Derek Kunsken
@derekkunsken.bsky.social
Scifi author. Stories in Asimovs.com, Clarkesworldmagazine.com, Analogsf.com. Asimov and Aurora Award winner. Agented by Eric Showers. He/Him.
The House of Saints: https://geni.us/TheHouseOfSaints
Web: derekkunsken.com
The House of Saints: https://geni.us/TheHouseOfSaints
Web: derekkunsken.com
Pinned
Derek Kunsken
@derekkunsken.bsky.social
· Jan 31
Introductory post, Part 5: Lots of my short fiction is online read or listen for free. The aliens in "Schools of Clay" use time travel to the future as part of their life cycle. First at @asimovssfmag.bsky.social, then Starship Sofa (16:05) www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2014/11... 1/9
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 PM
"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"
Kick off 2026 by starting a stellar new SciFi series! :)
The Quantum Evolution series and Venus Ascendant series are among great company!
The Quantum Evolution series and Venus Ascendant series are among great company!
Kick off 2026 by starting a stellar new SciFi series!
Featuring: @edashtonwriting.bsky.social @derekkunsken.bsky.social, @deuceofgearsmusic.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com @taranhunt.bsky.social and @lavanya.bsky.social !
Available to buy now across formats from all good bookstores!
Featuring: @edashtonwriting.bsky.social @derekkunsken.bsky.social, @deuceofgearsmusic.bsky.social @maryrobinettekowal.com @taranhunt.bsky.social and @lavanya.bsky.social !
Available to buy now across formats from all good bookstores!
January 3, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Kick off 2026 by starting a stellar new SciFi series! :)
The Quantum Evolution series and Venus Ascendant series are among great company!
The Quantum Evolution series and Venus Ascendant series are among great company!
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
My thoughts on the current discussions in the SF/F genre over writers using generative AI (LLMs). In particular, I love the essays shared by @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @fozmeadows.bsky.social. 1/
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
Genre Grapevine on Two Secrets about LLM Usage Every Writer Must Remember | Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine
Get more from Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
My thoughts on the current discussions in the SF/F genre over writers using generative AI (LLMs). In particular, I love the essays shared by @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @fozmeadows.bsky.social. 1/
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
www.patreon.com/posts/147102...
I started watching the 1960s B&W show The Avengers. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to approach it. How ironic or earnest is it? I assume it's part of the fun 60s Bond-inspired spy stories. And what's the deal with Peel and Steed? Are they FWB or should I be shipping them?
January 2, 2026 at 7:43 PM
I started watching the 1960s B&W show The Avengers. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to approach it. How ironic or earnest is it? I assume it's part of the fun 60s Bond-inspired spy stories. And what's the deal with Peel and Steed? Are they FWB or should I be shipping them?
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Yes $5 is an end of year donation that can make a difference to your favorite organization.
December 31, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Yes $5 is an end of year donation that can make a difference to your favorite organization.
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Hey, @barnesandnoble.com has a 25% off sale on preorders for their members from 12/30 to 1/1. Preorder _The Subtle Art of Folding Space_ at a discount. Debugging physics! A family reckoning! A status report in the form of an egg tart!
#BNPreorder
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-subtle...
#BNPreorder
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-subtle...
The Subtle Art of Folding Space|Hardcover
The Subtle Art of Folding Space, is the exhilarating debut science fiction novel from Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author John Chu channels unhinged physics, generational trauma, and the comfort of r...
www.barnesandnoble.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Hey, @barnesandnoble.com has a 25% off sale on preorders for their members from 12/30 to 1/1. Preorder _The Subtle Art of Folding Space_ at a discount. Debugging physics! A family reckoning! A status report in the form of an egg tart!
#BNPreorder
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-subtle...
#BNPreorder
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-subtle...
#Canadian #scifi and #fantasy #writers!
This call is still open. If you had short fiction published in 2025, send it to Stephen - it will be considered for his Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction Volume Four
This call is still open. If you had short fiction published in 2025, send it to Stephen - it will be considered for his Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction Volume Four
Submissions are OPEN for Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume Four (the best of 2025). Send me your SFF published in 2025, you crazy Canucks! Details on my site at the link below. DON'T SELF REJECT! You can't win if you don't play ;) Subs close Feb 28, 2026. Pls share WIDELY.
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction | Stephen Kotowych
kotowych.com
December 30, 2025 at 2:22 PM
It's worth repeating Evan's point: the crusades *failed* on multiple levels
Obviously not the main issue, but the whole Crusader fetish thing is also weird to me because of course the crusaders *failed*. The crusades were a centuries long squandering of lives and resources that are often factored in among the reasons that Christianity fractured in the Reformation.
Far-right groups are co-opting the aesthetics of the Crusades for their own objectives, transforming an obsession with feudal justice into a campaign for a White Christian nation.
December 29, 2025 at 5:34 PM
It's worth repeating Evan's point: the crusades *failed* on multiple levels
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Hey Black spec fic authors! This includes indie/self-pub and KDP.
Dear bluskeeters!
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
I'm doing research with a friend.
If you're a Black Author with a speculative book publishing in 2026, could you please pitch and link me, please? This a difficult to sus intersection.
Please add your friends' work. Please tag people. Please share
December 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Hey Black spec fic authors! This includes indie/self-pub and KDP.
Jesus. I'm catching up with all the stupid in @sfwa.org's walking-into-a-rake take on acceptable AI usage and Nebula award eligibility. I agree with pretty much everything in Chuck Wendig's post and did the SFWA survey.
If you're a writer, just be a writer.
Don't outsource any part of art.
If you're a writer, just be a writer.
Don't outsource any part of art.
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
My Open Letter To That Open Letter About AI In Writing And Publishing
The tl;dr before you get into this post is this: the SFWA came out, said that some AI usage was okay enough in books for the authors of those books to not to be disqualified from winning a Nebula a…
terribleminds.com
December 29, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Jesus. I'm catching up with all the stupid in @sfwa.org's walking-into-a-rake take on acceptable AI usage and Nebula award eligibility. I agree with pretty much everything in Chuck Wendig's post and did the SFWA survey.
If you're a writer, just be a writer.
Don't outsource any part of art.
If you're a writer, just be a writer.
Don't outsource any part of art.
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Black people can.
Too often we see White people loving animals and hating us.
Too often we see White people loving animals and hating us.
I can’t fathom how she was a defender of animals and animal rights and a racist.
December 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Black people can.
Too often we see White people loving animals and hating us.
Too often we see White people loving animals and hating us.
nice.
that's not at all the view in canada now, but i remember....
that's not at all the view in canada now, but i remember....
37. Fall color and reflection action, just for you @evilrooster.bsky.social #photography
December 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
nice.
that's not at all the view in canada now, but i remember....
that's not at all the view in canada now, but i remember....
Cottage in English and chalet in French. Cabin sometimes, but it's a step down - we had two cabins over the years, but both had outhouses. Lake house sounds like something in a movie.
Huh, I learned something (that apparently Americans use the "cottage" differently?) I've stayed in cottages as fancy as Shane's here in Ontario. Where I grew up in Manitoba, the most common word was "cabin", with "cottage" as an alternate. I've never heard "lake house" except in that one movie.
oh my god this American discourse about minor variations in how Canadians use language will be the death of me. nobody in Canada has ever uttered the word ‘lake house’. it’s just not a word in our vocabulary. we are not Sandra Bullock in a time travelling romance film. we say ‘cottage’ 🤷♂️
December 28, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Cottage in English and chalet in French. Cabin sometimes, but it's a step down - we had two cabins over the years, but both had outhouses. Lake house sounds like something in a movie.
This novella was a key piece of world-building I ended up using as the axis (no pun intended) around which The Quantum Magician revolved. Get a signed copy on sale now!
For a limited time only, snag the signed, limited edition paperback of @derekkunsken.bsky.social 's SciFi novella POLLEN FROM A FUTURE HARVEST (set 40 years before THE QUANTUM MAGICIAN) exclusively from our website for only 2.99 wherever you are in the world!
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
December 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
This novella was a key piece of world-building I ended up using as the axis (no pun intended) around which The Quantum Magician revolved. Get a signed copy on sale now!
A bunch of amazing complete #scifi and #fantasy series! My contribution is a 2-book scifi family saga set in the clouds of Venus - The House of Styx and The House of Saints.
The holidays is the perfect time to binge a complete book series, & we're here to enable this with a selection of Solaris Books!
Inc. @derekkunsken.bsky.social @karinlow.bsky.social @natania.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @koldholdt.bsky.social @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social @pennyvixen.bsky.social
Inc. @derekkunsken.bsky.social @karinlow.bsky.social @natania.bsky.social @premeemohamed.com @koldholdt.bsky.social @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social @pennyvixen.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
there is a genre of person who hates AI in *their* field but sees how it could be useful in *other,* less prestigious, fields; ignore them. they are not trying to save the ship. they are just racing you to the lifeboats
Translators, illustrators, researchers and editors all do creative, human work that is important and cannot be reproduced in part or in whole by AI any more than writers. Their interests are our interests. To legitimize the use of AI to replace them is a failure of principle as much as strategy.
December 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
there is a genre of person who hates AI in *their* field but sees how it could be useful in *other,* less prestigious, fields; ignore them. they are not trying to save the ship. they are just racing you to the lifeboats
@relativelygeeky.bsky.social Cool episode #233! Weird issue. It's a pity the Atomic Knights never seemed to come into focus. It's a hard premise to pull off.
December 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
@relativelygeeky.bsky.social Cool episode #233! Weird issue. It's a pity the Atomic Knights never seemed to come into focus. It's a hard premise to pull off.
The novella Pollen from a Future Harvest is part of the Quantum Evolution universe. This is a great xmas deal if you love #scifi!
For a limited time only, snag the signed, limited edition paperback of @derekkunsken.bsky.social 's SciFi novella POLLEN FROM A FUTURE HARVEST (set 40 years before THE QUANTUM MAGICIAN) exclusively from our website for only 2.99 wherever you are in the world!
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
December 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The novella Pollen from a Future Harvest is part of the Quantum Evolution universe. This is a great xmas deal if you love #scifi!
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
A very short awards eligibility post:
This year, I edited an anthology of Black Canadian SFF, "As The Earth Dreams." I'm honored to champion these writers!
Also, all of the stories in the collection are so amazing and diverse! Please consider them for awards, too!
houseofanansi.com/products/as-...
This year, I edited an anthology of Black Canadian SFF, "As The Earth Dreams." I'm honored to champion these writers!
Also, all of the stories in the collection are so amazing and diverse! Please consider them for awards, too!
houseofanansi.com/products/as-...
As the Earth Dreams
A ground-breaking anthology of haunting speculative stories by contemporary Black Canadian writers that explore growth, futurity, and joy. This bold and innovative anthology of speculative short ficti...
houseofanansi.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:51 PM
A very short awards eligibility post:
This year, I edited an anthology of Black Canadian SFF, "As The Earth Dreams." I'm honored to champion these writers!
Also, all of the stories in the collection are so amazing and diverse! Please consider them for awards, too!
houseofanansi.com/products/as-...
This year, I edited an anthology of Black Canadian SFF, "As The Earth Dreams." I'm honored to champion these writers!
Also, all of the stories in the collection are so amazing and diverse! Please consider them for awards, too!
houseofanansi.com/products/as-...
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
And just like that, SFWA capitulates. Keep fighting. It works.
December 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
And just like that, SFWA capitulates. Keep fighting. It works.
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
December 18, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Yes hello if you would enjoy reading a story about a female version of James Bond taking on a Lovecraftian death cult in 19th century London then you might like my most recent book, 'Easter Pinkerton and the Case of the Heretic Blood'.
... there's also a sword cane.
books2read.com/u/ba6P0q
... there's also a sword cane.
books2read.com/u/ba6P0q
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Easter Pinkerton and the Case of the Heretic Blood by Evan May
books2read.com
October 18, 2024 at 1:10 PM
Yes hello if you would enjoy reading a story about a female version of James Bond taking on a Lovecraftian death cult in 19th century London then you might like my most recent book, 'Easter Pinkerton and the Case of the Heretic Blood'.
... there's also a sword cane.
books2read.com/u/ba6P0q
... there's also a sword cane.
books2read.com/u/ba6P0q
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
For a limited time only, snag the signed, limited edition paperback of @derekkunsken.bsky.social 's SciFi novella POLLEN FROM A FUTURE HARVEST (set 40 years before THE QUANTUM MAGICIAN) exclusively from our website for only 2.99 wherever you are in the world!
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
December 17, 2025 at 5:37 PM
For a limited time only, snag the signed, limited edition paperback of @derekkunsken.bsky.social 's SciFi novella POLLEN FROM A FUTURE HARVEST (set 40 years before THE QUANTUM MAGICIAN) exclusively from our website for only 2.99 wherever you are in the world!
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
Buy now: https://geni.us/Solarissale
Reposted by Derek Kunsken
Book collectors! The last copies of the signed special paperback edition of my #novella Pollen From a Future Harvest are on sale for 2.99 pounds at shop.rebellion.com/products/sol...! The #scifi story of "Pollen" occurs 40 years before the events of my #novel The Quantum Magician.
December 12, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Book collectors! The last copies of the signed special paperback edition of my #novella Pollen From a Future Harvest are on sale for 2.99 pounds at shop.rebellion.com/products/sol...! The #scifi story of "Pollen" occurs 40 years before the events of my #novel The Quantum Magician.