March 31, 2025 • 41 mins
Friendship, Fantasy & Finding Your Voice with Randee Dawn
In this episode of Work Besties, hosts Jess and Claude sit down with Randee Dawn, entertainment journalist and author, to dive into the powerful role of friendship, storytelling, and identity in both creative and professional spaces.
Randee shares her journey to authorship, the long road to publishing, and the importance of networking and community in building a lasting career. She reflects on the depth of male friendships, the underrepresentation of non-romantic relationships in storytelling, and how her own writing brings friendship, fantasy, and music together.
This episode explores how music connects friends, how names shape identity, and why friendships require ongoing effort and communication.
💡 Key Takeaways:
✅ Friendships matter—both in personal and professional life.
✅ Music is a universal connector that strengthens bonds.
✅ Male friendships often lack emotional depth in media and deserve more representation.
✅ Names hold sacred significance and shape our identity.
✅ Writing is a wellness tool—it can be therapeutic and transformative.
✅ Friendships require work—communication and effort make them thrive.
✅ Networking is about real relationships, not transactions.
✅ Friendships evolve over time, reflecting personal growth.
✅ Fantasy storytelling explores deep relationships, even supernatural ones.
Follow Randee on IG, TT, FB & Website
For Her Books Tune In Tomorrow; The Only Song Worth Singing (April 2025 Release)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jess (00:00):
Hello everybody, welcome to Work Besties, who podcast
Stories thrive on connections,and so do we.
As Work Besties, we are veryexcited to have author Randi
Dawn join us and talk about howstrong friendships like Work
Besties will fuel creativity andwhy they're central to her
(00:21):
upcoming novels.
Stay with us to hear how Randybalances wellness with the
demands of writing her tips forbuilding authentic relationships
.
Trust us, guys, you're going towant to stay around.
Claude (00:33):
Hi.
I'm Claude and I'm Jess.
We are corporate employees byday, entrepreneurs by night and
work besties for life.
Jess (00:41):
Join us as we explore how Work Besties, lift each other up
, laugh through the chaos andthrive together in every
industry.
Welcome, we're so excited tohave you, randi.
Thank you for being here.
Randee Dawn (00:58):
You're welcome.
Thank you for having me here.
I'm very excited to chat withyou guys.
Jess (01:02):
Fantastic.
Well, we would love it if youcould just kick off and give a
background on who you are.
Randee Dawn (01:08):
I'm based in Brooklyn and I'm an
entertainment journalist.
I write for outlets likeVariety and the LA Times, the
Today Show website, those kindsof places.
I've been doing that for a lotof years but in my not so secret
life I am also an author.
I have always wanted to be anauthor and a published author
and I have a book out.
I have a couple more bookscoming out, but I tend to write
(01:28):
in the speculative fiction arena, which means science fiction,
fantasy, a little bit of horror,you know that kind of stuff.
My first book, tune In Tomorrow,came out in 2022.
It's about a reality TV showrun by mythical creatures or
mythical creatures but starringhumans, and is deeply punny and
silly.
And because that worked outwell, I completely pivoted and
(01:50):
now I have a more serious bookcoming out called the Only Song
Worth Singing.
It's a dark fantasy about rockstars who are bedeviled by
fairies Irish fairies as they goon their first United States
tour in the 90s.
I've been writing this book forso long that I actually started
it in the 1990s, so it kind ofhas that authenticity already
(02:11):
baked into it.
Jess (02:12):
Cool.
Well, I feel like we'll have alot of things to relate to.
Claude (02:15):
Yeah, these are one of my favorite times.
Jess (02:17):
I'm 80s too.
I'm 80s, so you're writingthese novels.
You kind of did in your newernovels.
In these new ones, you'refocusing a little bit more on
strong friendships.
Being that you're on our WorkBestie podcast, we'd love to
hear from you how do you thinkfriendships shapes personal and
professional lives.
Randee Dawn (02:46):
I think is amazing because you're at work all the
time, right Like it's, it's partof your life.
I personally have worked fromhome for a long time, so my work
bestie is like my dog.
But but when I was stillworking in offices, having
somebody there who you couldjust rely on, who you could roll
your eyes at, if somebody youknow, if that obnoxious guy in
advertising wouldn't stop,wouldn't stop talking, you know
somebody you just have that youcan connect with.
I am still friends with peoplewho I worked with, so just
(03:07):
having that person there.
I don't know if I ever likedthe phrase work husband or work
wife, but work bestie is areally good phrase to have and
I've had a few of those over theyears.
So in the only song worthsinging we have three guys
who've known each other sincethey were kids and you learn
about that early and they grewup outside of Dublin.
(03:31):
The whole thing starts out like1979 and then we skip all the
way.
So you get a little bit of themas kids and how they met and
how they have this sort ofmusical connection pretty much
from the minute one.
But they also come from verydifferent parts of society.
One of them was horriblebackground and the other two was
modern age, middle of the road,middle class kind of guys and
(03:57):
it mirrors a little bit of whatwas going on in Ireland at the
time.
I mean, we think of Ireland, ofcourse, is of course, as very
modern and upscale and it'sbecome, like you know, the tech
capital of Europe and all thatkind of stuff.
But the first time I went andvisited when I was in the 1990s,
there was still a lot of sortof the old world butting up
against the new world.
(04:18):
So I wanted to create characterswho reflected that and at the
same time they all become verytight as friends because they
have this music connection andwhen we fast forward to the
1990s they're still together.
We find out they weren't alwaystogether.
There were some breaks in thereand we find out about those
later on but they are together,they are touring as a band and
(04:41):
you see them on the road beingindividuals but also being in
the band, and how they sort ofbecome a totally like another
unit, a fourth unit, when theyare all playing on stage, which
is something that reflects whenI was doing music journalism and
I would watch bands perform andthen I would interview people
in the bands.
They all, of course, had theirown individual personalities and
(05:02):
hopes and wants and dreams, butthen when you would see them
together, it was just adifferent energy, a different
vibe, like another person hadcome in the room.
So I wanted to convey that asmuch as possible when I was
creating this friendship betweenthese people.
Claude (05:17):
And that friendship really started with this love of
music, right?
Because, as you said, theyreally came from different
backgrounds, different time,different age.
So it's really for you I wouldsay it's very important and I
think for everybody to have youknow these friendships to have
something in common.
Randee Dawn (05:37):
Right, absolutely.
I mean, I don't know about you,but I know how passionate I was
and I am still to some extent,but I certainly I was really
passionate about music when Iwas much younger and through my
teens.
Music is the kind of thing thatkind of really got me thinking
about long form story writing.
I would listen to songs andstory would just kind of weave
(05:57):
together in my head and a lot ofthe stories that I started
writing would come out of thisreal passion for music.
So I know that it can have thateffect on people.
I know my friends alsoreflected that.
So the idea that music wouldbind them feels completely
realistic and true to my ownpersonal experience, but also
some of my closest friends.
(06:17):
We have all these in-jokesbecause of lyrics and bands and
things that we liked and we justhave inside jokes that we still
use on Facebook together.
That wouldn't make any sense ifI explained them here, but I
love the fact that you have thatthrough line.
All friends, I think, have somesort of connection or the
backstory that you have thatonly you two have you can refer
(06:40):
to.
You have that shorthand andhaving that shorthand just
immediately reminds you howimportant that friendship is
putting that kind of thing intothe book, putting the band into
the book.
You know, as soon as they sitdown and play, they can just,
even if they're mad at eachother, they'll.
They can still come out withgreat music.
Sometimes, because they're madat each other, they'll come out
with great music.
(07:00):
Um, so yeah, that was importantto me also to include that.
Jess (07:05):
We've yet to have work besties in a band yet, but
you're hitting on a topic that Ithink is relevant, not just in
that industry but overall.
For work besties is the unitoperates much stronger together
than separately, and or itoperates differently, as you
commented right.
Commented right doesn'tnecessarily mean it's better.
You could still operatefantastically as an independent
(07:28):
artist, but together somethingmagical happens because you're
all kind of working in tunetogether yeah.
I find that fascinating and itdefinitely helps to kind of
showcase how support um, thekind of the yin and the yang,
the elements that you kind ofuse to help bounce off each
other, can be reallycomplimentary, especially in a
band Sure and I.
Randee Dawn (07:48):
You know, I just finished reading Keith Richards'
autobiography called Life KeithRichards, the guitarist from
the Rolling Stones.
It's a huge book.
It's, like you know, 800 pages.
But what's fascinating to readis how early he met Mick Jagger
and how early they became, youknow, this really tight
brotherly kind of friendshipthat carried into being in the
(08:11):
band.
And of course they're stillplaying like they met when they
were in their teens and they'relike in their 80s Now.
That's had a lot of ups anddowns and there's been times
where they can't stand eachother and Mick is this kind of
person and Keith is that kind ofperson.
But it just does my heart goodto see people who find their way
back to the connections thatthey had, you know, before they
had any idea they were going tobe like the biggest rock and
(08:32):
roll band of all time, kind ofthing.
Jess (08:35):
I'm sorry they start in like a garage somewhere just
doing it because they love ityeah and really enjoy each
other's company, and then, allof a sudden, it takes a whole
new direction.
Randee Dawn (08:45):
One of the things that I really like writing about
when possible.
I think that there's a lot ofsocietal focus and book focus on
female friendship.
I like the idea of finding waysto portray male friendship,
because it is hard for men,especially grown men, to be
friends Once you get to acertain adult level.
(09:05):
It's like my dad was a guy whohad no friends, like it was just
his family and his work, andlike at the time I didn't
understand what that meantexactly.
But as an adult myself, it'sjust so lonely, you know, to go
through your adulthood without areal friend.
And making a friend as a guy istough.
Sustaining a friendship as aguy is tough.
Sustaining a friendship as aguy is tough, you know, unless
it's going to be let's justwatch the game, which is not
(09:28):
quite the same as actuallysharing hopes and dreams and
fears and whatever it is.
Whenever possible if I can writea male friendship, a strong
male friendship.
I'm not so grandiose as tothink people are going to read
my book and see them modelingand oh, I could do that but I
think every little bit counts,yeah, and it's worth showing
that there is value in malefriendships.
(09:49):
I think if more men were hadmore friends, more male friends,
we'd have a lot less problemsin the world.
But I think that men can bevery isolated and don't have the
ability to figure out how tohave an emotional bond with a
guy.
Jess (10:08):
Being in a band would help you get past some of those
things, because you have to havethe hard conversations, because
you do see a lot of males thatare friends.
There are definitely ones thathave great friends too, and so
having some ways to model thatit's just good to continue to
put things like that out there.
There's opportunities.
Claude (10:23):
Yeah, but is it something?
Things like that out there thatthere's opportunities, yeah,
but is it something?
Because, again, we are all, weare so different, right, women
and men are so different.
Especially, a woman needs theirfriends, needs that
communication, needs to talk, Ithink, men friendship, because
they do have.
I know, for example, for myhusband, right, he has best
(10:45):
friends from uh, I don't know,20 years ago, like in even 40.
Now at this point.
It's just that it's a differentkind of communication.
They don't like yes, they aregoing to watch the game, they
are going, I don't know if theyneed this.
Jess (11:02):
But why can't they?
Wouldn't it make more sense tohave some of those emotional
elements and conversations comeout?
Claude (11:08):
I don't know if they are wired like that.
Jess (11:09):
If you go back to one of our previous podcasts where we
talk about the origin of humanbeings, the hunters and the
gatherers both groups separatedby gender, but they both bonded
together to help each other.
Randee Dawn (11:22):
Yeah.
Jess (11:24):
Right, like it wasn't like the hunters went solo.
They all went together andworked together and communicated
together and talked about theirissues and feelings that they
were having with their wives,while the wives were gathering
yes, oh yeah.
I mean.
So what was the difference?
Claude (11:40):
Actually, yes, they all go in to complain about us.
Jess (11:44):
But not all of them do Some of them to Randy's point.
Randee Dawn (11:48):
We complain about them, right.
So you know that's totally fair.
Jess (11:51):
I think that's fair, it's my first language and regardless
of it being male versus female,anytime you can put solid
examples of long-termfriendships and partnerships
that accomplish things together.
Randee Dawn (12:08):
yeah, I think is always a good element to put out
into the world, right, I'vedone articles for the la times
because I pitched this sort ofthing before about best friends
in the movies.
Because I think when we go tothe movies or watch tv show,
what ends up happening is thecentral relationship tends to be
a romantic one.
It doesn't matter if it'sfemale female, male male or male
(12:28):
female, but like it ends upbeing like the only significant
relationship you apparently canhave on TV and movies is
romantic.
And I'm so happy when I see amovie where characters are just
best friends.
It's not like there's aromantic angle.
They're just there to supportone another and give each, give
each other whatever it is youneed out of a friendship.
(12:48):
There's a movie that came outthis past season and that's um,
it's uh, it's up for oscar,called nickel boys and these two
young men are sort of forcedinto like this reformatory 1960s
in the south.
Because they have each other,they are able survive.
That's how they make it through, because separately probably
wouldn't have happened.
And it's like it's soheartening to see an emphasis of
(13:11):
the story put on that, becausewe see so many romantic stories
like that.
We're never going to run out ofthose.
Those are always going to bethere.
So I'm so happy when I seesomething that is focused on
friendship.
It's not about, oh, this guy,this guy dumped me.
Let me talk to you Now.
There's um.
What is it?
You've heard of?
The Bechdel test, right?
(13:32):
Have you heard of?
Claude (13:32):
that.
Randee Dawn (13:32):
So there's something called the Bechdel
test.
No, I don't know.
There's a cartoonist namedAlison Bechdel who did move, who
did books like fun home sheused to have a called a panel
cartoon called dykes to watchout for, and in there one of
them brought up this idea of cana movie pass the Bechdel test,
which is a woman talking to awoman for more than like a line
(13:52):
or two about a subject that isnot about a man?
It's harder than you think andI think that when you have a
movie where two characters cantalk to one another and it's not
about a romantic relationship,I'm there for that.
Jess (14:06):
Yeah, that's so cool.
I think that's what GinaDavis's whole organization is.
She uses that to judge kids'.
Movies like Disney and Pixarand all those movies just to
like help showcase how it'singrained, even that young Like
how can they?
And Pixar and all those moviesjust to like help showcase how
it's ingrained, even that younglike how can they, how can they
emulate positive, solidfriendships and relationships
(14:26):
when they're not even seeing itat the age of like three?
That's an interesting dynamic.
Okay, so let's get back to yourbook.
For sure, I love everyone forthat.
I think that's fascinating, Ithink it's awesome, but so in
your book.
So it is about the friendshipsitself.
So, what is the kind of the goalor the elements that you're
(14:48):
trying to get across from havingit be focused on this long-term
friendship?
Randee Dawn (14:55):
So the book itself, like, we start off with this
friendship, but the actualturning points in the book is
the fantastical elements.
Right, so it's a contemporaryfantasy, it's an urban fantasy,
which means that while they areon tour, these Irish fairies you
know sort of show up anddescend upon them and at least
one of them, like, puts his lifein danger.
(15:16):
He doesn't know it at the time.
She is a character who is thethere's an Irish word for it,
but the English translationwould be fairy mistress.
She's the muse, she inspiresgreat songs, great music, but
she sort of steals your life atthe same time.
And the question is, onceyou've attracted her attention,
how do you get rid of her beforeshe?
Jess (15:35):
kills you.
Claude (15:35):
Because, that is what's going to happen.
Randee Dawn (15:37):
The other two, meanwhile, are dealing with
other problems that those havebrought along with them.
So they're a little distractedfrom their friend and their
friend kind of gets veryenmeshed in what's going on over
here and by the time theyrealize, hey, we might lose him,
then they have to figure outhow to fix it.
And the big turning point iswhether or not their friendship
can be enough to get rid of thisparanormal, this supernatural
(16:00):
sort of vampire kind ofcharacter, or not, like is, is
it going to be enough to save um?
So the friendship is, is verymuch a foundational element of
the book, but it's notnecessarily like they're not
fighting among themselvesexactly, although they do.
They do have arguments, butit's not like that's not.
It's not beaches, right, likeit's.
It's not not the equivalent ofbeaches here, okay.
(16:22):
But again, what I really feltwas important was to lean
heavily on their backstory andhow they came together and why
they are sort of thisunbreakable triad, the stool
that only really stands upbecause it has three legs.
Right, you don't have to havefour legs, you only need three
legs to keep a stool alone.
Yeah, so the idea that thistriad, this trinity that can
(16:45):
weather even supernatural.
Jess (16:49):
I kind of actually chose the three because most boy
friendship focuses are usuallyon two.
Randee Dawn (16:55):
Yeah.
Jess (16:56):
So I think that's interesting to throw a third
into the mix as well.
Randee Dawn (17:20):
Yeah, and I think they all have to throw a third
into the reason why he's withthem and all that throughout the
book.
Then you see how the two event,the two middle class kids sort
of really interact with oneanother.
It's a bit like a lennonmccartney sort of competition oh
I could do this all by myselfif I had to.
It's like, well, you can dothat, but I'm just going to be
over here my piano.
So hopefully I've drawndifferent, not just individual
characters, but also individualseparate bonds between each
(17:41):
pairing.
Claude (17:44):
We also always like these three core friends.
It's really like you getsomething a bit different from
each of them, according to theirpersonality.
I think having three friendsalso a lot of time we do say, oh
three, there's always one thatis left.
But actually as you get, getmaybe when you're young, but
(18:04):
when you're older actually youreally that doesn't work anymore
.
It's we are all together.
Randee Dawn (18:12):
Yeah, I mean I'm very close with several friends
who I've known since like highor high school, and there's at
least there's.
There's, there's like three ofthem, one of whom sort of
participates with us andsometimes the other one who
doesn't, but, like, for the mostpart, there's at least three of
us at any given time, and twoof them still live in my former
home state.
Well, three of them still livein my former home state of
(18:32):
Maryland, but at least two ofthem get together and do their
own independent things.
And I have to remind myselfthat it's like, no, the FOMO
you're feeling right now, thefear of missing out, is not
legitimate.
Just be happy that they havemade friends among like they
would not have been friends if Ihadn't been there.
They have become friendsbecause they're very close to
one another and I see themresponding to each other on
(18:53):
group chats and everything, andI'm partially happy, but
partially I'm just like, but Iwant to be there too it's so
funny because actually with myfriends we are three.
Claude (19:03):
I'm the one that was added, that's a third one.
Jess (19:09):
So I have my friends from grade school there are three of
us as well Usually that aresimilar to what you're talking
about.
They live in the same hometown,so they hang out all the time
and I, apparently, when we wereyoung, there was a time where
they didn't invite me tosomething and so I like made a
big stink about it and was like,oh, you mean the time you
didn't invite me to.
(19:32):
This day I'm not going to sayhow many years later it is now
to this day.
Anytime we chat with them andthey're like oh, was that the
one we didn't invite you to?
Randee Dawn (19:39):
never gonna live this down, it's gonna be like oh
, I'm like great, but you knowthe nice thing is like, on the
one hand, if you, if you'reclose enough to them, you
probably understand that that isboth sort of a slight jab, but
also a kind of like we love youenough, we want you to feel not
not excluded right like it's twothings at once that's true,
right, especially a long-termfriend get away with so much
(20:00):
because you know, you know itactually is love that's behind
it, of course, but it's also alittle.
Jess (20:05):
But they didn't invite you , but right.
So I think it's fascinatingthat you've now shifted to
writing some books aboutrelationships, and you mentioned
that you have other ones comingout.
Why, what is the element that'scausing you to write so much
about friendships?
Randee Dawn (20:24):
Well, I think the thing is it's important to
partition two of the books thatI have coming out this year with
the one that just came out.
Like it's a weird book endingthing.
So the two books that are firstcoming out this year the only
song worth singing and then inAugust, which is another again
has another friendship at itscore is a book called Leave no
Trace.
Both of those are serious books, they're both very involved
(20:46):
with Gaelic and Celtic IrishScottish fairies and mythical
characters and they'restandalone books but there is a
small connective tissue and if Iwrite a third book like, it'll
all make sense how it all comestogether.
But those are different booksthan the Tune in Tomorrow book
and then the book that will comeout in the fall, which is also
(21:07):
connected to the Tune inTomorrow book, which is another
silly, funny pop culture book.
So, like those two books areseparate from the ones in the
middle.
And the ones in the middleLeave no Trace and the Only Song
we're singing are books that Iwrote long, a long time ago,
before tune in tomorrow, beforethe other book that's coming out
.
So I always think of those asmy, my first early books.
(21:28):
There's a version of leave notrace that I started writing in
middle school.
Like I mean, there's a kernelof the, of a character in there
who's still in this one who'sfascinated with this idea of a
girl who grew up in the woodsand like she had to like survive
, what that would be like, andthat's the.
That's a character that's stillin leave no trace and I wrote a
version of that book in middleschool and I would hand chapters
(21:52):
out to my friends and theywould read chapters and give
them back to me and then we'd gohome and I'd like read a
chapter of them on the phone andeverything so like that.
That was very much tied up withmy own friends.
And in that book, leave no Trace, there is a male female
friendship in there, but one isa.
One is a foster foster of afamily, so like they're not
(22:13):
related but they've become bestfriends over the years.
And he's a singer, he's like aJustin Bieber-esque kind of
singer and she's his songwriter.
So they don't have a romanticrelationship but they have this
tight sort of sisterly,brotherly friendship bond and
that's the friendship I wantedto put into there.
(22:35):
And then they meet this girlwho's in the woods, who's
friends with a mythicalcharacter called the Gilly Doo,
who's like the man of the forest, and so there's this
interesting connection like canwe be friends with her or is she
dangerous to us?
So there's a lot of that goingon.
And then, for the only songworth singing, I started writing
a version of that when I was incollege, so it's possible that
(22:56):
I started writing these reallytight friendships because that
was something I was much morefamiliar with.
That's what I responded to.
That was something that I wasnot seeing enough of, and that
was why I wanted to put emphasison.
Jess (23:08):
And it seems like, even though these two books that are
about to come out, that are moreof your original, books even
though they're more on thefriendship, it seems all of them
have some type of element ofmythical, mythical, yeah
Connective tissues to them.
Randee Dawn (23:24):
Definitely yeah.
Claude (23:25):
And especially Gaelic right.
Is it Gaelic, gaelic, notGaelic?
Randee Dawn (23:30):
but yes, gaelic as in like yeah.
Jess (23:33):
Gaelic would be a little different.
It sounds like garlic the onetime you're.
A French accent does not workfor you Well.
Randee Dawn (23:40):
I mean think in France like parts of Brittany.
You know the Bretons areconnected to the Gaels.
Claude (23:46):
Yes, so that's what I mean.
And so you're like, all thosebooks are really like the
fairies.
Are you from there?
I mean, are you original?
Randee Dawn (23:57):
your family, yeah, I have some family who are
originally from Ireland, but Ikind of stumbled into it because
I've been an Anglophilebasically since I was a child,
an Anglophile, someone who wasjust you know, really interested
in the British culture.
But then once I got older and Istarted paying attention to more
to historical facts and figures, I think that the Irish and the
(24:20):
Scottish really just kind ofmore captured my imagination,
the love of music, the sort ofinherent humor.
I'm still kind of fascinatedwith anything in the British
Isles and Ireland.
But I stumbled across this bookwhen I was in college which I
actually have a copy of righthere.
It's called Irish Fairy andFolk Tales and it's assembled by
(24:41):
none other than WB Yates, as inthe poet, and he spent time in
the 1800s, early 1900s, and wentaround Ireland and collected
these fairy and folk tales.
And when I picked it up I hadnever really read Irish folk
tales.
They are different than, say,the grim fairy tales that we
grew up with.
Um, and he's the one who talksabout this fairy mistress
(25:02):
character in here.
Don't see a lot of a lot ofother writing about it else.
So I kind of got inspired byreading this book to take that
character.
And then I was just so stillinto music and writing about
music and interviewing bands andyou put all together, it all
together, exactly that's veryyeah, that's how that happened,
very different.
Yeah, well, there was.
(25:26):
There was in the 1990s a brief,a brief period where there was
a sort of Celtic rock boom andat the same time what's called
urban fantasy or contemporaryfantasy, where you take these
mythical characters but you putthem into a modern context.
That was kind of a trend for awhile in books and then it sort
of got overdone and it went awayand I didn't manage to publish
then.
So I'm now coming back on therebound.
Jess (25:47):
I'm the leader of the wave now.
Randee Dawn (25:50):
Bring back the fairies, is what I say, so maybe
we'll get to start the newtrend here.
So, yeah, you follow whatyou're interested in, and I took
a course in college about theart of the storyteller and we
read folk tales from all aroundthe world, and that's another
reason I started reading Irishfolk tales.
It kind of just all the wirescrossed at once and it became
(26:10):
something I really wanted towrite a story.
Claude (26:11):
What I love about it is that from very young you have
this love of writing.
Like for someone in middleschool or high school to start
writing a book that is.
I mean, it's fantastic and tokeep it doing it, yeah, and yeah
your job and your as being yourjob and even your passion now
(26:31):
with the publishing those booksyeah it's to know that from an
early age that you know what youwant to do, you enjoy it and
you're good at it.
That is like fantastic.
Randee Dawn (26:43):
Thank you.
Thank you, no, it was, I'mlucky.
I think there are a lot ofpeople who you grow up and
you're like I don't know, what Iwant to do with my life.
I'll figure it out when I growup.
Jess (26:50):
So you, rainey, you bring up an interesting part about how
no-transcript.
Randee Dawn (27:09):
But you know it was a very slow process.
I think the thing is that Iwasn't necessarily ready with
that book, but the only songworth singing is actually the
book that got me the agent.
So that's kind of the book thatI felt was ready first.
And what happened with that wasare these enormous ones?
(27:33):
But there are lots and lots ofsmall science fiction fantasy
conventions all over the countryall year long.
It's a couple hundred people,it's maybe a couple thousand
people, but they are smallconventions and they have panels
and they have readings and theyhave all sorts of stuff like
that it out.
I'm like I don't want to wearSpock ears and they're like they
don't do that.
People dress up but it's notall just like a whole room of
(27:58):
people wearing Spock ears, likeit's actually discussions about
literary matters or your fandoms.
And there's a lot of authorsand I met a group called Broad
Universe which is sort of a punon the idea of broad.
It's for female and femaleidentifying and non-binary
authors and it's just anetworking group.
But they will have a table at acon or they have a reading at a
(28:19):
con.
If you're a member of the group, you can sell your books at the
table, you can read in front ofa group and you get a short
reading.
So it's kind of like easingmyself into the water because I
can read for five minutes infront of somebody and I would be
in a room where all these otherpeople had come.
For the other broads who werein the room, it was a way to
sort of get myself familiarizedwith what the whole process was
to hear other people give mefeedback that I could absorb.
(28:40):
I had interviewed a couple ofauthors one day for a newspaper
I was writing for in Boston.
These two authors lived inBoston at the time.
They're Ellen Kushner and DeliaSherman, who are award-winning
fantasy authors and they're justterrific.
They're a couple.
They're married now andeverything.
But when I met them theyweren't married.
And when I met them years laterwe were on the same train going
(29:04):
to a con.
We just sat down and talked andthey're like yeah, we'll read
your book, sure, we'll give youfeedback.
Claude (29:10):
They thought it was great.
Randee Dawn (29:11):
They were like this is really good.
We'll blurb your book if youwant to.
I mean, delia Sherman's name isnow on the cover of the Only
Song Worth Singing as one of myblurbers and they were so
supportive and their prose Again.
It was just like little babysteps here and there and I
finally got the Only Song WorthSinging into shape.
It got me an agent After a longtime.
(29:31):
This was not a short process.
It wasn't like oh, I'm gonnasend it out tomorrow, you get it
.
This is like a year-longprocess.
At least I got the agent.
She said I'm gonna try and getthis to publishers.
No, publishers wanted it at thetime.
We're talking like 2016.
So we just put it away for awhile and I eventually wrote
tune in tomorrow and I talked toanother publisher myself and he
(29:52):
said I'll take a look at thatbook.
So like I kind of gave him thebook and he said I'll take a
look at that book.
So like I kind of gave him thebook and he said, yeah, I'll
take that and I'll take Leave noTrace.
So both of those are coming outfrom this publisher that I
connected with, it's just takena long time to learn the
business, and you do it one babystep at a time.
Nothing will drive me crazierthan watching a movie or a TV
show where, like, somebody wakesup one day and they're like I
want to write a book day, andthey're like I want to write a
(30:14):
book and then, like, two weekslater they're done, they have an
agent and it's out before theend of the year.
You know, it's like this is nothow this works.
And not only that, they all ofa sudden have money from it.
Jess (30:28):
It's like no, that's also not how this works.
They got the pre-signing of it.
Yeah, you made a comment inthere that I loved that we have
kind of like a similar story,for as our work, besties, is
reaching out to people that arein your network.
Randee Dawn (30:42):
Huh.
Jess (30:42):
You just never know who's going to say yes.
I love that tip to give topeople, no matter what kind of
industry you're in or what youwant to aspire to do.
There was small steps rightindustry you're in or what you
want to aspire to do.
Those small steps right, likejust going to the con or going
to someplace to meet people,joining a networking
organization, and then chattingwith the people and asking
(31:03):
questions like would you read mybook?
Randee Dawn (31:05):
if you put yourself out in the world things will
happen and by by joining broaduniverse, and then like sitting
at a table, because you have tolook after the table as well.
But I would sit at a table foran hour here or an hour there
with other people who hadpublished before, and I could
sit there and be like how didyou do it?
What tips do you have?
It's putting yourself out inthe world and people flinch from
(31:25):
the idea of networking.
Networking sounds so clinical,as though you have this goal in
mind, like, oh, there's an agentI want she'll over at this
party.
I'm just going to beeline overher, talk to her about my book.
That's maybe can work for somepeople, but for the most part
you want to be a friend, youwant to be a colleague, you want
to be in the milieu so that youcan pitch the thing that is
(31:47):
important to you or they can askyou about it too, We've been
saying instead of networking,it's like building your
community, right?
about it too.
Jess (31:53):
We've been saying, instead of networking, it's like
building your community, right?
Your point is more positive tosay, I might be making friends
with these people or makingconnections with these people
for just for the sake of havingsomeone else to chat with and
learn one or two things from.
Like sometimes they lead tobigger and better and more.
Claude (32:07):
Um, like bigger, bigger things and sometimes they don't,
but regardless it's in yourcommunity and the fact that also
people really help you know,everybody wants to help you know
there's that phrase.
Randee Dawn (32:21):
The rising tide lifts all boats and when you
have friends who are doing thesame thing you're doing and you
cheerlead for them and theycheerlead for you, it's like the
more the better they do, thebetter you're going to do.
If nothing else, you can watchhow they're doing it, right.
Jess (32:34):
Yes, and try and do something this season for work
besties.
I've really focused on wellnessand one of the things that
somebody had brought up beforewas how writing or journaling
could be kind of a tactic or wayto help with your wellness
routine.
What do you think about that?
Randee Dawn (32:52):
Cause it's your profession, so I feel like I
write all the time.
I mean I enjoy it.
But one thing I have starteddoing is less of a writing
journal than more of a kind of adrawing journal, and what I do
is I tend to take it with mewhen I go on trips as opposed to
doing it every day at home.
But I will take.
I have one of those blanknotebooks and I take a page per
day.
And I will take.
I have one of those blanknotebooks and I take a page per
(33:14):
day and I will write.
You know, I'll sort of rememberthe day through little images
that I draw and then a few wordshere and there, and it's it
sort of helps me imprint the day.
It helps me remember things Iwould probably otherwise have
forgot, but little tickets andthings like.
There in the middle there's awoman I know who posts pictures
of hers on Facebook, but shedoes three things.
(33:36):
I'm thankful.
She's a very good, she's a very, she's a very good artist and
she draws a lot about her cat orwhat she's eating.
She'll do sort of three maindrawings and then talk about one
, and I think that's just asvaluable, as somebody maybe
struggles to put down words.
You don't have to be a greatartist because I'm certainly not
, but I've got some colored pensand I've got my pen that I can
(33:56):
write words with and I just do apage of drawing.
It's very satisfying to then goback and see what I've
accomplished.
Jess (34:04):
It's like a memory book.
Claude (34:05):
Yeah, so even if you don't feel like journaling, for
sake you know when I was youngerI tried to do those journaling
and so when I was angry I waslike, oh yeah.
Then I was like erasingeverything because I'm like, oh
my god, you're so mean.
(34:26):
I couldn't do it because eachtime I was going back and the
thing about journals.
Randee Dawn (34:33):
I don't think they're really meant to ever be
reviewed.
Jess (34:35):
Like I would not go back to any of my journals now no, if
you, yeah, if you go back andread them, like.
I found one when my parentsmoved and I was like what was I
writing?
Randee Dawn (34:47):
there used to be a, an evening event in new york
and I think this kind of was inseveral cities, but it was
called cringe, and people wouldpull out their old journals or
their letters and they wouldread them in front of the room
or something.
It was so cringy but everybodywould laugh along with you
because you'd be laughing at howsilly it sounded and they would
laugh along with you.
Claude (35:07):
Well, sometimes we give each other, we send each other
our Facebook status from like 10years to 15.
Jess (35:17):
I will say so.
We talked about this earlierabout passing notes in the hall.
I still have a bunch of notesfrom when I was in middle school
and high school.
They're hysterical.
I can't like like the friendswrote to me and gave to me oh
really, oh yeah, I would totallygo and read them.
Randee Dawn (35:32):
They're hysterical, I have mine too there was like
a whole friend's drama in my10th and 11th grade with this,
and then all the little insidejokes are in them and everything
.
And I kept those because Ithought to myself one day I
might write a book using this asdrama yes, I don't know if I
ever will, but I have themsomewhere I do have them all in
order yeah that would be so coolI have to give them back to me
(35:55):
Like they knew I might writeabout it.
So they're like here.
You can have the notes back.
I have like both sides of thenotes.
Jess (35:59):
You do.
Oh my God, that's fascinating.
I don't have my side, so insome of them except there are a
couple of them, remember you'dlike pass notes back and forth
top of it.
Randee Dawn (36:16):
You'd keep going oh , it was like the text, yeah it
was like yes texting yeah, fromthe, from the neanderthal era
you had to use graphite on apaper thank you everybody.
Jess (36:24):
I feel really good about myself right now.
One of the things I was hopingwe could get incorporated to
this is your books are sofascinating and fun.
You do focus on the friendshipand the fantasy and there's like
elements of wellness in theretoo.
Work besties out there, sodefinitely read them For your
readers.
What do you hope that they takeaway from these novels?
Is it something different fromeach one?
(36:46):
Is it something collectivelyacross all of them?
Randee Dawn (36:50):
I think there's a lot of things that anybody can
take away from any given book,whether it's mine or anything
else.
Yeah, one of the things that Itry to do at some point in most
of my books is sort of Trojanhorse, some big ideas.
You may not be to it yet inTune In Tomorrow, but there is a
discussion at one point.
It's a silly funny book, but inthe book you're an actor on the
(37:13):
reality show and you win anaward.
Every time you win an award forbeing on the show, you get like
a little piece of magic that isyour own, and it's usually junk
magic like oh, I can look atthis can and tell what the
nutritional ingredients are,like that Very minor stuff.
But the first one you get isthat your age freezes.
Jess (37:29):
I bring this one up because I was like fascinated,
I'm like, oh, I'm in.
Randee Dawn (37:36):
Because it wasn't originally reality TV tv.
It was originally like soapoperas.
I used to write for a soapopera magazine, so this is kind
of soap opera e, and you knowthat there are actors who have
been on soap operas for decades,right?
So I thought you know this.
If the fae are immortal, theywould want to have their actors
around as long as possible and adecade or two is nothing aging.
They wouldn't want them to lookold, yeah you want them to look
the same, so your age wouldfreeze.
(37:57):
And the thing is that then hasa rebound effect on how the
humans can interact with theworld I mean they.
When you leave the show, yourage starts all over again.
You don't get the accumulatedyears.
You start aging if you, butwhile you're on the show, you're
the same age as whenever youwon that award.
And there's a conversation thatat least two of the characters
have towards the end of the bookabout the pitfalls of
(38:19):
immortality.
You know about the world goingon without you.
While you're on this side ofthe veil doing the TV show, your
friends get older.
You know, your relations die,the world changes.
Imagine 1990s to now, right.
World changes.
Imagine 1990s to now, right.
Like if you started working ontune in tomorrow in the 90s and
won that award and you left theshow in 2025, can you imagine
(38:39):
what a whiplash you'd have cellphones.
I mean, the cell phone is justthe tip of the iceberg, but
there's.
The world has moved so muchfaster now.
Jess (38:47):
We communicate so much differently people would be with
you because you you're.
You would look much youngerthan you are and you have no
idea what's going on thosepeople.
Randee Dawn (38:58):
Yeah, they have a conversation about what it's
like to.
What is, what is the realnature of something like
immortality?
I don't think anybody reallywants immortality.
They want to have a choice inhow long they live and quality
of life.
At the same time, if you'regoing to be living a
semi-immortal life, onecharacter says to the other,
that means that, like everythingis open to you, you don't have
(39:21):
to be in the same relationshipthe whole time, right, like you
have a buffet to choose from,you can be in multiple
relationships.
You know who wants to bemarried to the same person for
250 years, right?
So I'm trying to trojan horsethese, these kind of discussions
after dark.
Yeah, exactly, yes, we're in.
(39:43):
How do we?
Claude (39:44):
that's right, just got a little real long time, um yeah
and the only song worth singing.
Randee Dawn (39:48):
I'm trying to think of what the the trojan horse
conversation is in there, but Ithink that what we were talking
about early on the importance offriendship and the importance
of having a shared common valuesbackground that you are willing
to hold on to even when thingsget super hard, because I think
that friendships that don't youhaven't had that long.
People don't necessarily investin them.
(40:09):
The whole concept of ghostingsomeone is appalling.
The ways we kind of just ballup friendships and throw them
away at the toss of a hat Like,oh that's, you know, this person
did this.
I can never talk to them again.
How much of a friendship isthat?
There are friendships that Ireally want to fight.
Jess (40:25):
So, Randy, thank you so much for your time.
This has been so fascinating.
We learned so much from you.
Thank you for having me.
Randee Dawn (40:31):
I really appreciate it.
This was a lot of fun.
Jess (40:33):
Yeah, it was fun.
Your stories totally remind usof friendships and unique ways
friendships can evolve and waysyou can connect with people and
obviously the creativity thatyou have from all of the kind of
fantasy elements of it kind ofbrings a whole unique layer to
it, which is super cool.
So, whether it's in the pages ofyour novel or in everyday lives
(40:55):
, connections truly do make usstronger.
So don't forget to grabBrandy's upcoming book the Only
Song Worth Singing, as well asthe one that she already has out
, tune In Tomorrow it'sfantastic and follow her for
updates on what's coming nextbecause, as she mentioned, she's
got a lot more coming out.
I know so.
I know this.
And because, as she mentioned,she's got a lot more coming out
(41:16):
Another one or so in August.
And don't forget to share thisepisode with your work besties
and subscribe for moreheartwarming, inspiring
conversation.
Thank you, rhonda.
Thank you, remember.
Whether you're swapping snacksin the break room, rescuing each
other from endless meetings orjust sending that perfectly
timed meme, having a work bestieis like having your own
personal hype squad.
Claude (41:33):
So keep lifting each other, laughing through the
chaos and, of course, thriving.
Until next time, stay positive,stay productive and don't
forget to keep supporting eachother.
Work besties.
Hello everybody, welcome to Work Besties, who podcast
Stories thrive on connections,and so do we.
As Work Besties, we are veryexcited to have author Randi
Dawn join us and talk about howstrong friendships like Work
Besties will fuel creativity andwhy they're central to her
(00:21):
upcoming novels.
Stay with us to hear how Randybalances wellness with the
demands of writing her tips forbuilding authentic relationships
.
Trust us, guys, you're going towant to stay around.
Claude (00:33):
Hi.
I'm Claude and I'm Jess.
We are corporate employees byday, entrepreneurs by night and
work besties for life.
Jess (00:41):
Join us as we explore how Work Besties, lift each other up
, laugh through the chaos andthrive together in every
industry.
Welcome, we're so excited tohave you, randi.
Thank you for being here.
Randee Dawn (00:58):
You're welcome.
Thank you for having me here.
I'm very excited to chat withyou guys.
Jess (01:02):
Fantastic.
Well, we would love it if youcould just kick off and give a
background on who you are.
Randee Dawn (01:08):
I'm based in Brooklyn and I'm an
entertainment journalist.
I write for outlets likeVariety and the LA Times, the
Today Show website, those kindsof places.
I've been doing that for a lotof years but in my not so secret
life I am also an author.
I have always wanted to be anauthor and a published author
and I have a book out.
I have a couple more bookscoming out, but I tend to write
(01:28):
in the speculative fiction arena, which means science fiction,
fantasy, a little bit of horror,you know that kind of stuff.
My first book, tune In Tomorrow,came out in 2022.
It's about a reality TV showrun by mythical creatures or
mythical creatures but starringhumans, and is deeply punny and
silly.
And because that worked outwell, I completely pivoted and
(01:50):
now I have a more serious bookcoming out called the Only Song
Worth Singing.
It's a dark fantasy about rockstars who are bedeviled by
fairies Irish fairies as they goon their first United States
tour in the 90s.
I've been writing this book forso long that I actually started
it in the 1990s, so it kind ofhas that authenticity already
(02:11):
baked into it.
Jess (02:12):
Cool.
Well, I feel like we'll have alot of things to relate to.
Claude (02:15):
Yeah, these are one of my favorite times.
Jess (02:17):
I'm 80s too.
I'm 80s, so you're writingthese novels.
You kind of did in your newernovels.
In these new ones, you'refocusing a little bit more on
strong friendships.
Being that you're on our WorkBestie podcast, we'd love to
hear from you how do you thinkfriendships shapes personal and
professional lives.
Randee Dawn (02:46):
I think is amazing because you're at work all the
time, right Like it's, it's partof your life.
I personally have worked fromhome for a long time, so my work
bestie is like my dog.
But but when I was stillworking in offices, having
somebody there who you couldjust rely on, who you could roll
your eyes at, if somebody youknow, if that obnoxious guy in
advertising wouldn't stop,wouldn't stop talking, you know
somebody you just have that youcan connect with.
I am still friends with peoplewho I worked with, so just
(03:07):
having that person there.
I don't know if I ever likedthe phrase work husband or work
wife, but work bestie is areally good phrase to have and
I've had a few of those over theyears.
So in the only song worthsinging we have three guys
who've known each other sincethey were kids and you learn
about that early and they grewup outside of Dublin.
(03:31):
The whole thing starts out like1979 and then we skip all the
way.
So you get a little bit of themas kids and how they met and
how they have this sort ofmusical connection pretty much
from the minute one.
But they also come from verydifferent parts of society.
One of them was horriblebackground and the other two was
modern age, middle of the road,middle class kind of guys and
(03:57):
it mirrors a little bit of whatwas going on in Ireland at the
time.
I mean, we think of Ireland, ofcourse, is of course, as very
modern and upscale and it'sbecome, like you know, the tech
capital of Europe and all thatkind of stuff.
But the first time I went andvisited when I was in the 1990s,
there was still a lot of sortof the old world butting up
against the new world.
(04:18):
So I wanted to create characterswho reflected that and at the
same time they all become verytight as friends because they
have this music connection andwhen we fast forward to the
1990s they're still together.
We find out they weren't alwaystogether.
There were some breaks in thereand we find out about those
later on but they are together,they are touring as a band and
(04:41):
you see them on the road beingindividuals but also being in
the band, and how they sort ofbecome a totally like another
unit, a fourth unit, when theyare all playing on stage, which
is something that reflects whenI was doing music journalism and
I would watch bands perform andthen I would interview people
in the bands.
They all, of course, had theirown individual personalities and
(05:02):
hopes and wants and dreams, butthen when you would see them
together, it was just adifferent energy, a different
vibe, like another person hadcome in the room.
So I wanted to convey that asmuch as possible when I was
creating this friendship betweenthese people.
Claude (05:17):
And that friendship really started with this love of
music, right?
Because, as you said, theyreally came from different
backgrounds, different time,different age.
So it's really for you I wouldsay it's very important and I
think for everybody to have youknow these friendships to have
something in common.
Randee Dawn (05:37):
Right, absolutely.
I mean, I don't know about you,but I know how passionate I was
and I am still to some extent,but I certainly I was really
passionate about music when Iwas much younger and through my
teens.
Music is the kind of thing thatkind of really got me thinking
about long form story writing.
I would listen to songs andstory would just kind of weave
(05:57):
together in my head and a lot ofthe stories that I started
writing would come out of thisreal passion for music.
So I know that it can have thateffect on people.
I know my friends alsoreflected that.
So the idea that music wouldbind them feels completely
realistic and true to my ownpersonal experience, but also
some of my closest friends.
(06:17):
We have all these in-jokesbecause of lyrics and bands and
things that we liked and we justhave inside jokes that we still
use on Facebook together.
That wouldn't make any sense ifI explained them here, but I
love the fact that you have thatthrough line.
All friends, I think, have somesort of connection or the
backstory that you have thatonly you two have you can refer
(06:40):
to.
You have that shorthand andhaving that shorthand just
immediately reminds you howimportant that friendship is
putting that kind of thing intothe book, putting the band into
the book.
You know, as soon as they sitdown and play, they can just,
even if they're mad at eachother, they'll.
They can still come out withgreat music.
Sometimes, because they're madat each other, they'll come out
with great music.
(07:00):
Um, so yeah, that was importantto me also to include that.
Jess (07:05):
We've yet to have work besties in a band yet, but
you're hitting on a topic that Ithink is relevant, not just in
that industry but overall.
For work besties is the unitoperates much stronger together
than separately, and or itoperates differently, as you
commented right.
Commented right doesn'tnecessarily mean it's better.
You could still operatefantastically as an independent
(07:28):
artist, but together somethingmagical happens because you're
all kind of working in tunetogether yeah.
I find that fascinating and itdefinitely helps to kind of
showcase how support um, thekind of the yin and the yang,
the elements that you kind ofuse to help bounce off each
other, can be reallycomplimentary, especially in a
band Sure and I.
Randee Dawn (07:48):
You know, I just finished reading Keith Richards'
autobiography called Life KeithRichards, the guitarist from
the Rolling Stones.
It's a huge book.
It's, like you know, 800 pages.
But what's fascinating to readis how early he met Mick Jagger
and how early they became, youknow, this really tight
brotherly kind of friendshipthat carried into being in the
(08:11):
band.
And of course they're stillplaying like they met when they
were in their teens and they'relike in their 80s Now.
That's had a lot of ups anddowns and there's been times
where they can't stand eachother and Mick is this kind of
person and Keith is that kind ofperson.
But it just does my heart goodto see people who find their way
back to the connections thatthey had, you know, before they
had any idea they were going tobe like the biggest rock and
(08:32):
roll band of all time, kind ofthing.
Jess (08:35):
I'm sorry they start in like a garage somewhere just
doing it because they love ityeah and really enjoy each
other's company, and then, allof a sudden, it takes a whole
new direction.
Randee Dawn (08:45):
One of the things that I really like writing about
when possible.
I think that there's a lot ofsocietal focus and book focus on
female friendship.
I like the idea of finding waysto portray male friendship,
because it is hard for men,especially grown men, to be
friends Once you get to acertain adult level.
(09:05):
It's like my dad was a guy whohad no friends, like it was just
his family and his work, andlike at the time I didn't
understand what that meantexactly.
But as an adult myself, it'sjust so lonely, you know, to go
through your adulthood without areal friend.
And making a friend as a guy istough.
Sustaining a friendship as aguy is tough.
Sustaining a friendship as aguy is tough, you know, unless
it's going to be let's justwatch the game, which is not
(09:28):
quite the same as actuallysharing hopes and dreams and
fears and whatever it is.
Whenever possible if I can writea male friendship, a strong
male friendship.
I'm not so grandiose as tothink people are going to read
my book and see them modelingand oh, I could do that but I
think every little bit counts,yeah, and it's worth showing
that there is value in malefriendships.
(09:49):
I think if more men were hadmore friends, more male friends,
we'd have a lot less problemsin the world.
But I think that men can bevery isolated and don't have the
ability to figure out how tohave an emotional bond with a
guy.
Jess (10:08):
Being in a band would help you get past some of those
things, because you have to havethe hard conversations, because
you do see a lot of males thatare friends.
There are definitely ones thathave great friends too, and so
having some ways to model thatit's just good to continue to
put things like that out there.
There's opportunities.
Claude (10:23):
Yeah, but is it something?
Things like that out there thatthere's opportunities, yeah,
but is it something?
Because, again, we are all, weare so different, right, women
and men are so different.
Especially, a woman needs theirfriends, needs that
communication, needs to talk, Ithink, men friendship, because
they do have.
I know, for example, for myhusband, right, he has best
(10:45):
friends from uh, I don't know,20 years ago, like in even 40.
Now at this point.
It's just that it's a differentkind of communication.
They don't like yes, they aregoing to watch the game, they
are going, I don't know if theyneed this.
Jess (11:02):
But why can't they?
Wouldn't it make more sense tohave some of those emotional
elements and conversations comeout?
Claude (11:08):
I don't know if they are wired like that.
Jess (11:09):
If you go back to one of our previous podcasts where we
talk about the origin of humanbeings, the hunters and the
gatherers both groups separatedby gender, but they both bonded
together to help each other.
Randee Dawn (11:22):
Yeah.
Jess (11:24):
Right, like it wasn't like the hunters went solo.
They all went together andworked together and communicated
together and talked about theirissues and feelings that they
were having with their wives,while the wives were gathering
yes, oh yeah.
I mean.
So what was the difference?
Claude (11:40):
Actually, yes, they all go in to complain about us.
Jess (11:44):
But not all of them do Some of them to Randy's point.
Randee Dawn (11:48):
We complain about them, right.
So you know that's totally fair.
Jess (11:51):
I think that's fair, it's my first language and regardless
of it being male versus female,anytime you can put solid
examples of long-termfriendships and partnerships
that accomplish things together.
Randee Dawn (12:08):
yeah, I think is always a good element to put out
into the world, right, I'vedone articles for the la times
because I pitched this sort ofthing before about best friends
in the movies.
Because I think when we go tothe movies or watch tv show,
what ends up happening is thecentral relationship tends to be
a romantic one.
It doesn't matter if it'sfemale female, male male or male
(12:28):
female, but like it ends upbeing like the only significant
relationship you apparently canhave on TV and movies is
romantic.
And I'm so happy when I see amovie where characters are just
best friends.
It's not like there's aromantic angle.
They're just there to supportone another and give each, give
each other whatever it is youneed out of a friendship.
(12:48):
There's a movie that came outthis past season and that's um,
it's uh, it's up for oscar,called nickel boys and these two
young men are sort of forcedinto like this reformatory 1960s
in the south.
Because they have each other,they are able survive.
That's how they make it through, because separately probably
wouldn't have happened.
And it's like it's soheartening to see an emphasis of
(13:11):
the story put on that, becausewe see so many romantic stories
like that.
We're never going to run out ofthose.
Those are always going to bethere.
So I'm so happy when I seesomething that is focused on
friendship.
It's not about, oh, this guy,this guy dumped me.
Let me talk to you Now.
There's um.
What is it?
You've heard of?
The Bechdel test, right?
(13:32):
Have you heard of?
Claude (13:32):
that.
Randee Dawn (13:32):
So there's something called the Bechdel
test.
No, I don't know.
There's a cartoonist namedAlison Bechdel who did move, who
did books like fun home sheused to have a called a panel
cartoon called dykes to watchout for, and in there one of
them brought up this idea of cana movie pass the Bechdel test,
which is a woman talking to awoman for more than like a line
(13:52):
or two about a subject that isnot about a man?
It's harder than you think andI think that when you have a
movie where two characters cantalk to one another and it's not
about a romantic relationship,I'm there for that.
Jess (14:06):
Yeah, that's so cool.
I think that's what GinaDavis's whole organization is.
She uses that to judge kids'.
Movies like Disney and Pixarand all those movies just to
like help showcase how it'singrained, even that young Like
how can they?
And Pixar and all those moviesjust to like help showcase how
it's ingrained, even that younglike how can they, how can they
emulate positive, solidfriendships and relationships
(14:26):
when they're not even seeing itat the age of like three?
That's an interesting dynamic.
Okay, so let's get back to yourbook.
For sure, I love everyone forthat.
I think that's fascinating, Ithink it's awesome, but so in
your book.
So it is about the friendshipsitself.
So, what is the kind of the goalor the elements that you're
(14:48):
trying to get across from havingit be focused on this long-term
friendship?
Randee Dawn (14:55):
So the book itself, like, we start off with this
friendship, but the actualturning points in the book is
the fantastical elements.
Right, so it's a contemporaryfantasy, it's an urban fantasy,
which means that while they areon tour, these Irish fairies you
know sort of show up anddescend upon them and at least
one of them, like, puts his lifein danger.
(15:16):
He doesn't know it at the time.
She is a character who is thethere's an Irish word for it,
but the English translationwould be fairy mistress.
She's the muse, she inspiresgreat songs, great music, but
she sort of steals your life atthe same time.
And the question is, onceyou've attracted her attention,
how do you get rid of her beforeshe?
Jess (15:35):
kills you.
Claude (15:35):
Because, that is what's going to happen.
Randee Dawn (15:37):
The other two, meanwhile, are dealing with
other problems that those havebrought along with them.
So they're a little distractedfrom their friend and their
friend kind of gets veryenmeshed in what's going on over
here and by the time theyrealize, hey, we might lose him,
then they have to figure outhow to fix it.
And the big turning point iswhether or not their friendship
can be enough to get rid of thisparanormal, this supernatural
(16:00):
sort of vampire kind ofcharacter, or not, like is, is
it going to be enough to save um?
So the friendship is, is verymuch a foundational element of
the book, but it's notnecessarily like they're not
fighting among themselvesexactly, although they do.
They do have arguments, butit's not like that's not.
It's not beaches, right, likeit's.
It's not not the equivalent ofbeaches here, okay.
(16:22):
But again, what I really feltwas important was to lean
heavily on their backstory andhow they came together and why
they are sort of thisunbreakable triad, the stool
that only really stands upbecause it has three legs.
Right, you don't have to havefour legs, you only need three
legs to keep a stool alone.
Yeah, so the idea that thistriad, this trinity that can
(16:45):
weather even supernatural.
Jess (16:49):
I kind of actually chose the three because most boy
friendship focuses are usuallyon two.
Randee Dawn (16:55):
Yeah.
Jess (16:56):
So I think that's interesting to throw a third
into the mix as well.
Randee Dawn (17:20):
Yeah, and I think they all have to throw a third
into the reason why he's withthem and all that throughout the
book.
Then you see how the two event,the two middle class kids sort
of really interact with oneanother.
It's a bit like a lennonmccartney sort of competition oh
I could do this all by myselfif I had to.
It's like, well, you can dothat, but I'm just going to be
over here my piano.
So hopefully I've drawndifferent, not just individual
characters, but also individualseparate bonds between each
(17:41):
pairing.
Claude (17:44):
We also always like these three core friends.
It's really like you getsomething a bit different from
each of them, according to theirpersonality.
I think having three friendsalso a lot of time we do say, oh
three, there's always one thatis left.
But actually as you get, getmaybe when you're young, but
(18:04):
when you're older actually youreally that doesn't work anymore
.
It's we are all together.
Randee Dawn (18:12):
Yeah, I mean I'm very close with several friends
who I've known since like highor high school, and there's at
least there's.
There's, there's like three ofthem, one of whom sort of
participates with us andsometimes the other one who
doesn't, but, like, for the mostpart, there's at least three of
us at any given time, and twoof them still live in my former
home state.
Well, three of them still livein my former home state of
(18:32):
Maryland, but at least two ofthem get together and do their
own independent things.
And I have to remind myselfthat it's like, no, the FOMO
you're feeling right now, thefear of missing out, is not
legitimate.
Just be happy that they havemade friends among like they
would not have been friends if Ihadn't been there.
They have become friendsbecause they're very close to
one another and I see themresponding to each other on
(18:53):
group chats and everything, andI'm partially happy, but
partially I'm just like, but Iwant to be there too it's so
funny because actually with myfriends we are three.
Claude (19:03):
I'm the one that was added, that's a third one.
Jess (19:09):
So I have my friends from grade school there are three of
us as well Usually that aresimilar to what you're talking
about.
They live in the same hometown,so they hang out all the time
and I, apparently, when we wereyoung, there was a time where
they didn't invite me tosomething and so I like made a
big stink about it and was like,oh, you mean the time you
didn't invite me to.
(19:32):
This day I'm not going to sayhow many years later it is now
to this day.
Anytime we chat with them andthey're like oh, was that the
one we didn't invite you to?
Randee Dawn (19:39):
never gonna live this down, it's gonna be like oh
, I'm like great, but you knowthe nice thing is like, on the
one hand, if you, if you'reclose enough to them, you
probably understand that that isboth sort of a slight jab, but
also a kind of like we love youenough, we want you to feel not
not excluded right like it's twothings at once that's true,
right, especially a long-termfriend get away with so much
(20:00):
because you know, you know itactually is love that's behind
it, of course, but it's also alittle.
Jess (20:05):
But they didn't invite you , but right.
So I think it's fascinatingthat you've now shifted to
writing some books aboutrelationships, and you mentioned
that you have other ones comingout.
Why, what is the element that'scausing you to write so much
about friendships?
Randee Dawn (20:24):
Well, I think the thing is it's important to
partition two of the books thatI have coming out this year with
the one that just came out.
Like it's a weird book endingthing.
So the two books that are firstcoming out this year the only
song worth singing and then inAugust, which is another again
has another friendship at itscore is a book called Leave no
Trace.
Both of those are serious books, they're both very involved
(20:46):
with Gaelic and Celtic IrishScottish fairies and mythical
characters and they'restandalone books but there is a
small connective tissue and if Iwrite a third book like, it'll
all make sense how it all comestogether.
But those are different booksthan the Tune in Tomorrow book
and then the book that will comeout in the fall, which is also
(21:07):
connected to the Tune inTomorrow book, which is another
silly, funny pop culture book.
So, like those two books areseparate from the ones in the
middle.
And the ones in the middleLeave no Trace and the Only Song
we're singing are books that Iwrote long, a long time ago,
before tune in tomorrow, beforethe other book that's coming out
.
So I always think of those asmy, my first early books.
(21:28):
There's a version of leave notrace that I started writing in
middle school.
Like I mean, there's a kernelof the, of a character in there
who's still in this one who'sfascinated with this idea of a
girl who grew up in the woodsand like she had to like survive
, what that would be like, andthat's the.
That's a character that's stillin leave no trace and I wrote a
version of that book in middleschool and I would hand chapters
(21:52):
out to my friends and theywould read chapters and give
them back to me and then we'd gohome and I'd like read a
chapter of them on the phone andeverything so like that.
That was very much tied up withmy own friends.
And in that book, leave no Trace, there is a male female
friendship in there, but one isa.
One is a foster foster of afamily, so like they're not
(22:13):
related but they've become bestfriends over the years.
And he's a singer, he's like aJustin Bieber-esque kind of
singer and she's his songwriter.
So they don't have a romanticrelationship but they have this
tight sort of sisterly,brotherly friendship bond and
that's the friendship I wantedto put into there.
(22:35):
And then they meet this girlwho's in the woods, who's
friends with a mythicalcharacter called the Gilly Doo,
who's like the man of the forest, and so there's this
interesting connection like canwe be friends with her or is she
dangerous to us?
So there's a lot of that goingon.
And then, for the only songworth singing, I started writing
a version of that when I was incollege, so it's possible that
(22:56):
I started writing these reallytight friendships because that
was something I was much morefamiliar with.
That's what I responded to.
That was something that I wasnot seeing enough of, and that
was why I wanted to put emphasison.
Jess (23:08):
And it seems like, even though these two books that are
about to come out, that are moreof your original, books even
though they're more on thefriendship, it seems all of them
have some type of element ofmythical, mythical, yeah
Connective tissues to them.
Randee Dawn (23:24):
Definitely yeah.
Claude (23:25):
And especially Gaelic right.
Is it Gaelic, gaelic, notGaelic?
Randee Dawn (23:30):
but yes, gaelic as in like yeah.
Jess (23:33):
Gaelic would be a little different.
It sounds like garlic the onetime you're.
A French accent does not workfor you Well.
Randee Dawn (23:40):
I mean think in France like parts of Brittany.
You know the Bretons areconnected to the Gaels.
Claude (23:46):
Yes, so that's what I mean.
And so you're like, all thosebooks are really like the
fairies.
Are you from there?
I mean, are you original?
Randee Dawn (23:57):
your family, yeah, I have some family who are
originally from Ireland, but Ikind of stumbled into it because
I've been an Anglophilebasically since I was a child,
an Anglophile, someone who wasjust you know, really interested
in the British culture.
But then once I got older and Istarted paying attention to more
to historical facts and figures, I think that the Irish and the
(24:20):
Scottish really just kind ofmore captured my imagination,
the love of music, the sort ofinherent humor.
I'm still kind of fascinatedwith anything in the British
Isles and Ireland.
But I stumbled across this bookwhen I was in college which I
actually have a copy of righthere.
It's called Irish Fairy andFolk Tales and it's assembled by
(24:41):
none other than WB Yates, as inthe poet, and he spent time in
the 1800s, early 1900s, and wentaround Ireland and collected
these fairy and folk tales.
And when I picked it up I hadnever really read Irish folk
tales.
They are different than, say,the grim fairy tales that we
grew up with.
Um, and he's the one who talksabout this fairy mistress
(25:02):
character in here.
Don't see a lot of a lot ofother writing about it else.
So I kind of got inspired byreading this book to take that
character.
And then I was just so stillinto music and writing about
music and interviewing bands andyou put all together, it all
together, exactly that's veryyeah, that's how that happened,
very different.
Yeah, well, there was.
(25:26):
There was in the 1990s a brief,a brief period where there was
a sort of Celtic rock boom andat the same time what's called
urban fantasy or contemporaryfantasy, where you take these
mythical characters but you putthem into a modern context.
That was kind of a trend for awhile in books and then it sort
of got overdone and it went awayand I didn't manage to publish
then.
So I'm now coming back on therebound.
Jess (25:47):
I'm the leader of the wave now.
Randee Dawn (25:50):
Bring back the fairies, is what I say, so maybe
we'll get to start the newtrend here.
So, yeah, you follow whatyou're interested in, and I took
a course in college about theart of the storyteller and we
read folk tales from all aroundthe world, and that's another
reason I started reading Irishfolk tales.
It kind of just all the wirescrossed at once and it became
(26:10):
something I really wanted towrite a story.
Claude (26:11):
What I love about it is that from very young you have
this love of writing.
Like for someone in middleschool or high school to start
writing a book that is.
I mean, it's fantastic and tokeep it doing it, yeah, and yeah
your job and your as being yourjob and even your passion now
(26:31):
with the publishing those booksyeah it's to know that from an
early age that you know what youwant to do, you enjoy it and
you're good at it.
That is like fantastic.
Randee Dawn (26:43):
Thank you.
Thank you, no, it was, I'mlucky.
I think there are a lot ofpeople who you grow up and
you're like I don't know, what Iwant to do with my life.
I'll figure it out when I growup.
Jess (26:50):
So you, rainey, you bring up an interesting part about how
no-transcript.
Randee Dawn (27:09):
But you know it was a very slow process.
I think the thing is that Iwasn't necessarily ready with
that book, but the only songworth singing is actually the
book that got me the agent.
So that's kind of the book thatI felt was ready first.
And what happened with that wasare these enormous ones?
(27:33):
But there are lots and lots ofsmall science fiction fantasy
conventions all over the countryall year long.
It's a couple hundred people,it's maybe a couple thousand
people, but they are smallconventions and they have panels
and they have readings and theyhave all sorts of stuff like
that it out.
I'm like I don't want to wearSpock ears and they're like they
don't do that.
People dress up but it's notall just like a whole room of
(27:58):
people wearing Spock ears, likeit's actually discussions about
literary matters or your fandoms.
And there's a lot of authorsand I met a group called Broad
Universe which is sort of a punon the idea of broad.
It's for female and femaleidentifying and non-binary
authors and it's just anetworking group.
But they will have a table at acon or they have a reading at a
(28:19):
con.
If you're a member of the group, you can sell your books at the
table, you can read in front ofa group and you get a short
reading.
So it's kind of like easingmyself into the water because I
can read for five minutes infront of somebody and I would be
in a room where all these otherpeople had come.
For the other broads who werein the room, it was a way to
sort of get myself familiarizedwith what the whole process was
to hear other people give mefeedback that I could absorb.
(28:40):
I had interviewed a couple ofauthors one day for a newspaper
I was writing for in Boston.
These two authors lived inBoston at the time.
They're Ellen Kushner and DeliaSherman, who are award-winning
fantasy authors and they're justterrific.
They're a couple.
They're married now andeverything.
But when I met them theyweren't married.
And when I met them years laterwe were on the same train going
(29:04):
to a con.
We just sat down and talked andthey're like yeah, we'll read
your book, sure, we'll give youfeedback.
Claude (29:10):
They thought it was great.
Randee Dawn (29:11):
They were like this is really good.
We'll blurb your book if youwant to.
I mean, delia Sherman's name isnow on the cover of the Only
Song Worth Singing as one of myblurbers and they were so
supportive and their prose Again.
It was just like little babysteps here and there and I
finally got the Only Song WorthSinging into shape.
It got me an agent After a longtime.
(29:31):
This was not a short process.
It wasn't like oh, I'm gonnasend it out tomorrow, you get it
.
This is like a year-longprocess.
At least I got the agent.
She said I'm gonna try and getthis to publishers.
No, publishers wanted it at thetime.
We're talking like 2016.
So we just put it away for awhile and I eventually wrote
tune in tomorrow and I talked toanother publisher myself and he
(29:52):
said I'll take a look at thatbook.
So like I kind of gave him thebook and he said I'll take a
look at that book.
So like I kind of gave him thebook and he said, yeah, I'll
take that and I'll take Leave noTrace.
So both of those are coming outfrom this publisher that I
connected with, it's just takena long time to learn the
business, and you do it one babystep at a time.
Nothing will drive me crazierthan watching a movie or a TV
show where, like, somebody wakesup one day and they're like I
want to write a book day, andthey're like I want to write a
(30:14):
book and then, like, two weekslater they're done, they have an
agent and it's out before theend of the year.
You know, it's like this is nothow this works.
And not only that, they all ofa sudden have money from it.
Jess (30:28):
It's like no, that's also not how this works.
They got the pre-signing of it.
Yeah, you made a comment inthere that I loved that we have
kind of like a similar story,for as our work, besties, is
reaching out to people that arein your network.
Randee Dawn (30:42):
Huh.
Jess (30:42):
You just never know who's going to say yes.
I love that tip to give topeople, no matter what kind of
industry you're in or what youwant to aspire to do.
There was small steps rightindustry you're in or what you
want to aspire to do.
Those small steps right, likejust going to the con or going
to someplace to meet people,joining a networking
organization, and then chattingwith the people and asking
(31:03):
questions like would you read mybook?
Randee Dawn (31:05):
if you put yourself out in the world things will
happen and by by joining broaduniverse, and then like sitting
at a table, because you have tolook after the table as well.
But I would sit at a table foran hour here or an hour there
with other people who hadpublished before, and I could
sit there and be like how didyou do it?
What tips do you have?
It's putting yourself out inthe world and people flinch from
(31:25):
the idea of networking.
Networking sounds so clinical,as though you have this goal in
mind, like, oh, there's an agentI want she'll over at this
party.
I'm just going to beeline overher, talk to her about my book.
That's maybe can work for somepeople, but for the most part
you want to be a friend, youwant to be a colleague, you want
to be in the milieu so that youcan pitch the thing that is
(31:47):
important to you or they can askyou about it too, We've been
saying instead of networking,it's like building your
community, right?
about it too.
Jess (31:53):
We've been saying, instead of networking, it's like
building your community, right?
Your point is more positive tosay, I might be making friends
with these people or makingconnections with these people
for just for the sake of havingsomeone else to chat with and
learn one or two things from.
Like sometimes they lead tobigger and better and more.
Claude (32:07):
Um, like bigger, bigger things and sometimes they don't,
but regardless it's in yourcommunity and the fact that also
people really help you know,everybody wants to help you know
there's that phrase.
Randee Dawn (32:21):
The rising tide lifts all boats and when you
have friends who are doing thesame thing you're doing and you
cheerlead for them and theycheerlead for you, it's like the
more the better they do, thebetter you're going to do.
If nothing else, you can watchhow they're doing it, right.
Jess (32:34):
Yes, and try and do something this season for work
besties.
I've really focused on wellnessand one of the things that
somebody had brought up beforewas how writing or journaling
could be kind of a tactic or wayto help with your wellness
routine.
What do you think about that?
Randee Dawn (32:52):
Cause it's your profession, so I feel like I
write all the time.
I mean I enjoy it.
But one thing I have starteddoing is less of a writing
journal than more of a kind of adrawing journal, and what I do
is I tend to take it with mewhen I go on trips as opposed to
doing it every day at home.
But I will take.
I have one of those blanknotebooks and I take a page per
day.
And I will take.
I have one of those blanknotebooks and I take a page per
(33:14):
day and I will write.
You know, I'll sort of rememberthe day through little images
that I draw and then a few wordshere and there, and it's it
sort of helps me imprint the day.
It helps me remember things Iwould probably otherwise have
forgot, but little tickets andthings like.
There in the middle there's awoman I know who posts pictures
of hers on Facebook, but shedoes three things.
(33:36):
I'm thankful.
She's a very good, she's a very, she's a very good artist and
she draws a lot about her cat orwhat she's eating.
She'll do sort of three maindrawings and then talk about one
, and I think that's just asvaluable, as somebody maybe
struggles to put down words.
You don't have to be a greatartist because I'm certainly not
, but I've got some colored pensand I've got my pen that I can
(33:56):
write words with and I just do apage of drawing.
It's very satisfying to then goback and see what I've
accomplished.
Jess (34:04):
It's like a memory book.
Claude (34:05):
Yeah, so even if you don't feel like journaling, for
sake you know when I was youngerI tried to do those journaling
and so when I was angry I waslike, oh yeah.
Then I was like erasingeverything because I'm like, oh
my god, you're so mean.
(34:26):
I couldn't do it because eachtime I was going back and the
thing about journals.
Randee Dawn (34:33):
I don't think they're really meant to ever be
reviewed.
Jess (34:35):
Like I would not go back to any of my journals now no, if
you, yeah, if you go back andread them, like.
I found one when my parentsmoved and I was like what was I
writing?
Randee Dawn (34:47):
there used to be a, an evening event in new york
and I think this kind of was inseveral cities, but it was
called cringe, and people wouldpull out their old journals or
their letters and they wouldread them in front of the room
or something.
It was so cringy but everybodywould laugh along with you
because you'd be laughing at howsilly it sounded and they would
laugh along with you.
Claude (35:07):
Well, sometimes we give each other, we send each other
our Facebook status from like 10years to 15.
Jess (35:17):
I will say so.
We talked about this earlierabout passing notes in the hall.
I still have a bunch of notesfrom when I was in middle school
and high school.
They're hysterical.
I can't like like the friendswrote to me and gave to me oh
really, oh yeah, I would totallygo and read them.
Randee Dawn (35:32):
They're hysterical, I have mine too there was like
a whole friend's drama in my10th and 11th grade with this,
and then all the little insidejokes are in them and everything
.
And I kept those because Ithought to myself one day I
might write a book using this asdrama yes, I don't know if I
ever will, but I have themsomewhere I do have them all in
order yeah that would be so coolI have to give them back to me
(35:55):
Like they knew I might writeabout it.
So they're like here.
You can have the notes back.
I have like both sides of thenotes.
Jess (35:59):
You do.
Oh my God, that's fascinating.
I don't have my side, so insome of them except there are a
couple of them, remember you'dlike pass notes back and forth
top of it.
Randee Dawn (36:16):
You'd keep going oh , it was like the text, yeah it
was like yes texting yeah, fromthe, from the neanderthal era
you had to use graphite on apaper thank you everybody.
Jess (36:24):
I feel really good about myself right now.
One of the things I was hopingwe could get incorporated to
this is your books are sofascinating and fun.
You do focus on the friendshipand the fantasy and there's like
elements of wellness in theretoo.
Work besties out there, sodefinitely read them For your
readers.
What do you hope that they takeaway from these novels?
Is it something different fromeach one?
(36:46):
Is it something collectivelyacross all of them?
Randee Dawn (36:50):
I think there's a lot of things that anybody can
take away from any given book,whether it's mine or anything
else.
Yeah, one of the things that Itry to do at some point in most
of my books is sort of Trojanhorse, some big ideas.
You may not be to it yet inTune In Tomorrow, but there is a
discussion at one point.
It's a silly funny book, but inthe book you're an actor on the
(37:13):
reality show and you win anaward.
Every time you win an award forbeing on the show, you get like
a little piece of magic that isyour own, and it's usually junk
magic like oh, I can look atthis can and tell what the
nutritional ingredients are,like that Very minor stuff.
But the first one you get isthat your age freezes.
Jess (37:29):
I bring this one up because I was like fascinated,
I'm like, oh, I'm in.
Randee Dawn (37:36):
Because it wasn't originally reality TV tv.
It was originally like soapoperas.
I used to write for a soapopera magazine, so this is kind
of soap opera e, and you knowthat there are actors who have
been on soap operas for decades,right?
So I thought you know this.
If the fae are immortal, theywould want to have their actors
around as long as possible and adecade or two is nothing aging.
They wouldn't want them to lookold, yeah you want them to look
the same, so your age wouldfreeze.
(37:57):
And the thing is that then hasa rebound effect on how the
humans can interact with theworld I mean they.
When you leave the show, yourage starts all over again.
You don't get the accumulatedyears.
You start aging if you, butwhile you're on the show, you're
the same age as whenever youwon that award.
And there's a conversation thatat least two of the characters
have towards the end of the bookabout the pitfalls of
(38:19):
immortality.
You know about the world goingon without you.
While you're on this side ofthe veil doing the TV show, your
friends get older.
You know, your relations die,the world changes.
Imagine 1990s to now, right.
World changes.
Imagine 1990s to now, right.
Like if you started working ontune in tomorrow in the 90s and
won that award and you left theshow in 2025, can you imagine
(38:39):
what a whiplash you'd have cellphones.
I mean, the cell phone is justthe tip of the iceberg, but
there's.
The world has moved so muchfaster now.
Jess (38:47):
We communicate so much differently people would be with
you because you you're.
You would look much youngerthan you are and you have no
idea what's going on thosepeople.
Randee Dawn (38:58):
Yeah, they have a conversation about what it's
like to.
What is, what is the realnature of something like
immortality?
I don't think anybody reallywants immortality.
They want to have a choice inhow long they live and quality
of life.
At the same time, if you'regoing to be living a
semi-immortal life, onecharacter says to the other,
that means that, like everythingis open to you, you don't have
(39:21):
to be in the same relationshipthe whole time, right, like you
have a buffet to choose from,you can be in multiple
relationships.
You know who wants to bemarried to the same person for
250 years, right?
So I'm trying to trojan horsethese, these kind of discussions
after dark.
Yeah, exactly, yes, we're in.
(39:43):
How do we?
Claude (39:44):
that's right, just got a little real long time, um yeah
and the only song worth singing.
Randee Dawn (39:48):
I'm trying to think of what the the trojan horse
conversation is in there, but Ithink that what we were talking
about early on the importance offriendship and the importance
of having a shared common valuesbackground that you are willing
to hold on to even when thingsget super hard, because I think
that friendships that don't youhaven't had that long.
People don't necessarily investin them.
(40:09):
The whole concept of ghostingsomeone is appalling.
The ways we kind of just ballup friendships and throw them
away at the toss of a hat Like,oh that's, you know, this person
did this.
I can never talk to them again.
How much of a friendship isthat?
There are friendships that Ireally want to fight.
Jess (40:25):
So, Randy, thank you so much for your time.
This has been so fascinating.
We learned so much from you.
Thank you for having me.
Randee Dawn (40:31):
I really appreciate it.
This was a lot of fun.
Jess (40:33):
Yeah, it was fun.
Your stories totally remind usof friendships and unique ways
friendships can evolve and waysyou can connect with people and
obviously the creativity thatyou have from all of the kind of
fantasy elements of it kind ofbrings a whole unique layer to
it, which is super cool.
So, whether it's in the pages ofyour novel or in everyday lives
(40:55):
, connections truly do make usstronger.
So don't forget to grabBrandy's upcoming book the Only
Song Worth Singing, as well asthe one that she already has out
, tune In Tomorrow it'sfantastic and follow her for
updates on what's coming nextbecause, as she mentioned, she's
got a lot more coming out.
I know so.
I know this.
And because, as she mentioned,she's got a lot more coming out
(41:16):
Another one or so in August.
And don't forget to share thisepisode with your work besties
and subscribe for moreheartwarming, inspiring
conversation.
Thank you, rhonda.
Thank you, remember.
Whether you're swapping snacksin the break room, rescuing each
other from endless meetings orjust sending that perfectly
timed meme, having a work bestieis like having your own
personal hype squad.
Claude (41:33):
So keep lifting each other, laughing through the
chaos and, of course, thriving.
Until next time, stay positive,stay productive and don't
forget to keep supporting eachother.
Work besties.
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