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 Leslie Halpern, author of Scantily Clad Truths: Essays on Life with Clothes (and without).

What’s your name and where are you from?

Leslie C. Halpern, Oviedo, Florida

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

My first poem was published when I was in the third grade, and I have been writing ever since. I still write poetry, but my published work expanded to include essays, articles, reviews, and books.

Who are some of your influences?

One of the most important influences on my writing is O. Henry (William Sydney Porter). I admire his wit, playfulness, and plot twist endings…

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 Joe Tankersley, author of Reimagining Our Tomorrows: Making Sure Your Future Doesn’t SUCK.

What’s your name and where are you from?

Joe Tankersley. Originally from Nashville Tenn., but I’ve lived in Central Florida since the mid-80s

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

Somewhere there is a really, really bad sci-fi short story that I wrote when I was in 10th grade. Pretty sure it was a direct rip-off of Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein) or some other space adventure that I read too many of in my youth.

Who are some of your influences?

All the classical sci-fi writers…

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 Quraysh Ali Lansana, author of the skin of dreams.

What’s your name and where are you from?

Quraysh Ali Lansana. I was born in Enid, Oklahoma, lived in Chicago for 28 years. & Brooklyn for two years.

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

I have been writing poetry for 35 years and nonfiction for 40 years. I started writing poetry while an undergraduate journalism student at the University of Oklahoma. I wrote poems to express my truths and opinions because I could not do so as a journalist.

Who are some of your influences?

Miss Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille…

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 Ellen Greenfield, author of White Roses.

What’s your name and where are you from?

Ellen Greenfield – born and raised in Brooklyn

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

I started writing almost as soon as I could put letters and words together. I can actually recite for you (but you’ll be grateful that I won’t) the poem I wrote, called “A Dreamer’s World” that won my sixth-grade literary contest. First prize: A book on creating origami, complete with beautifully printed papers. I can still fold a mean crane!

Who are some of your influences?

I would say one…

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 Tamara J. Madison, author of Threed, This Road Not Damascus.

What’s your name (or pen name) and where are you from?

My name is Tamara J. Madison. I was born and raised in southern Indiana (Evansville) with both of my parents being my Kentucky roots. I have lived all over from Indiana to Strasbourg, France to Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Jersey City, and now I reside in Florida.

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

As a teenager, I wrote poetry and spoken word for community talent shows. I have long had a love for languages since hearing family members…

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 Kerry Evelyn, author of Love On The Edge.

What’s your name (or pen name) and where are you from?

Kerry Evelyn. I grew up on the SouthCoast of Massachusetts in the college town of Dartmouth. I moved to Orlando 17 years ago to live in the sunshine.

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

I’ve been writing my whole life. I had work published in high school publications and wrote for the school newspaper and became co-editor-in-chief my junior-senior year. I always thought I would go into journalism, but it was too heart-wrenching for me. I wrote feature articles…

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 Nicole Callihan, author of The Couples.

What’s your name (or pen name) and where are you from?

Nicole Callihan. I was born Hefner, in North Carolina. Moved around a lot growing up. Went to high school and college in Oklahoma. Now, I’m in Brooklyn, New York, where I’ve been since the mid-1990s.

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

I started writing when I was fourteen, then really writing when I was twenty-one, then really, really writing when I was thirty-eight. Now, sometimes, I even revise. I started because I wanted to say all the things on paper that…

What’s your name (or pen name) and where are you from?

Ty Unglebower. I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life.

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

I’ve been writing in some fashion since at least high school, but I started fiction writing on a regular basis about ten years ago or so.

Who are some of your influences?

I’m influenced by the reading experience more than a specific author. I can say I’ve read more than one book by folks like Steve Berry and Louis Bayard.

What is your book about?

U.S. President James Garfield is dying from an assassins bullet. On his death bed he is recruited from a sort of afterlife to help retrieve souls of the departed that have been stolen. He accepts this offer as he dies, and the novel tells of his experience there.

Where did you get the idea?

Garfield…

What’s your name (or pen name) and where are you from?

Barbara Meyers. Originally I’m from Missouri, but I now live in Central Florida.

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

I started writing fiction about 30 years ago. I’d been reading a lot of romance novels and after I read a particularly badly written one I threw it against the wall and declared, “I can write better than that.”

Who are some of your influences?

I don’t know if you’d call them influences, but there are certainly writers I admire and wish I wrote as well such as Sandra Brown, Karen Robards, Kathleen Woodiwiss, and C.J. Box, to name a few.

What is your book about?

A former adult film actress from LA, widowed and pregnant, relocates to a small Iowa town and discovers hypocrisy is alive and well in middle America.

Where did you get…