In Your Next Beach Read, we want to introduce you to a new author every day in June in the hopes that you’ll find the next book you want to take with you to the beach, the pool, or the comforts of air conditioning.

Today’s author is L. K. Simonds, author of All In.

What’s your name and where are you from?

L. K. Simonds, from Fort Worth, Texas

How long have you been writing? How did you start?

I’ve written since my school days. I took steps toward learning to write fiction after I began journaling in my mid-twenties. This I did after reading the journals of a coworker who was a medic in Vietnam. Journaling was cathartic for me. There’s a lot of power in it.

Who are some of your influences?

Stephen King (not his horror – he’s written other fine fiction) for the way he…