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, October 13, 2011

Beta Readers

I have written three books at this point, with my WIP, the John Dunn story being my fourth. One of them, THE VASE, is under contract to be published by Cogito, and has already undergone two complete edits, albeit by two different publishers as chronicled on this blog.

And I am content that THE VASE is ready to be read. My first novel, KILLER OF KILLERS, yet to be sold, is ready, I think, because I've revised it so many times. Sure it will have to be edited by a publisher too, but I really like the way it reads by now.

KILLER EYES has only gone through two drafts, and I know it still needs a lot of work. That's why I would say it's not ready to read. And of course John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu is not even through the first draft yet.

But my brother, a writer, too, wants to read it when he visits at Christmas time. The question is, will it be ready? I let him read my first two books, but both weren't in their present form. I have come to wish I had waited. But maybe for a beta reader it doesn't have to be finished. Still, I hope it can be a more polished draft than those first two were when he read them. That's all.

No comments:

Post a Comment