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.




Tuesday, October 19, 2010

First Person

Never liked first person. Every time I pick up a book and find it's written in first person, I put it down. It bothers me to "be" someone else. Can't relate. Particulary if that someone else is female. Nothing against females. But since I'm not a woman, I don't like reading a book that turns me into one. At least, that's the way it seems to me.

I should probably read the book as if it's someone else's diary. That way all the first person perspectives make more sense. But I still don't take it that way. When I read a book, I like to pretend I'm watching a movie. I know a lot of movies are narrated, as in first person, but that way seems different. I know in both cases, you have a narrator telling me their story. It's just that, to me, anyway, when I read it, instead of hear it, it turns me into that person.

I write in third person, and I think the advantages of third person outweigh those of first person. A year or two ago I read someone's blog which was about all the reasons why they hated first person. I wish I could remember who that was and link to it, because I was nodding my head in agreement. Every point they made was right on.

For the YA novel I'm planning, I considered writing it in first person. Don't think I will, though.

No comments:

Post a Comment