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.




Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Where are the buyers?

The stats page on this blog indicates that hundreds of people visit this blog every month. Unfortunately, those numbers are not reflected on my publisher's 'books purchased' stats. I mean, if even half of the visitors on this blog purchased a cheap 5 dollar eBook, then my sales for Killer of Killers would be through the roof. Or if not through the roof, at least pretty near the roof. But according to Melange, that is not the case. I've tried to promote my favorite book, KOK here on this blog, but that just doesn't seem to be working. I can't promote it to my students, because it's not for them, and they shouldn't be reading it. I tell them as much whenever the topic comes up.

But what about the readers of this blog? My stats page says that I've had over 23,000 visitors over the last couple years, and maybe that's not a lot compared to other blogs, but, again, if just half of the people reflected by those numbers had purchased a copy of KOK, just an eBook or digital copy, even, then I'd have pretty good sales. But it ain't happening. Still, there are people who tell me that they bought a copy. Not friends or family, though. I've already posted that friends and family are the last people who would buy a copy.

No, the people who say they bought a book are people I hardly know. A student will tell me one of their parents bought a copy, or someone who I only know in passing might tell me they got one, but that''s it. The rest are complete strangers, and maybe that's how it should be. I think it's true that if someone knows you, especially if they've known you your entire life, then the sudden news that you write books will be a shock to them. They won't be able to come to terms with that. In other words, they won't believe, or they won't want to believe that you actually can write books...good books, that is...books that they would want to read. It's weird, but it's also an interesting insight on how the human mind works.  Something that is new is not easily accepted. Even if it's a positive thing, like writing books. Go figure.

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