The Silent Note - A Saga of Love - A Story of Intrigue

Author Patrick Davis, combines romance and mystery to create a bittersweet, page-turner of a novel - The Silent Note. Two centuries converge to reveal secrets and foibles of yesterday and today and how change and technology affects us all. A century-old, scarred and forgotten piano conceals secret letters of a young girl, Elsa as she copes with an overbearing father who threatens to end the passion between herself and Grant - the true love of her life.

These poignant letters are found by Melissa Weisman, a young girl of this century as she grieves over her dead mother, Maria. Melissa's mother had rescued the old piano, unaware of its hidden secrets. Melissa's father, John, is also grieving the loss of his wife, but he becomes obsessed with the letters as his life spins into a life-changing journey. John's attempts to find answers to the questions raised by Elsa's struggles with love and a domineering father helps John find his own answers and begin his life anew.

The Industrial Revolution is the background for the story of Elsa Thompson, her father, and her love, Grant Ford. The mores of Elsa's world dictate that she obeys the traditions of society and remain within her class - sheltered and dominated. But Elsa is determined to break through the chains of tradition and realize her own hopes and dreams of music and a young student who stirs her very soul. From Victorian customs to the present day era of unrest, Davis weaves a story that leaves you moved and forever changed.

The Silent Note hits the mark with a story as timeless as love and as intriguing as the underlying emotions. Patrick Davis expertly brings an old, scratched up piano into the forefront of his story and makes it an object of silent mystery. A hidden treasure of century-old letters has been hidden beneath the piano's keys and the young girl and her father who discovers the letters will be changed forever by their content.

Four year old Melissa Weisman is grieving for her mother who died of a sudden illness just after she purchased an old upright piano at an auction. Maria begins to play the piano and notices that one note in particular doesn't work. Melissa's father, John, is also grieving for his wife. As he searches beneath the piano's cover to find the reason for the sour note, he discovers the letters that will soon to change his and Maria's lives.

Patrick Davis has succeeded in writing a first novel that captures the heart of the reader and also teaches us how the impact of the Industrial Revolution changed our world from one century to the next. A century ago, only those of wealth were able to afford luxuries. Society dictated that the "classes" shouldn't mix and that a romance between a rich young lady and a poor student wouldn't work and shouldn't be allowed.

From Victorian customs to modern-day struggles, The Silent Note is written in the style of the blockbuster hit, Titantic, and delivers just as much.

A rapidly rising star in the novel galaxy, Patrick Davis is assured success with his thought-provoking first novel, The Silent Note.

While attending college, Davis became interested in storytelling through his studies in filmmaking. When his fascination with filmmaking waned, Davis found that he remained inspired by storytelling. Lacking a story to tell, he continued to dream about writing a novel until one day he opened an old piano to search for clues about the previous owner.

Davis closed the piano after a fruitless search, but was immediately compelled by inspiring thoughts of centering his novel on a piano. Davis had always been interested in history, romance and the early industrial age, so he focused on how he could combine a good romance with the history of a century ago. The end result is The Silent Note.

The Silent Note is a story of two centuries and two families - and how they meshed to become enlightening peeks into both worlds.

Davis weaves his story with golden threads of romance and mystery, giving one family cause to doubt the customs of their time and another to find answers to their grief by reaching back a hundred years. Davis' next book, Return to Kingston, is a sequel to The Silent Note and will be anxiously awaited by readers to continue the story of John Weisman on his remarkable journey to discover hidden secrets in Kingston's past.

Patrick Davis currently lives in Poway, California, a San Diego suburb with his wife and children.

A novel that shows conflict, fear, anger, and pain, in the life of a character comes from a dynamic of story structure called The Character's Arc. A successful work of fiction will not only engage an audience but take them on a theatric journey through the pages of a book because the author knew how to construct the character's arc. This literary talent applies to non-fiction stories as well.

Arc is a highly used term in the writer's world amongst authors, editors, and agents. Note that the journey to the peak of the arc is longer in the upslope than the arc's down-slope. Without an arc, the story may not be as affective.

The Setting - Staging the Introduction of the Protagonist
Your story may open in a calm and peaceful setting, and your main character's life is at ease, until suddenly, the unexpected comes without warning. Your character's peaceful world suddenly becomes complicated and the realities of conflict and struggle are now unavoidable. This is where your audience sees what your book is about.
Yet, your character will do his or her best to avoid this abrupt change until something worse happens. The outcome of the emotional journey will change his or her life forever.
Or perhaps your story's opening may thrust your audience right into a chaotic setting where your main character must face a painful dilemma. And there's no escape. In either setting, your character arc must have a steady climb of tension, fear, conflict, pain, even surprises-a mini crisis after mini crisis-involving your character's life who is the protagonist.

The number of mini crises plotted in your arc all depends upon your story. But there must be enough crises to keep your audience engaged.

The Antagonist
The source of conflict comes from your character's enemy, the antagonist. And each mini crisis demands your protagonist to find some form of resolution, because you can't keep your audience in a long state of tension. Or else you'll loose them. This especially applies to the story's climax. Once crisis hits, let your protagonist, (who is the hero) suffer turmoil for a little while. Then find resolution.

Here's an example of a story setting transitioning to conflict:
Your protagonist must go on an important business trip in order to be promoted to the next level in his career.
But all seems to go wrong when his enemy, a jealous colleague, feel he's more qualified.
The antagonist, filled with envy, forms an evil plot that eventually derails the success of your main character.
After a series of crises, your protagonist, who is the hero, has fallen.
Then comes the "big fight" which is the climax of the story.

Please note that your antagonist does not necessarily have to be a specific person. Rather, it could be troubling circumstances that arise in the path of your character.

The Types of Antagonists
This is the case in my newly published book. A romance/mystery novel is comprised of two stories that merge into one. Two people, of two eras of time, suffer conflict, amid the unique circumstances in their own worlds. Eventually, the paths of the two strangers are fated to cross at the end. Since there are two stories, there are two character arcs.

First Character Arc
Elsa Thompson, a renowned pianist in the era of 1915, has a perfectly structured world. Her life is unencumbered from the duties of courtship, until suddenly, she's introduced to a young man she wasn't supposed to meet.

Tension rises in Elsa's character arc.

Her antagonist is not one individual, but is the onslaught of voices of those dear to her; each giving her counsel on how she aught to manage the affairs of her life after she experiences a brush with romance.

Her father objects courtship, mother woos, girlfriend encourages, boyfriend begs.
Soon, Elsa finds herself burdened in an emotional struggle, trying to choose romance over her first love-music.

Her determined agendas that once were so clear in her mind are now clouded with confusion.

And her life, as an accomplished pianist, is crumbling.

The renowned pianist is torn with decision as she is at the crossroads of her life.

Mini crisis after mini crisis leads the young, sophisticated woman into a bewildered state of mind%u2026

Second Character Arc (of the same novel)
Maria Weisman, of the present-day era, is driven with a passion to connect to a bygone era with hopes of uncovering stories related to her collection of antiques, one of which was an old piano she rescued from an auction.

All the while, her husband, John Weisman, a business professional, depends upon technology and its latest gadgets in order to keep pace with the demands of his glistening career. But his life abruptly changes when he looses his young wife to a sudden illness.

Tension rises in John Weisman's character arc.

It's a dark time for father and six-year-old daughter, Melissa.
This crisis, after colliding with John's business world, takes his career into a downward spin.
His antagonist is not a specific person, but rather, are the emotional struggles he faces after the death of his wife.
John realizes that his dominating career stole special moments that he otherwise would have spent with his wife and child.
His guilt intensifies, his daughter is lost without her mother, and his career has no meaning.
Having undermined this little corner of Maria's world, John wishes he could connect with her one last time. But how?
After a year of grieving, six-year-old daughter aspires to become a pianist on her mother's old piano. As she plays, she strikes a note that reveals a love-saga hidden for decades.
Enthralled by this find, John begins to embrace his wife's passion for antiques.
John's newfound passion causes him to make a hard decision-which is the ultimate challenge-take leave of his career and seek out the piano's original master in his late wife's stead.

The Climax of the Story
The peak of the arc is where the climax of the story occurs. And for many stories, it's the place that's most dramatic and dangerous.

But just before your climax, your protagonist lies in a dismal and hopeless point in life. Much is lost.

Looking back and assessing the struggle and conflict that he/she has endured, this is the place where your character finds inner strength to rise up and face the ultimate challenge, that hopefully, will lead to victory. Or they will die trying.

The outcome of the protagonist, in most cases, is victory. And the final resolution of the story makes your character a better person.

Elsa finds strength to accept courtship believing her heart has enough room to nurture her affections for music as well as heed to the duties of courtship. (But there is a shocking outcome that's later revealed.)

John and Melissa embark upon an arduous and painstaking journey in pursuit of answers they must find. But the end of the search brings both, a shocking surprise and new beginnings for him and his daughter.

Other Stories
Example of positive outcome:
"Terminator 2 & 3"
John Conner determines to escape death from two cyborg machines in order to become a leader in the future. His mission is of hope.

Example of negative outcome:
"Jurassic Park"
John Hammond, after a terrifying night of loosing control of Jurassic Park, makes a painful decision to shut down the attraction, bringing an end to his dream that went terribly wrong.

Other examples
"The Visitor"
Not all stories have an explosive character's arc. The mini crises, in the recent movie, "The Visitor" are not really crises at all. Rather, they are a string of inconveniences that causes a college professor (unfulfilled at a late point in life) to find his calling. Nevertheless, the story's arc is clearly seen.

"Robots"
This animated film has a character's arc that is simple and easy to identify.

Viewing movies are a fast way to study character arcs. Study the transition from mini crisis to resolution to mini crisis, and so on. However, seeing them on film is one thing. Writing them is much more difficult. My novel was reviewed by Jerry D Simmons, the former marketing director for Random House and Time Warner Books. His personal review was very encouraging. The two arcs were well written and kept him fully engaged.

Patrick Davis was first introduced to the magic of storytelling through filmmaking. Knowing the Dynamics of Story Structure, his inspiration and talent is admired in his first novel, The Silent Note. Patrick is a mentor to other writers. He lives in San Diego, California. To learn more go to www.silentnotethebook.com