When Love Songs are Dialogue in a Novel, Transmedia Can Make Them a Reality: A Guest Post by Tom Bisogno
I’m on maternity leave! During this time, a few of my favorite authors offered to step up and write guest posts so that this blog would remain active while I adjust to my new role as a mother. I may also be a bit slower to respond. Thanks for understanding and for being so supportive of me, my family, and my blog. Want to donate a few dollars to keep this blog running or perhaps contribute to my diaper fund? You can do so on Venmo or Paypal.
When Love Songs are Dialogue in a Novel, Transmedia Can Make Them a Reality: A Guest Post by Tom Bisogno
My novel Siena my Love follows the life of a successful singer where the lyrics of the songs he performs are also important dialogue. Michael Ventura became an American singing sensation at 18, selling out large concert venues around the world by performing the old standards and love songs by the celebrated crooners who entertained millions of fans. Michael’s life was a roller coaster of acclaim, love, and loss. But when his grandfather needed him, he came back to help at his family vineyard near Siena, Italy where as a 10-year-old, he first met feisty Sophia. Because of their language barrier, Sophia had asked her mother to call the polizia on the intruder. Despite the misunderstanding, the two became fast friends during his summer visits until an unexpected adolescent awkward moment during the Palio in Siena.
The combination of words, music arrangements, and vocal delivery affected Michael’s audiences at concerts as well as the main character’s personal relationships. Because of procedural difficulties from maneuvering around copyright requirements, the actual lyrics could not be included in the novel, which was both disappointing and challenging to my creative vision. As an innovative way to solve this dilemma, I developed a YouTube playlist of the songs previously performed by popular artists in order to help the readers experience the missing dialogue.
To further expand my options, I connected the story to the popularity of the story’s setting by adding messages like “If you loved visiting or would like to visit Siena, Florence, Tuscany’s beautiful rolling hills and vineyards and Rome, you’ll love reading Siena My Love.” I also added the link to the family website.
When Love Songs are Dialogue in a Novel, Transmedia Can Make Them a Reality: A Guest Post by Tom Bisogno
