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.




Monday, April 15, 2013

Disaster Averted

Well, the people at Fry's Electronics came through, and yes, they saved all my files. Whew. And the first thing I did after I brought my computer home was put the latest versions of my manuscripts on not one, but two different flash drives. As I said before, I used to do this every time I updated my manuscripts, but that was when I was in the process of writing them or revising them. But I had stopped doing that last summer, and the latest version of Killer Eyes might have been lost when my Sony Vaio crashed last week. That would have been the worst thing. But losing the last two weeks of going over my edits on The Vase would have been somewhat discouraging, too.

But none of that is the case. All my files were saved, and now they're backed up, and everything is okay. So I'm reviewing all my edits again, and once I reach where I left off, I'll finish this with the knowledge that The Vase is as good as it can possibly be. And that is because of Penumbra's staunch literary standards. I'm very pleased their top editor has such a high stake in my book. He is obviously vested in it, seemingly as much as I am. And that's what it takes to make a book the best it can be. Your editor has to be committed to it as much as you are. And apparently he is.

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