Q.  What was your inspiration to write a novel based on Chopin, and to include a piano CD of his music?

A.  The music of Chopin captured my interest from a very early age.  When I decided to write Nocturne, a novel about rediscovered diaries related to Chopin, the piano music played a role from the very beginning of the research and writing.  Perhaps the idea came from a review written in The Boston Globe about my first novel, Night Music.  Richard Dyer wrote something like, “Slater gets as close as anyone can to reproducing in prose the sound and effect of Mozart’s music, which provides a soundtrack to the action.”  The “soundtrack” concept had been important to my descriptions of Mozart’s music for Night Music (which was optioned for a film) but the CD I recorded of Mozart’s music was not actually tied in with the narrative.  For Nocturne, I decided to integrate the music into the text … to make it an indispensable part of the novel.

Q.  How were you able to incorporate Chopin’s music into a contemporary novel?

A.  Initially, the use of music in Nocturne was to help the reader.  Whenever a piano work by Chopin was mentioned in the diaries, or in the contemporary narrative, I added a CD TRACK marker, so that the reader could hear the work immediately without having to look up recordings and order many different CDs.

Q.  The concept changed?

A.  Yes, you could say that it evolved in a very short time.  When I started book readings for Nocturne, I played CD tracks (not necessarily mentioned in the text) that evoked the character of the narrative.  Certain works of Chopin enhanced the moods and textures dramatically, and I realized that Chopin’s music could provide a virtual soundtrack for the novel.  The audience reaction was overwhelming.

Q.  Did you go back and edit Nocturne to accommodate the changes in the concept?

A.  Yes, although the novel was written in a way that was already fairly radical.  First and foremost, I didn’t want to confuse the reader, who is dealing with a new approach to reading novels:  A novel with a soundtrack, performed by the author.  

A.  Before the final printing, there was the possibility of adding a CD TRACK marker at each point in the novel best suited for a soundtrack.  For example, the entire last scene in the novel (Chapter Forty-Two) calls for CD TRACK 22, from the beginning, even before the piano work is mentioned in the text.

Q.  You decided to change where the music enters?

A.  Yes, I added markers to provide a virtual soundtrack.  With Books on Tape, or Audio Books, the novel will be read aloud with the music fading in and out wherever it is best suited for effect, literally like a soundtrack for a film.

Q.  Where else in Nocturne could the reader play the piano CD as a soundtrack?

A.  A soundtrack marker now indicates most of the places where readers can enhance the novel with Chopin's music.  The moments that call out most for a soundtrack are, for example, the last scene in Chapter Six, with Clifton looking out over Montmartre, which is being slowly enveloped by dark storm clouds.  Chopin’s Prelude in E Flat Minor (CD TRACK 20) conveys his disturbed state of mind, and the direction the narrative is taking.  It also provides a leitmotif for his character.

Q.  A leifmotif?

A. For example, the Nocturne in D Flat Major (CD TRACK 1) provides a leitmotif – a theme representing a character, situation or idea – for Artemisia, and of Matthew’s vision of her.  It should accompany her entrance in Chapter Five, and her appearances throughout Nocturne.  Other leitmotifs are those of Riccardo (CD TRACK 15, TRACKING 3:24) and Nadine (CD TRACK 10, TRACKING 1:09).  And Maria Wodzinska's diary is represented by CD TRACK 8.

Q.  Other places where the reader could play the CD as a soundtrack?

A.  For the opening of the novel, the Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (CD TRACK 2) should be played immediately.  It represents the main theme of the novel, and the love story between Matthew and Artemisia, and ... the ring.  Later, the love scene between Matthew and Artemisia, which forms the arch of the novel, is intimately tied in with the Nocturne in E Minor (CD TRACK 15) with its undercurrent of foreboding.  This nocturne can be played from the beginning of the chapter.  And the preludes of Chopin on the CD, with their wild and dramatic changes of mood, can be used freely throughout the reading of Nocturne.  For example, in the last scene of Chapter Two:  The F Sharp Minor Prelude (CD TRACK 19) is perfectly suited for Clifton's explosions of rage. 

Q.  How do you see the future of novels with a soundtrack?

A.  Already more than three novels with music on CD have appeared this year since Nocturne was first published.  The photographic portfolio, "Chopin's Paris" is also a new feature, since photography (and Paris) figure so prominently in Nocturne.  The portfolio was shot using only the G4 IPhone, and edited only with iPhoto software, which represents new technical possibilities for photography in publishing.  (One of the Co-Founders and CEO's of iAppTrust called my approach "a brilliant idea.")  A scholarly article, "Chopin and the Vocal Nocturne," which plays a role in the narrative of Nocturne, is including at the end of the novel as an extra for readers.  There is also a YouTube link to the Nocturne Jazz Trio mixing Cole Porter and Chopin in Chapter Twenty-Three.  These are ideas whose time is come, particularly in this age of multimedia, interactive media and new forms of communication.  Nocturne is at the cusp of a new era of experimental trends in the publishing industry, all of which will make reading a more interesting and varied experience for everyone.