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, September 2, 2011

Instability in Publishing?

There has been an increasing amount of instability in the publishing world lately that it makes me concerned. First, you have literary agents bailing from their careers. Everyone knows at least one agent who bailed, and I seem to learn of new ones every other week who also stop being agents.

That sends a signal. At least to me. Yeah, they say it's not because of anything negative, like a dismal future in the business, but I am really wondering if the self-publishing phenomenon is taking a toll. You have the big publishers making compromises lately. Like making deals for print only, whereas the author retains full ebook rights. That's a sweet deal for authors. And being an author, I like that.

When I first decided to write novels, I was convinced that I didn't want to be a self-published author because, and I'll be frank, I didn't want the stigma that went along with it. You know, that anyone can write a lousy book and get it self-published. I didn't want to pay some scam publisher money to print a dozen books that never sold even two copies.

But I'm thinking that the stigma has been lifted because of some of these self-published authors making it big. And then the big publishers come calling them instead of vice versa. It really is an interesting time to be an author. That's for sure. We'll see what's next.

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