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, August 30, 2011

Emotions

So do you get emotional when you read? Do books evoke emotion from you? One thing that I like about some movies is that they do succeed in drawing out emotions, even from me. I'm not really an overly emotional guy, but I do have them. I figure everyone does. And when a story can pull emotion from you, then I think it's a well told story.

But a book has never done that to me. Except my own books. Every time I re-read KILLER OF KILLERS and THE VASE, there are parts in there where I feel emotional. I don't want to insert a spoiler here, but they are parts where something tragic happens, and I feel my emotions stirred. And I must have read those parts near a hundred times each, yet I still feel it when I re-read them.

I have to believe I wrote them well. I guess I'm more in touch with the characters I created and the stories I wrote than I ever can be with another author's characters and stories. What else could it be? I said it happens to me in movies, but I think it's good acting that gets the credit for that.

And I think it is a good sign of writing if you can do it in a book. Maybe I should read more.

Naahh...
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