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, September 4, 2013

Killer of Killers, Second Edition almost there

With The Vase wrapped up, and published now, I've been giving 200% attention to the second edition of Killer of Killers. I just have to. With the standard of writing quality set, for me, at least, in The Vase, I have to make sure that Killer of Killers measures up. And I think it does now.

Again, I attribute that to the strict and unbending standards of 3rd person limited at Penumbra, as well as the strict and unbending guidelines of verb usage, commas, tag lines, and just about everything else in the literary process. Melange was more loose with all of that, but since my second novel, The Vase, was held to that standard, I am compelled to make sure Killer of Killers meets those standards, too.

I'm just glad the publisher at Melange is willing to go along with that. But why shouldn't she? It will only make this particular Melange book a better book. And wow, is it better. Why else would I suggest that buyers hold off until the second edition is published? Because my name is on it, that's why. It's a book I wrote, and any author would want their best effort put forth. Any author who's a true artist, anyway. And an artist, I am.

And of all the arts that I have spent time with, it's writing and writing novels in particular which I find the most rewarding. Particularly when they're published and real people out there in the real world are reading them. That really makes it worthwhile. And exciting. Yep, this is a good year for me.

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