Story Details
Categories Science Fiction Robots & AI
This story takes place in our native Pittsburgh at the famed Carnegie Mellon University, when a student finds their bank account suddenly enriched by The Joy Fund, a boon meant to help them enjoy their last days. Last days! What does The Joy Fund know, and when did they know it?
Author Details
Susan Kaye Quinn is an environmental engineer/rocket scientist turned speculative fiction author who now uses her PhD to invent cool stuff in books. Her works range from hopepunk climate fiction to futuristic spec fic, with side trips into cyberpunk and steampunk romance. Her novels have been optioned for Virtual Reality, translated into German and French, and her short fiction has appeared in Future Chronicles, Beyond the Stars, and Grist’s Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. Susan writes full-time, trying to dream a better future into being. She believes being cozy, gentle, and healing is radical and disruptive. Check out her website for more about hopepunk, solarpunk, and why she believes stories can lead the way forward. https://susankayequinn.com/hopepunk-solarpunk STORY NOTES FOR "THE JOY FUND" As I was driving cross-country on one of my Sue Walks the Earth trips to travel (COVID-safely!) and visit friends, I heard a true story on the spectacular eco-podcast Green Dreamer that absolutely captivated my brain. A woman had an awful medical diagnosis and her friends, in addition to setting up support systems, created a Joy Fund for her, exclusively to purchase things that would bring her joy during this hard time. I wiped away the tears, but that concept burrowed in fast. It’s such a hopepunkish thing to do, so full of love, and I wanted a future where such a thing was normalized for everyone, just part of the world we existed in. So I created that… and then dreamed up a story about what might hilariously go wrong… and the result is The Joy Fund. I hope readers enjoy the tale but also: let’s make Joy Funds a reality, shall we?
The Joy Fund, by Susan Kaye Quinn
Author Details
Susan Kaye Quinn is an environmental engineer/rocket scientist turned speculative fiction author who now uses her PhD to invent cool stuff in books. Her works range from hopepunk climate fiction to futuristic spec fic, with side trips into cyberpunk and steampunk romance. Her novels have been optioned for Virtual Reality, translated into German and French, and her short fiction has appeared in Future Chronicles, Beyond the Stars, and Grist’s Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. Susan writes full-time, trying to dream a better future into being. She believes being cozy, gentle, and healing is radical and disruptive. Check out her website for more about hopepunk, solarpunk, and why she believes stories can lead the way forward. https://susankayequinn.com/hopepunk-solarpunk STORY NOTES FOR "THE JOY FUND" As I was driving cross-country on one of my Sue Walks the Earth trips to travel (COVID-safely!) and visit friends, I heard a true story on the spectacular eco-podcast Green Dreamer that absolutely captivated my brain. A woman had an awful medical diagnosis and her friends, in addition to setting up support systems, created a Joy Fund for her, exclusively to purchase things that would bring her joy during this hard time. I wiped away the tears, but that concept burrowed in fast. It’s such a hopepunkish thing to do, so full of love, and I wanted a future where such a thing was normalized for everyone, just part of the world we existed in. So I created that… and then dreamed up a story about what might hilariously go wrong… and the result is The Joy Fund. I hope readers enjoy the tale but also: let’s make Joy Funds a reality, shall we?
