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, November 11, 2010

Moving Along

As most people know, the publishing process is a long one. I'm moving along pretty well right now, with two completed and polished manuscripts being considered by some pretty decent publishers.

But not just any publishers. I've found that in the writing business there are some absolutely great people, and then of course you have the other side of the fence. Scammers, they're called. People who take advantage of authors desperate for publication, and then take their money, as a result.

That's why I promised myself, as I've said before, that I won't spend a dime to get published. So if any contract, be it a Literary Agent's or Publisher's, calls for me to pay them, I walk away.

Some great online resources are Writer Beware, Preditors & Editors, and Absolute Write. These websites help authors discern which agents and publishers are good ones, and which ones are bad. One of the most wonderful people with whom I've had the pleasure to converse is Victoria Strauss. She's an author and she runs the Writer Beware website. She also chimes in a lot on the Absolute Write Forum.

If you have any doubts about an agent or a publisher, she will go out of her way to help you. People like Victoria Strauss make me believe in the greatness of the human condition. Thank God for people like her.

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