Way back when his daughter Mallory was just two, Joseph Cassis made a promise on the steps of the Cinderella Castle at Disney World's Magic Kingdom to write a book about knights and dragons just for her. But life flew by, and soon Mallory herself was a parent. Joseph wrote this book to celebrate the birth of Isla, his first granddaughter, and to inspire her to be a lifelong learner so she might achieve great things. Illustrating and writing Squire With Fire makes good on Joseph's promise at last.

Joseph is a long-time writer of screenplays and novels populated by imaginative characters but based on true stories. He lives with his wife, Joyce, and their five-year-old Labrador Retriever, Carmella, in Johnston, Iowa. He is well-travelled, but is happiest in his picturesque Midwest home, where the burbling Des Moines River and rolling fields of green corn and soybeans offer a compelling backdrop to his storytelling.