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, November 18, 2013

Wake Up Time, Dormancy Over

Sorry about the blog being dormant the last few weeks. It's because I was feeling guilty about always saying that I was going to submit the second edition of Killer of Killers, but then I didn't do it, always finding more and more to revise. On one side of the coin, that's a good thing, that I wasn't rushing it, that I was taking my time to make sure it was just right. But on the other side of the coin, how much can one take when the delays keep happening, the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into months?

Okay, having said all that, and all of it valid, it's done, now. I sent it last night, and Nancy, the publisher at Melange has already answered that she has it, and it will be released soon after December 1st, which is only a couple weeks away.

But she also inferred that she wants to eliminate the "header page" if I understood her correctly. She said that those pages should not be there. I asked for clarification to be sure it's what she meant. And if it is what she meant, then I don't know why she said that. Penumbra Publishing has that header page in there, too. I know that because The Vase just got published by them, and their format is almost the same as Melange's, with a header page containing the title and author name.

Meaning it has a "header page" dedicated to saying only: The Vase by Mark M. DeRobertis -- although it's not the very first page like with Melange books. It's the fifth page, after the blurb page, copyright page, acknowledgments page, and a blank page. Melange has the header page first and then the copyright page, blurb page and acknowledgments page.

So when Nancy answers with clarification, maybe I'll just request it to be in the order of like how Penumbra does it. We'll see how that goes. I'll be posting again tomorrow. Things are back to normal now, so I should be back to daily posts again from now on.

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