Slade grew up in and around the coastal temperate rainforests of Vancouver, Canada. He earned two Bachelor’s degrees, in English and Physics, and a Master’s degree in English (Language Emphasis). After graduation, he spent three years teaching at a technical college and a private school, developing a conversational ESL program for young adults and several STEM-focused classes and independent projects for middle and high school students. Since then, he has been editing academic articles for science journals.

Slade’s love of math, science, and writing has taken over his hobbies as well: he has built his own 3D printer, hand-made several zines, and soldered together all kinds of electronics projects. He believes that curiosity and creativity are contagious.