Author and writing teacher Valerie Willis has always found mythology and folklore fascinating. She has conducted thorough research on these topics to continue broadening her knowledge and fueling her imagination, and has used this research to help narrow the focus for her Cedric the Demonic Knight dark fantasy series. For her first book in the series, Willis determined which history and mythology she was going to apply to the story, then worked on developing the characters that would act as the vehicle to carry the reader through. This is where her imagination came into play. With all of her books, Willis hopes to make readers feel like they are learning new things and are becoming more connected to mythology and history. She wants them to be excited to share what they learn from her stories, which is great word of mouth marketing as an author.