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.




Thursday, July 15, 2010

Son's Football and Dreams

Yesterday I was out with my two sons all day. My oldest is in his first year of high school, and is on the Frosh-Soph football team. Their first practice game was today, and I took my little son with me to watch him play. He caught three passes, one for a TD. It was great. I'm glad I was there. I hope he appreciated his old man watching him play in his first organized game.

Yeah, it brought back memories of my football days. I was a pretty good player myself. I was a DB/Safety, and played some QB, as well. I had some good speed. You know, I still have dreams of playing football...wow, all these years later. It's one of two recurring dreams I seem to be having through the years of my life. The other recurring dream is that I am flying. Not falling, mind you...actual flying. No, not in an airplane, but just me flying in the air...no parachute, no glider wings, no skydiving...nothing like that. But not like Superman either. It's really weird. Mostly it's weird because, like I said, I keep having this dream, but in different scenarios.

But the common element is that I have this ability to just let myself rise into the air, almost as if I can defy gravity just by concentrating, and up I go. It's not like I'm soaring like an eagle. I just hover, but I can direct myself to go somewhere if I choose to...but not very fast. Like I'm floating in the wind, but I can change direction and land unharmed.

There is something to be said about dreams. Sometimes I have dreams I can actually interpret, which brings me to writing. When I started this post, I didn't even plan to talk about dreams. I just went off on that tangent. But coincidentally, I just wrote a dream sequence in my WIP tonight. Trent had just been clobbered by this big guy, but saved by a woman who digs him. When she brings him back to his hotel room, he sleeps it off, and has this dream. It involves the leading ladies from the fist novel, Killer of Killers. And it has a very important connection to the plot in this story, which is the sequel to KOK.

I have read where agents or whoever frown on dream sequences in stories. I agree to not open a novel with a dream, but they can play a very important role in the advancement of your plot, and in the portrayal of a character's personality or even physical traits. Of course, like I said with humor the other day, you have to be careful with it. You have to put it in the right place, and write it well. And don't overdo it...like The Sopranos did.

That's all.

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