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.




Friday, August 5, 2011

Networking Takes Effort

I like to blog daily, because it keeps me in touch with the blogging world. It's the networking that sells books, I'm told. Word of mouth is key. It's how a lot of people have sold their books. It's what I hope to do when THE VASE comes out.

Of course the bottom line is a great story told with great writing. But if nobody knows about that great story, they won't read it. And then they won't find out about the great writing, either.

So for all of us aspiring authors, keep on blogging. Let it hang out. But I have found a lot of blogs go dormant. I have found some that had their last post written months ago. Some even years. And I don't think those blogs are being read.

Now of course you have to give a reader a reason to read your blog. They have to want to know about the blogger, and his/her experiences in the writing and publishing world. And they will want to know about the stories you write.

And keeping it going daily takes effort. You have to get down and do it. But the long haul is what the goal is. That goal is selling books!

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