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.




Friday, September 5, 2014

Second Chance, my Fifth Novel, coming along

I talked a little bit about my fifth novel, Second Chance. I'm at 11,191 words right now, which is pretty good progress, seeing as how I'm not dedicating full attention to it. I'm still finishing up Killer Eyes, which I absolutely refuse to submit, even though it's guaranteed to be published by Melange, the publisher of Killer of Killers. Killer Eyes, after all, is the sequel to Killer of Killers.

I just need to be absolutely sure that Killer Eyes is ready to be submitted. Even now, as I read through what I thought would be the last read-through, I'm finding plenty of places that need to be improved. Yeah, I've got all the plot holes fixed, all the inconsistencies fixed, all the POV issues are fixed, and all the timeline issues are fixed. But still, I'm finding little things here and there that just won't do. I mean, if this was published, I would be thinking, "Now why didn't I write this like this, instead of like that?"

That happened time and again with Killer of Killers, on top of the POV issues that were present and needed to be fixed, and were fixed in the second edition of the book, which is available now. I just want to be absolutely sure that this time it doesn't need a second edition. And I'm close, to be sure, but now quite there. Not quite yet.

With Second Chance, my first novel since I've perfected the POV style, and near perfected the art of writing a novel, it won't be such a major thing to revise, as it was with my first four novels. And the progress is really showing that fact. I've mastered the art of writing a novel by now, and I'm not surprised at all. Two big things to look forward to this year for me on the writing front. The completion of the final draft of Killer Eyes, and the completion of the first draft of Second Chance.

And because this blog is a writing blog, I'll keep you, the reader, apprised as I go along, just as I did with Killer Eyes and John Dunn, as I was writing them. Bye for now.

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