novel Beaded Hope was published in March, 2010.
- Margaret Luongo
- Margaret Luongo is an Assistant Professor at Miami University. Her first collection of short stories, If the Heart is Lean, was published by LSU Press in fall 2008. She is currently working on a new collection, tentatively titled Fine Arts.
- Steven Nedelton
- This is Steve’s first appearance at Mad About Books. This Author does not specialize in any particular genre, though he does prefer suspense and thrillers to all other. His novel Crossroads is a five star novel. He is also the author of The Raven Affair and Dawn for the Fearless.
- Terri Spahr Nelson
- Terri Spahr Nelson is a national consultant, educator, author and psychotherapist. She is the author of several publications and articles, essays, and several trauma booklets from Sugati Publications. Her premier trade publication When One Door Closes—Reflections from Women
On Life’s Turning Points, Sugati Publications, was published in February, 2010.
- Phil Nuxhall
- Phil Nuxhall goes underground for the subject of his book about Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. The Fairfield area native and son of the late Cincinnati Reds pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall is making his first appearance at Mad About Books. His new novel is Beauty in the Grove: Spring Grove Cemetery and Aboretum.
- Betty Pace
- Betty Pace is the award-winning, best selling author of seven children’s books: Donald’s Dump Truck, I Miss My Dad, Donna’s Christmas Birthday, Abraham Lincoln, Clippety-Clop, Two Little Rascals, and Chris Gets Ear Tubes (in English and Spanish).
- Kent Richardson
- Kent is a graduate of Miami University and has been writing since 1996. He is a sports photographer and columnist for the Venice Cornerstone newspaper in his home state of Ohio. He is the author of the historical books Reflections of Pearl Harbor and The Second Season.
- Victoria Ryan
- Her two books When Your Grandparent Dies and When Your Pet Dies have been translated into 8 languages. Pet won the 2006 Family Friendly Book Award from Christian Writers International.
- Teresa Slack
- Her first novel Streams of Mercy won the 2005 Bay Area Independent
Publishers Award for Best First Fiction. Her latest novel Evidence of Grace
debuted nationwide at #18 according to Christian Retailing Magazine.
Teresa said, “The road to publication isn’t for the faint of heart.”
- Ray Stefanelli
- Ray has previously attended the conference but this is his first appearance
at Mad About Books. His first novel is Sorrows Road, a book of adult fiction.
Ray writes poetry and short fiction. He owns a marketing communications company and has published articles in national and regional publications.
- Linda Swink
- Her book In Their Honor: The Men Behind the Names of Our Military
Installations was published as a result of her participation in Mad About
Books. Her book has been nominated for The Army Historical Foundation
Award, and the winter will be announced in June, 2010. She is also the
author of Speak With Power and Grace: A Woman’s Guide to Public
Speaking.
- Tina Toles
- This is her first appearance at Mad About Books. She is the author of the books Reflections of the Heart & Soul, Whispers from Above, Anthology of Ohio Poets,
Life’s Lessons, and Perfect Peace.
- Donald Tolzman
- This is his third appearance at Mad About Books. His book The Cincinnati
Germans After the Great War won the Ohioana Book Award in the Humanities
In 1995. He is also the author of German Heritage Guide to the Greater
Cincinnati Area, John A. Roebling and his Suspension Bridge on the Ohio
River, and German-Americana: Selected Essays.
- Heather Webber
- Heather is the author of the Lucy Valentine Seriesdm>. The newest book is Truly, M adly: A Lucy Valentine Novel, a romantic paranormal mystery.
- Fred Wootan
- This is his first appearance at Mad About Books. He has written two murder
mysteries (Death, Then Murder, and Murder Under Fire), one memoir, and two nonfiction books (Classroom Management and Issues of Fear in the Classroom).
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