Melissa Gunn spent several years pursuing a successful science career before deciding it would be fun to write fiction as well as fact – though it turns out that there is even more research involved. Luckily research is one of her favourite things. She enjoys combining facts that seem fantastical with actual fantasy, and creating quirky characters with a sense of humour. When she’s not trying to figure out how a volcano demigod would problem-solve, she's feeding her backyard menagerie or taking photographs of whatever will stand still for long enough (mostly plants).