Ohio: Central and South Team

Before Carrie Logsdon McCullough was a writer, she was a dentist. In addition to being in private practice, she was an adjunct associate professor of pediatric dentistry at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. She also treated patients at Columbus Children’s Hospital. She often used storytelling to distract her more anxious patients. The stories her patients loved most were about her patients at The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. In 1993, her family moved to Minnesota, where she became the dentist for the Minnesota Zoo. At this time, she stepped away from teaching and private practice to focus on zoo dentistry and raising her three children. In 2015, her family moved back to Ohio. After 23 years as a zoo dentist, Carrie decided to hang up her handpiece and retire. She remembered how much she enjoyed sharing her stories and decided to become a writer. She found an amazing community through SCBWI, Storyteller Academy, The Writing Barn’s Courage to Create, and Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 Challenge. Carrie was honored to be mentored by the amazing CK Malone as a PB Rising Stars mentee in 2024 and was blessed to continue this journey as a 2025 PBRS mentee in their pilot program, Beyond PB Rising Stars. Most of her stories are humorous fiction. But she’s also written stories inspired by her work as a zoo dentist, her childhood growing up on a farm, and her travels around the world. She is represented by Vicky Weber of Creative Media Agency.

Kathy Halsey, a children’s author, is a former English teacher and K-12. librarian with an M.Ed in Curriculum and Supervision. While a school librarian, she coordinated 15 successful school visits. Currently Kathy serves on the State of Ohio’s Choose to Read Ohio program and has. written curricular toolkits for featured SLO award-winning books. She’s SCBWI Ohio Central-South Co-Assistant Regional Advisor and a Courage To Create Visionary. Her move-the-shapes book, BE A RAINBOW, released April 2024 with KiwiCo Press. Her haiku has been featured on the Poetry Pea podcast and in poetry journals. Kathy lives in Columbus, OH, with her husband and silly Corgi, Scrappy Doo.

Beth has been a member of SCBWI since 2013, and has coordinated the Dayton area meetings for our chapter since the fall of 2023. Although she primarily writes YA fantasy, she is interested in learning about all areas of kidlit. She enjoys sharing stories with her three sons (ages 10, 7, and 5). Beth runs our Cincinnati-Dayton meetings.

For Jan, creating art is the very definition of fun. The joy began with a box of crayons and a can of Playdoh. It continued as I studied Illustration and Design at Miami University, and grows greater everyday. During my college years, I realized how vital creative camaraderie is for artistic growth. To interact with friends in the creative community, I paint with Central Ohio Plein Air artists on Saturday mornings, participate in Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators meetings and conferences, and take many online Make Art That Sells classes from Lilla Rogers. My first professional job was doing courtroom illustrations for WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio. In between the murder and mayhem of the court, I helped create animated pieces for local children’s programs. I continued to hone my art and design skills at advertising agencies and design studios in Ohio before freelancing full-time.

Leigh Lewis is a children's writer whose middle-grade debut, Pirate Queens: Dauntless Women Who Dared to Rule the High Seas (National Geographic Kids), spotlights six fierce female pirates. Leigh lives in Columbus, Ohio, dreaming up stories while buoyed by an amazing crew of three swashbuckling kids.