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, November 29, 2011

Third Person vs. First Person

I never liked first person narrative. So I only write in third person. Heck, if I was writing my John Dunn book in first person, I don't think I could have put the battle of Isandlwana in the story because Dunn wasn't there.

I like the ability to be omniscient and third person is the only way to write for me. Actually, I detest first person narrative so much that when I pick up a book that might look interesting to me, I put it right back down when I find out it's first person.

I think that first person is disgusting. It forces you to be someone else. I don't want to be someone else. I remember when I was a kid reading Edgar Rice Burroughs. He wrote some of his science fiction stories in first person. I didn't like it then, but I was just a kid, so I read them anyway. If I was to pick up those books now I'd drop them like a hot potato. That's how much I hate first person.

Why do writers choose to write that way? I hope I never see a book written in first person again.

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