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, December 20, 2012

With Connections, Short Road

As someone who had no connections in the publishing industry, and still got a book published, and will probably get all my books published, I can honestly say that it made my writing and my books better that way. Because it forced me to get better. And who can argue with that? You want your writing to be as good as it can be.

If I had a connection and got my books published before I improved them, then that would have been nice to have that time cut shorter, but then my writing wouldn't have been at the level it is now. I would have been content to just be published. And although the writing was good enough, it just wasn't as good as it is now.

My second book, The Vase is another example of being better after some time. If Virtual Tales or even Cogito did publish The Vase, it would have been a good story, with good writing. Now, it's a great story with great writing. And it only took maybe a year more for it to happen. I think any writer who is interested in their writing to be as good as possible would make that trade. Well, maybe some wouldn't, but this writer here says, yeah, I'll make that trade.

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