Tune in Tomorrow - Tour and Giveaway

Their fantasy is her reality.

Tune in Tomorrow
by Randee Dawn
Genre: Humorous Pop-Culture Fantasy 

A funny, thrilling and mysterious adventure into the world of alternate reality television... Perfect for fans of Jasper Fforde and Christopher Moore.
 
She’s just a small town girl, with big mythic dreams.

Starr Weatherby came to New York to become… well, a star. But after ten years and no luck, she’s offered a big role – on a show no one has ever heard of. And there’s a reason for that. It’s a ‘reality’ show beyond the Veil, human drama, performed for the entertainment of the Fae.

But as Starr shifts from astounded newcomer to rising fan favorite, she learns about the show’s dark underbelly – and mysterious disappearance of her predecessor. She’ll do whatever it takes to keep her dream job – though she might just bring down the show in the process.

 
Raves for the book:
"I thought I’d seen everything in the galaxy of reality TV, until Randee's book!" – Andy Cohen, Host / Executive Producer, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and New York Times bestselling author

"Randee Dawn has single-handedly created a glittering new genre: the Backstage Comedy Fantasy Romance — and I want more!" – Ellen Kushner, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Thomas the Rhymer and Swordspoint

"Randee Dawn's Tune in Tomorrow is a wild ride through the world of reality TV, Faerie style. It’s a satire and a romance (of a sort) and a fairytale and a mystery, full of characters I loved (and loved to hate) and situations that had me biting my nails. It’s also hilariously funny." – World Fantasy Award nominee Delia Sherman, author of The Porcelain Dove and The Evil Wizard Smallbone

"Tune in Tomorrow is a joyride. It takes you on a journey into the make believe world of a soap opera. It dives in and out of what could possibly be fantasy or in fact is reality. As with the sands of time, as you Search for Tomorrow, or you are feeling Young and Restless, get lost in the adventures of Starr and be taken over by all that is Tune in Tomorrow." – Emmy-nominated actor Gregory Zarian

"Dawn's Tune in Tomorrow is a ton of fun with a lot of heart, charming characters, and devilish foes. And it's funny as hell." – Zin E. Rocklyn, author of Flowers for the Sea

"Few authors can open the door to another world as easily as you might turn on the TV, but Randee Dawn has the key and the remote control firmly in her hand. Flip through the fae and the grindylows, let her be your TV guide and psychopomp. You will find yourself howling at the gate for a rerun." – Meg Elison, author of Number One Fan

"This book is a BOUNCY CASTLE! This book is like a candy store and a screwball comedy had a fling in fairyland and the result was a mythic soap opera! There was no predicting it, there was only riding this dragon all the way to its rollicking rollercoaster conclusion. How dear and joyous it is, how satisfying, and how worthy of praise!" – World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death's Daughter C.S.E. Cooney

"Dawn balances over-the-top drama and comedy with genuine intrigue to create a fun story with plenty of heart. Fans of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett will want to snatch this up." – Publishers Weekly

"Tune in Tomorrow is a hilariously well-constructed story with surprising complexity, and one that uses its reality TV premise not as a destination, but as a jumping off point to create something uniquely interesting that stays entertaining the entire way through." – Lightspeed Magazine

"Dawn’s witty take on society’s fascination with peering at life through a camera lens spotlights the sometimes-blurred intersection between fantasy and reality, all captured on video. Her playful narrative propels readers into the realm of alternate possibilities while questioning what is real and what is make-believe, and if we can even tell the difference." – BookTrib
 

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​They twisted and turned so much Starr lost track of where she was, and Jason's strange mixture of delight and nervousness was starting to make her feel anxious. At last, she came to a hard halt in the middle of a hallway.
Jason tilted his head.
"Look, I get it. You're like a big VFX warehouse or something. I'm guessing Tune in Tomorrow is some kind of space opera on the web. But your showing me every nook and cranny and door hinge doesn't give me a clue about what's going on. What is this place?"
Jason took a dramatic pause and his green eyes lit up, "Tune in Tomorrow is many things to so many mythics. We are the longest-running, most-viewed reality TV show ever made in any dimension. We are made by mythics, for mythics—but starring humans. "
"Reality?" Starr twitched. "With dragon puppets and robots?"
Jason started to speak, took a breath and paced up and down. Raised a finger, lowered it, then stopped in front of her. Cleared his throat. "It's been some time since I had to explain this to a human. Bear with me." He pushed open another door and gestured inside.
Starr planted her feet in the doorway. "Jason, this is a toilet."
"Yes, well, needs must. I don't have any other handy water."
He was speaking in riddles—and disappearing into a bathroom with a near-stranger was awkward at best, creepy at worst. Still, she didn't sense Jason was up to no good. He practically vibrated with excitement, or nerves, or both. Swallowing, Starr took the risk and stepped inside. The bathroom door swung closed behind them.
Jason turned on all four sinks in the room. Water cascaded from three; butterflies burst from the fourth. Starr gaped. Jason quickly shut that one off with a sheepish grin and turned his back on the sink. The butterflies disintegrated.
Starr blinked.
"You see," he raised his sing-song voice over the noise of the remaining water, "we adore human to'ings and fro'ings. We are the original fans of stories-without-end. Some hundreds of years ago when the Seelie came up with the idea of telling stories to mythics, they were known as Stories Of All Purpose, or for short –"
"SOAP," Starr realized. The room was starting to heat up and the mirrors fogged; Jason had apparently turned on only the hot water. She wondered where he was going with all this; the fantastical elements of his story were fanciful and charming, but silly. Maybe he was just being very method about the show. "You're making a soap opera?"
"Shh!" he quieted her, glancing around. "Yes—and no. That's how we started. But most mythics are self-cleaning. Bathing is a hobby, not a practice. SOAPs fell a bit out of fashion. Mythics wanted real human stories. Finally, once humans on your side of the Veil began writing their own TV shows, one of us—me, in fact—infiltrated a few writing rooms and discovered that you were doing what we'd been doing for years and calling it 'reality TV.' That fit us perfectly . Our viewers tune in because they believe we are telling real stories, and that's what keeps us going."
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Randee Dawn is an author, journalist, and lucky denizen of Brooklyn. Her first novel, the humorous pop-culture fantasy Tune in Tomorrow, published in August 2022 (Solaris/Rebellion).

Randee's short fiction has appeared in publications and podcasts including 3AM Magazine ("The View of My Brother's Profile in the Rear-View Mirror," 2001; "Warm, In Your Coat," 2004) and Well-Told Tales ("Home for the Holidays," 2015; "Can't Keep a Dead Man Down," 2017).

Dawn's stories have appeared in anthologies including Where We May Wag ("The Last Dog," Writing Piazza Press, 2018), Children of a Different Sky ("Can't Find My Way Home," Kos Books, 2018), Magic for Beginners ("Queen Zoe and the Spinning Game," Fantasia Divinity, 2019), Dim Shores Presents ("Rough Beast, Slouching," 2021), Another World: Stories of Portal Fantasy ("The Way Is Clear," SummerStorm Press, 2021), and Horror for the Throne: One-Sitting Reads ("Cat Person").

She has a short collection of dark speculative fiction short stories, "Home for the Holidays" (2014) and co-authored "The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion" (BenBella Books, 2009). She co-edited the speculative fiction anthology of "what if" stories about The Beatles, "Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles" (Fantastic Books, 2019).

When not making stuff up, Randee publishes entertainment profiles, reviews, and think pieces regularly in outlets including Variety, The Los Angeles Times, Today.com and Emmy Magazine, and writes trivia for BigBrain.

She can be found at RandeeDawn.com and @RandeeDawn (on Twitter).
 

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Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I've been a writer almost as long as I've been a reader – I always like to say that I started writing stories about the adventures my stuffed animals had when I was still of stuffed animal age!  As for becoming an author – I tend to differentiate (if only in my mind) the difference between writer and author. Writing and being a writer is something anyone can do; you become an author once you get some of your work published – including if you publish it yourself. There's a psychological leap anyone who wants to be an author has to take in which you move your stories, your writing, your whatever – to the public. When you start showing it around, and offering it up for payment or judgment by people who don't have your emotional well-being in mind. That takes courage, and for many years I didn't have it. I had a few things published (short poems, mostly) in the high school literary journal, but I spent a long, long time trying to find my voice – and then a safe space to share it in. 
 
That safe space turned out to be in the world of fan fiction, actually. While I did get two short stories published in my 20s and 30s that weren't fanfic related, I drew an audience of admirers who really wanted to hear what I was working on next once I started writing fan fic for a favorite TV show. That took up a lot of the writing time I could have been doing composing completely original work but it also served as a way for me to make my writing better, respond to an audience, and feel comfortable sharing it in the world. Along the way I had embarrassing experiences in writers' groups, and eventually fell into the speculative fiction crowd – a place full of aspiring authors who wrote on a lot of topics, for a lot of platforms, and I saw the world open up much wider. I could be a part of this community, and I could write stories I loved that – hopefully – they would love, too. That was when I really became an author, I think: Once I found my people, and my audience. That's what helped me find my voice.
 
Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you!
I got my start writing for money as a music journalist in college, and kept it up for several years afterward (I then transitioned into film and TV writing, which I still do today). One of my most memorable, amazing assignments was to spend several days on the road with Radiohead, following them from show to show, interviewing the band and generally hanging out with them. I did not get to ride on the bus – no girls were allowed on the bus! – though I did get to see what it looked like inside (it looked like a tour bus that needed a good cleaning).
 
Those several days were both delightful and educational. Bands – particularly ones from outside the US who are visiting – are strange little cliques. They have a handful of people they know well, who they see every day for sometimes weeks on end. It can get a little claustrophobic, and they're often happy to have someone they believe they can trust, but who is still new to the gang, showing up. I got to be that person for several days, and I had long conversations with each one of them. They were smart, educated, funny and sometimes quite shy. The last member I spoke to was the singer Thom Yorke, potentially the shyest of all (he seems to have grown into himself in the ensuing years). We left the venue together through the front door and fans were trying to smell his hair. Later, he told me he didn't mind that at all. Nearby at a Mexican restaurant we got tequila shots (he hadn't done them before) and we spoke for a good long while about – well, almost anything I wanted to know. Tequila may have helped; I'll never know. It was such an eye-opening experience to see a band's life from the inside, or at least part of the inside. The final article, which published in Alternative Press magazine, was a cover story and they let me run for several thousand words. The band – according to their press rep at the label – liked it so much they sent me a gold record. I have it hanging on my wall.
 
Do you have a favorite movie?
Certainly! You don't even have to drop a hat to get me to watch The Philadelphia Story, a movie from 1940 with some of my favorite actors of all time – Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. Ruth Hussey is also magnificent. It's funny, it's screwy, and it has a wonderful back story in that it helped revive Hepburn's then-flagging career. Plus, it's just a pleasure to watch these beautiful people on screen. In 1956, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelley – plus Louis Armstrong! – were the stars of a musical remake called High Society, with music by Cole Porter. I'll always pick Philadelphia first, but Society is one of those rare reimaginings that's almost as perfect, particularly the performance of "Well! Did You Evah?" in which Crosby notes to Sinatra, "Tune in tomorrow."
 
Who is your hero and why?
When I was about 10 or 11, I came across something called "An Eschatological Laundry List," by the late psychologist and author Sheldon B. Kopp. It's a series of 43 brief sentences that starts with "This is it!" and includes lines like "All of the significant battles are waged within the self." One that sticks with me is: "If you have a hero, look again: you have diminished yourself in some way." I can see heroic behavior and admire it, but I do not have a single hero. We all live in the gray area, including the great people. What is heroic is loving, and admiring, someone despite their gray areas. My mother is a hero. My friend Julia – who gave me the list originally – is a hero. Everyone I love is heroic. And I strive for that, every day.
 
Which of your novels can you imagine being made into a movie?
All of them! I've only had one published so far – Tune in Tomorrow – and frankly, I think it'd make a better series than a movie, but I'll assume that's included in the question. I write with a movie playing in my head at all times. I know what every scene looks like, where the characters are standing, and if I squint, what they're wearing. I only include the details that matter in each scene, but there are many more I don't include. So for me, every book and short story I write is a kind of script for the movie I want it to become. But let's face it: the book is always better.
 
Stuff About the Book 
How did you come up with the title of your first novel?Tune in Tomorrow is actually my first published novel – I've written others, but it's the first one to get to the finish line. The phrase "tune in tomorrow" is something movies and TV shows (often soap operas) would use when they ended on a cliffhanger. In the early 1900s, there was a series of films known as The Perils of Pauline, in which the heroine was usually left in a truly precarious position – sometimes literally hanging off a cliff. That's where we get the idea of the "cliffhanger." Well, shows that wanted to leave you eager for more would often do the same thing, and soap operas sometimes had an off-camera narrator who'd give you a preview of what was coming in the next edition ("Will Edward kiss Bertha? Can Martha's heart be saved?") and then end with the phrase, "Tune in tomorrow to find out…." Well, the reality TV show inside of Tune was originally a soap opera – but it got changed after I had some editorial notes. That wasn't a problem; as Starr muses in the book, many reality TV shows are modern-day soaps. So keeping the phrase made sense – it suggested a tone, a pop culture origin, and suspense. The rest of the title (which only appears inside the book, as it's too long for the cover: "The Curious, Calamitous, Cockamamie Story Of Starr Weatherby And The Greatest Mythic Reality Show Ever" was just hilarious to write and telegraphed that this was going to be one wacky adventure. And it is!
 
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story?* Note: It's "reins" not "reigns"
"Hijack" suggests something aggressive. The characters may start in my conscious, but once I've been writing and rewriting the story for a long time, they also live in the subconscious. And if I'm writing a scene where it just isn't coming together and the characters sound forced and false, that's when I know they're speaking up and telling me not to go there. The subconscious gives you a little poke and you have to find a new way to tell the story. That said, after the book came out originally I noticed that readers seemed to particularly love Phil the nervous dragon – and that's why he's on the front of the book now, even though he's not a major character. Phil has become popular in my own heart, too, and I hope to write a book or a story about his origin story. I mean, how does a dragon end up being a security guard on a reality TV show, anyway?
 
What did you edit out of this book?
I have whole scenes that didn't work – Starr and Nico have a date in the warehouse of sets, on a beach that comes alive, for example. But it slowed things down a lot. Then there was the epilogue, which wasn't in the first edition. I took it out because the book was already fairly long, and it didn't have to be there. But whenever I hand-sold a book to someone I always let them know to reach out to me when they were done, and I'd send them the epilogue as a PDF. Now, with the new reissue, I don't have to do that: The epilogue is in the book (though now it's called Chapter 42)!
 
How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?I worked at a soap opera magazine for five years, and had first-hand experience watching how the sausage got made, as they'd say. It was an eye-opening experience, and almost to a person the actors were lovely to hang out with. I had a lot of respect for the number of lines they had to memorize, and the grind of making the equivalent of two and a half movies each week. I always wanted to set something in that universe, but couldn't find the right reason or time. Tune started out as a possible text-based "choose your own adventure" type game for a company called Choice of Games, but when that didn't work for me I reclaimed the idea that I'd outlined and started coming up with the characters I'd need to flesh it out. I can neither confirm nor deny that any of them were inspired by the real folks I met while working at the magazine….
 
Who designed your book covers?
Alas, I've never met the designers. The covers for Tune – both the original and the reissue one – were done through my publisher Solaris. I was presented with a nearly-complete idea for the first version, and asked for some tweaking of color and font. It wasn't what I had imagined in my head, but the truth was I hadn't imagined much! I couldn't figure out a good hook for a cover. In the end, I loved it – people commented on the cover all the time and I'd always say back that it was "loud and garish, which is perfect for the novel." When they said they were going to do a cover redesign for the reissue, they asked for more direct input: What would be the main focus image, what about colors, did I have ideas. I told them – retro fluorescent bright colors, an old-fashioned TV, the "color bars" looking wonky on the screen, and some pixie dust swirling around. The addition of Phil came a bit later, and I described him. They sent a PowerPoint of slides of possible images, and I picked the ones I liked best. And it came together beautifully. I'm so happy Phil the security dragon, guarding both mangoes and scripts, is now my mascot for presenting the book!
 

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