Author Insights: If you had to choose one thing that aspiring fiction writers should do, what would that be?

L. J. Bonham: Read. Read everything you can get your hands on, both good and bad.

AI: Just read, why?

LJB: Reading conditions your brain just like hiking conditions your legs and cardiovascular system. Your job as an author is to read with a critical, analytical eye. Question everything. Did the book have a cogent plot, believable, empathic characters, and a good story arc? Was the premise clear to the reader, and was the book’s theme fulfilled? Was the prose tight and to the point, or florid and clumsy? What would you have done to improve the book? What did the author do better than you? The list is near endless.

AI: Could you suggest a few books or authors to study?

LJB: A couple spring to mind. John Dalmas’ “The Puppet Master,” has just been re-released in e-book and trade paperback. John is an exceptional writer with a smooth, lyric, yet tight style and his story ideas are still fresh and unique. Another great author is Christie Meierz. Her latest book, “The Daughters of Suralia” was just released a few months ago and continues the world she created in “The Marann” which recently won a prestigious Prizm Award.

Start with those books and I’ll bet your own writing will improve, and you’ll have met two brilliant authors which is always time well spent.