It is no secret that here at Orlando Mom Collective we love to support local businesses and creators. There are so many authors in Central Florida with published novels and children’s books. We have collected a comprehensive list of authors in Central Florida and we hope that you will check out some of their work! You may just find your new favorite author (or authors)!
Authors of Books for Kids
Adrienne Romberger :
Adrienne is a former teacher turned tour guide at Kennedy Space Center. Her love for teaching inspired her to write the book “Ticket to Space,” a book about the history of American space travel in the hope that her book would interest young children in space too.
Amy Kimlat :
Amy and her family live in Orlando. She was a kid magician and wrote the book “Hocus Pocus Practice Focus: The Making of a Magician,” a rhyming children’s picture book about a young girl who wants to be a magician.
Beverly Ann Page :
Beverly lives in Orlando and is most known for her book “Clare and the Chocolate Nutcracker.” She wrote this book to include diversity in the traditional story of the Nutcracker.
Catherine Kopf :
Catherine lives in Ocala and has a 3 book series published on Amazon that is perfect for younger readers (8 – 12 years old) who love fantasy and adventure! The first in the series is titled “Awakening Dreams.”
David Blaze :
Timothy David writes under the pen name David Blaze as a nod to his and his son’s middle names. He writes children’s books that he hopes are enjoyable and funny for kids of all ages and all backgrounds. He is the author of the “My Fox” series and standalone books “Epic Kids,” and “Frozen 2: The Deluxe Junior Novelization.”
Ethan Long :
Ethan is a Geisel Award-winning author of children’s books “Up, Tall and High!,” “Fright Club,” “Scribbles and Ink,” and “Chamelia and the New Kid in Class.” He lives in Orlando.
Khadijah “KB” Holmes :
Khadijah ‘KB’ Holmes is a resident of Orlando. She wrote an inclusive children’s book “Emori wears Green” that is a picture book that introduces readers to Emori, a young girl with cerebral palsy, through the eyes of her loving sister Hope.
Sameer Jani :
Sameer is 5 years old and lives in Lake Nona with his family. He has written 4 books about a little alligator named Chocovela.
Shel Curry :
Inspired by her experience teaching her child to read while home together during the pandemic lock down, Shel wrote the picture book “The Bedtime Story Race.” Her goal with her writing is to inspire children who may be struggling to learn to read and to have diverse characters so that every child can see someone like themself in a book.
Authors of Books for Adults
Bob Kealing :
Bob is a non-fiction writer as well as broadcast journalist. His most recent book ”Good Day Sunshine State, How the Beatles Rocked Florida” is a result of years of researching the Beatles and their time in Florida.
Bob Morris :
Bob is a mystery novelist and has also published some works on non-fiction. Most of his mystery novels take place Florida or in the Caribbean. His popular books include “Bahamarama,” “The Man with the Fish on his Foot,” and “All over the Map.” Bob lives in Winter Park.
Coppelia Marie :
Coppelia a local radio DJ and a contributing member of Orlando Mom Collective. Her debut book “Whole: How One Book Can Transform Your Whole Life!” was published in 2016.
David James Poissant :
David and his family live in Orlando where he is a professor at UCF. He published a story collection titled “The Heaven of Animals” and published his first full length novel titled “Lake Life” in 2020.
Gary John Bishop :
Gary is a New York Times bestselling author. He has written the personal development books “Unfu*k Yourself,” “Stop Doing that Sh*t,” “Do the Work,” “Wise As Fu*k,” and “Love Unfu*ked.” He is also a speaker.
Gary Monroe :
Gary has spent years researching artists in Florida. His book “The Highwaymen: Florida’s African-American Landscape Painters” is about a group of 26 African American landscape artist who are believed to have created over 200,000 pieces of artwork.
Heather McPherson :
Heather is the former food editor for the Orlando Sentinel and has published three cookbooks – “The Mojito,” “Field to Feast: Recipes Celebrating Florida Farmers, Chefs, and Artisans,” and “Good Catch: Recipes & Stories Celebrating the Best of Florida’s Waters.”
Jake Wolff :
Jake is an associate professor of English at UCF and lives in Orlando. His debut novel “The History of Living Forever: A Novel” was published in 2019. His book is about a teacher and student’s quest to find the elixir of life. He has also written essays that have been published in journals like Tin House, One Story, and American Short Fiction.
James Ponte :
James is a resident of Maitland and wrote the Florian Bates thriller series.
Jeff Dixon :
Jeff is an ex-Disney cast member who how writes stories about the time before Disney World arrived in Central Florida and life lessons he learned as a cast member. He wrote the popular series “Keys to the Kingdom” and non-fiction books “The Disney Driven Life” and “The Disney Code.”
Jeff Kunerth :
Jeff was a reporter for the Orlando Sentinal before becoming a published author. His book “Trout: A True Story of Teens, Murder and the Death Penalty” is a true crime novel about the teenagers accused of robbing an auto parts store in Pensacola Florida. He and his family live in Altamonte Springs.
Jenny Torres Sanchez :
Jenny and her family live in Orlando. She is a former teacher and a Young Adult author of the books “We Are Not From Here,” “The Fall of Innocence,” “Because of the Sun,” “Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia,” and “The Downside of Being Charlie.”
Kacey Kowars :
Kacey is an Orlando based literary interviewer turned author. He spent years interviewing his literary heroes and publishing the interviews on his website. His novel “A Celebration of Words” is about his relationship with three authors that formed because of their interviews with additional notes and correspondence about their conversations.
Kerry Evelyn :
Kerry is a romance novelist who lives in Orlando. She has written the Crane’s Cove Series of novels set around the Cliff Walk Resort in Maine.
Kimberly Lojewski :
Kimberly’s book “Worm Fiddling Nocturne in the Key of a Broken Heart” was published in 2018 and won a Florida Book Award Gold Medal. She is a Florida native.
Kristen Arnett :
Kristen is a New York Times best selling author, her debut novel “Mostly Dead Things” was published in 2020. She also wrote “With Teeth: A Novel” and has a new novel coming soon that is to be a collection of short stories. She graduated from Florida State University and lives in Orlando.
Kristin Harmel :
Kristin is a New York Times best selling author of popular books “The Forest of Vanishing Stars,” “The Book of Lost Names,” “The Winemaker’s Wife” and many more. Kristin is a graduate of the University of Florida and currently lives in Orlando.
Lauren Gibaldi :
Lauren is a young adult author who lives in Orlando with her husband and children. She works as a librarian and has authored the books “The Night We Said Yes,” “Autofocus,” and “This Tiny Perfect World.”
Lea Tran :
Originally a speaker, Lea touches on topics like cultural differences and encouraging you to find your personal truth. Her debut novel “I Did Not Miss the Boat: A Memoir of a Vietnam Hoa Refugee” is about how she coped with moving to the United States from China.
Nathan Holic :
Nathan is a writing and rhetoric professor at UCF and a published fiction and non-fiction author. His book “Bright Lights, Medium-Sized City” is about the impact of the housing crisis in Orlando.
Norine Dworkin-McDaniel :
Norine is the co-creator of the Science of Parenthood website. Along with Jessica Ziegler, she wrote the popular parenting book “Science of Parenthood: Thoroughly Unscientific Explanations for Utterly Baffling Parenting Situations.” Norine lives in Orlando.
Robert James :
Best local author of 2016 winner, Bob’s debut novel “Next!: The Search for My Last First Date” is about modern dating from a man’s perspective. Bob lives on the West Coast of Florida.
Rochelle Hurt :
Rochelle teaches courses in the creative writing program at UCF and lives in Orlando. She is the author of the poetry books “The J Girls: A Reality Show,” “In Which I Play the Runaway,” and “The Rusted City: A Novel in Poems.” She has won many awards for her poetry.
Susan Lilley :
Susan is Orlando’s first Poet Laureate. Susan is an author of poetry and non-fiction. She is a literature teacher at Trinity Prep School in Winter Park.
Tez Brooks :
Tez lives in Orlando with his family and writes primarily about parenting and family with a Christian perspective. His popular novel “The Single Dad Detour,” was written to inspire single fathers after his own divorce.
Tison Pugh :
Tison is an English professor at UCF and winner of the 2019 Teaching Literature book award for his book “Jews in Medieval England: Teaching Representations of the Other.” He has published 9 books and is working on a 10th.
Vanessa Blakeslee :
Vanessa is a UFC alum and her first novel “Juventud” was published in 2015. She teaches college level writing.
We hope that this list of authors inspires you to check out some of their work. There are so many award winning authors who call Central Florida home!
Thank you so much for the mention in your article! I really appreciate it and thanks for finding me.
Shel, thank you for your amazing book! We are happy to highlight your talent!