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, November 4, 2011

When Time is Short

Since I have a full time teaching job, and a full time family of five, (including the mother-in-law,) time becomes sparse, and that means time to sit in front of a computer and produce is limited. Extremely limited. It's over the summer vacation I get the most work done, and that's when I was able to write my first three books. (The first drafts, I mean.)

But the John Dunn story took a lot longer and even though summer vacation ended two months ago, I'm still not finished. It's because I had to read and research about the time period and about the events that took place in the story I'm writing. Yeah, it's historical fiction, but I am fully aware that the Zulu War enthusiasts out there will expect a semblance of historical accuracy.

So I'm chugging along, inch by inch, and getting closer to the end every day. I used to pump out as much as five thousand words in a day over the summer. Now I'm lucky to get five hundred down.
Still, it's five hundred more than the day before. Just keep it going, and the time will pass, and the book will get done, but only if you stick to it.

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