Shining Moon Episode 28: Cozy Fantasy and Hopepunk

Shining Moon: A Speculative Fiction Podcast

Hello, and welcome to Shining Moon episode 28, Cozy Fantasy and Hopepunk. I’m your host, Deborah L. Davitt. This week we’ll be having a conversation with M. E. (Mary) Garber, Susan Kaye Quinn, and John Wiswell.

Itinerant writer M. E. Garber currently lives halfway between the Kennedy Space Center and Disney World, an ideal place for writing speculative fiction. When not writing, she’s often sipping tea, snapping pics, or tending orchids, sometimes all at once. Visit her online at http://megarber.net or on Mastodon @[e-mail]

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 gritty cyberpunk to steampunk romance. Her short fiction can be found in DreamForge, Grist, Reckoning, and more. All her novels and short fiction can be found on her website: www.susankayequinn.com.

John Wiswell is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He is a winner of the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for "Open House on Haunted Hill," and the Locus Award for Best Novelette for "That Story Isn't The Story." His fiction has been translated into ten languages. His debut novel, SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN, is forthcoming from DAW Books and Jo Fletcher Books on April 2nd, 2024. He would like to hug a kaiju.
Stories featured on this episode:
M.E. Garber

“Two Letters Crossing Paths Through the FairyMail,” forthcoming in 99 Fleeting Fantasies anthology.
“The Giveaway Box,” First published in Abyss & Apex, Oct 2015.
Susan Kaye Quinn

"The Joy Fund," DreamForge, https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/dreamforge/stories/show/the-joy-fund-susan-kaye-quinn
John Wiswell
“Open House on Haunted Hill,” Diabolical Plots #64A, June 15, 2020,

https://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-64a-open-house-on-haunted-hill-by-john-wiswell/
“The First Stop is always the Last” Flash Fiction Online, December 2017, https://www.flashfictiononline.com/article/first-stop/
“Found Day,” By Jennifer Campbell-Hicks, Daily Science Fiction, September 10th, 2015 https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/jennifer-campbell-hicks/found-day
“Laser Squid Goes House-Hunting,”by Douglas DiCicco Escape Pod 850 August 18, 2022. https://escapepod.org/2022/08/18/escape-pod-850-laser-squid-goes-house-hunting/

"Don't tell me that the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." -- Anton Chekov

Piano music for closure

Thank you for listening to Shining Moon! You can reach the host, Deborah L. Davitt, at the following social media platforms:
www.facebook.com/deborah.davitt.3

Bluesky: @deborahldavitt.bsky.social
www.deborahldavitt.com