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, November 23, 2010

Holiday Premonitions

Time moves fast, we've heard it often, and it really is true. The last few years I have marveled when the school year ended because it seemed as though the school year had just begun not so long ago.

When I was a kid, the summer vacation seemed to be a very long break from school, and now it's little more than a blink of the eye. Now, not only has the summer break ended, but the first trimester, which is about the same length, has also just ended. Yesterday was the first day of the second trimester, and I am sitting here in my classroom pondering today's lessons on this second day of the trimester.

It's still a time getting to know my new students, because, unlike core teachers, I get a brand new bunch of students every trimester. There's positives and negatives to that, but for me, it's like starting all over again, with putting down the rules and expectations just as I did on the first day of school.

One thing I want to do over the Thanksgiving holiday is get back to revising KILLER EYES. I've been busy submitting THE VASE, and I've been wanting to get back to KILLER EYES. I feel optimistic about both of my novels getting published. Sometimes I get these feelings that I can't explain, and they come to pass. Premonitions, maybe? Maybe. I have had that gift, but it's more of an intermittent one. Don't want to dwell on it. Don't depend on it. Probably most people have it. I think good things are in store.

Can't wait.

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