Valanee EriksenEvery kid needs a hero and as a kid, Valanee Eriksen found her heroes in myths and legends. As a child she was so near-sighted she couldn't see across the street, so she spent a lot of time reading. One day a door-to-door salesman talked her mom intobuying the complete set of The New Junior Classics. Her two favorite volumes of that collection were Myths and Legends and Hero Tales. These were stories of gallant souls who were granted superhuman strength to defeat evil. As she told these stories to her grandchildren, they told her they wanted a kid to be the hero. And so, the inspiration for Sword of Poseidon was born. Valanee has three daughters, eight grandchildren and is a retired professor of English composition. She lives in Tampa, Florida with her daughter and a hero of a dog named Gus. Read More Read Less