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.




Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Killer of Killers--a Great Story

While I'm re-editing Killer of Killers, I'm still amazed with that story line. Here I am rereading it, for like the millionth time, and I'm getting a kick out of it still. It remains my favorite book/story of all time. Yeah, The Vase is close, but still, for me, Killer of Killers takes the cake. One of the main things I've been focusing on in this round of edits is the whole issue of POV, more specifically third person limited. I've always hated first person POV. Second person is cool, but not for that story. And when I wrote it, I thought I was using third person omniscient, but since then, starting with the editors at Melange, I've learned that in today's fiction writing, third person omniscient is not vogue. In fact, it's taboo. Don't do it. What's in vogue is third person limited.

And when Melange told me that, they seemed to be focused on the main character.  And being new to the concept, I didn't connect the dots, and use the same guidelines for the secondary and/or supporting characters. It wasn't until the editors at Penumbra got a hold of The Vase did I finally get my brain wrapped around that concept. All characters need the same standards of POV so as to be consistent with the third person limited POV. They drilled it into me, and now I've finally got it.

So now that I'm thoroughly satisfied with The Vase, (providing Penumbra implements all of my final edits,) I can go back to KOK and make the same kind of edits. And there are plenty of places to do it. Another example is establishing the POV character in each scene. You don't want to wait beyond the first paragraph to do that. It's very important, and now that I finally get it, I'm making everything work in that book. Just as they do in The Vase. And you know what? It's fun. I think the editing stage is the most enjoyable phase of writing. The most relaxing, too.

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