After leaving molecular biology, Derek Künsken worked with street kids in Central America before finding himself in the Canadian foreign service. He now writes science fiction in Gatineau, Quebec. His space opera heist novels The Quantum Magician and The Quantum Garden were published by Solaris Books. The first was a finalist for the Aurora, the Locus and the Chinese Nebula Awards. Solaris will also be releasing his "Godfather in the clouds of Venus" novel The House of Styx in August, 2020. He also writes a fun girl-jetpack-Flash Gordon adventure comic called Briarworld at Webtoons.com.