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, December 8, 2014

Birthdays and Holidays

So December 9th is my birthday. Another year flies by, and another year older. I'm still young enough, but my sons are getting big. My oldest is 18, and my youngest is 12. My oldest played football in college, and my youngest had his first year in Pop Warner. That was a lot of time and effort, that Pop Warner. More than the high school years for my other son.

But the day will come when my sons move out to go to college, and then, if they're anything like me and my brother and sisters, they'll never move back. That will kill me. But I'll have more time to write books, no?

Don't think so. My wife is the one who is always demanding my time. She's the one who considers my book writing efforts as direct competition for my attention. I swear I give her more attention than I give my books. Had I given my books more attention, they'd all be finished by now. All five of them. And then some.

But whatever. I'll have to remember one thing. It's your family that matters more than anything, not your art, or your music, or your writing. Your wife, your sons, and maybe even your students, if you're a teacher like I am. Writing is great, though. You get to create your own worlds, your own characters, and your own events. Your own antagonists and villains, and even entire races of alien life.

But the latter would be directly tied in to my sci fi story I began writing years ago, and adapted into a graphic novel, that I never finished. I've been thinking of finishing it lately. Boy, would my wife get mad at me then!

No comments:

Post a Comment