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 Dave K., author of The Bong-Ripping Brides of Count Drogado.

What’s your name and where are you from?

I’m Dave K, and I live in Baltimore.

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

I’ve been writing since I was little; I was an early reader and wanted to replicate the stuff I was reading, so lots of Tolkien and Robert Louis Stevenson and John Bellairs. It felt good to write, and the positive attention I got for it satisfied the goblin brain desire for compliments and recognition that most writers have (and deny).

Who are some of your influences?

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 Arielle Haughee, author of How I Met My Other.

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

My name is Arielle Haughee and my last name is pronounced “hoy.” I used to teach and at one school they gave each teacher a name plaque for their door. They decided on first initial of the first name followed by the last name. I was A. Haughee…pirate jokes abounded that year.

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

After having my first son, I started to go a bit crazy at home. How many times can you say…

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 B.J. Hunter, author of Return of the White Wolf.

What’s your name and where are you from?

My pen name is B. J. Hunter, and I have lived in Florida most of my life

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

I have been writing off and on for about 10 years. I started writing when my daughter was in fourth grade, as I wanted to create a fantasy adventure that was fun to read, but without the bad language and adult themes that are in most fantasy adventure books.

Who are some of your influences?

I enjoy mystery…

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 A.M. Bochnak, author of Fortitude Rising.

What’s your name and where are you from?

My name is Angelique, but I publish fiction under the name A.M. Bochnak. I was born and raised in southern Ohio and now live in Gainesville, Florida.

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

After two years of reading every craft development book I could get my hands on, I finally decided I was ready to write my first novel in 2015. I learned more from writing that first novel than I did from any of those craft books. Sometimes you have to take that…

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 Wade Cox, author of Caribbean Danger.

What’s your name and where are you from?

My name is Wade Cox, that’s not a pen name, that’s the name I was born with. I was named after my great-grandfather on my dad’s side. I never met the man, he died 40 years before I was born, but I’m learning things about him, and apparently, we share a lot of traits.

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

Well, the short answer is 20 years, but that’s not the whole truth. I started writing in high school (10 years earlier). I started…

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 Iris Jamahl Dunkle, author of Interrupted Geographies.

What’s your name and where are you from?

My name is Iris Jamahl Dunkle and I am from a small town in Northern California called Sebastopol.

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

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. It’s all I would do in school (instead of the school work I was supposed to be doing), but I never knew that what I was doing was anything but weird until I visited Jack London State Park on a school field trip in 6th grade and saw that you…

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…