Will iconic images recorded in the grooves of an ancient vase unite the Holy Land or rip it further apart?

THE VASE

A novel by Mark M. DeRobertis

Muhsin Muhabi is a Palestinian potter, descended from a long line of potters. His business is run from the same shop owned by his ancestors since the day his forebears moved to Nazareth. The region's conflict saw the death of his oldest son, and rogue terrorists are in the process of recruiting his youngest in their plot to assassinate the Pope and Israeli prime minister.

Professor Hiram Weiss is an art historian at Nazareth’s Bethel University. He is also a Shin Bet operative on special assignment. With the help of fellow agent, Captain Benny Mathias, he plans to destroy the gang responsible for the death of his wife and only child. He puts a bomb in the ancient vase he takes on loan from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.

Mary Levin, the charming assistant to the director of Shin Bet, has lost a husband and most of her extended family to recurring wars and never-ending terrorism. She dedicates her life to the preservation of Israel, but to whom will she dedicate her heart? The brilliant professor from Bethel University? Or the gallant captain who now leads Kidon?

Harvey Holmes, the Sherlock of Haunted Houses, is a Hollywood TV host whose reality show just flopped. When a Lebanese restaurant owner requests his ghost-hunting services, he believes the opportunity will resurrect his career. All he has to do is exorcise the ghosts that are haunting the restaurant. It happens to be located right across the street from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.




Monday, May 31, 2010

Back to Work

Did the family thing. Got to get back to work. My agent has been working hard on placing my ms. and I have polished the prose even more. I was trying to reread it to get an idea for a new title, but dammit, every time I reread this thing I keep finding better ways to write it. I have concluded that, for me, at least, the writing process is ever fluid. Not like painting a painting or sculpting a sculpture, or even composing a song. For those things, there is definitely a point where there is nothing more that can be done. A point where I can say, this is done...period.

But for a novel, not so. I suppose it's because of the mere length of it. So much more goes into writing a book. The research, the many characters, the plot, the subplots, a theme, not to mention its construction - a beginning, a middle, and an ending. (Sure songs have that, but try comparing a five minute song to a 300-plus page novel.) Even the ending is not as if it's just, boom, it's over. There's the climax, the build-up to the climax, the resolution, or denouement.

So I have found, that a novel is never "done." Until it's published. Then it's done. And only then.

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