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, January 19, 2016

Back to Work on WIPs

With the release of the Knox Robinson Publishing schedule for 2016, and seeing two of my most recent books listed for publication in 2016, I have a new zeal for writing. That means my two WIPs are back in action. Beginning with Killer on the Payroll, the third installment of my Trent Smith Killer Series, which I returned to writing yesterday. Trent Smith is, after all, my favorite character. I put him up there with Conan, Captain Kirk, and James Bond.

After watching an episode of Arrow last night, I was glad that I've written the Trent Smith character to have no family. Actually, who knows if he really does have a family. It's just that there has been no family introduced in the first two books. He claims to have no family, however, as I just wrote that last night. He meets a nurse in the hospital where he had to stay overnight due to some injuries, but the nurse takes a liking to him and a romance develops.

If anyone thinks that's farfetched, think again. I was hospitalized in my distant past, and guess what. The nurse took a liking to me and it developed into a romance. So, yeah, it really does happen, as it did happen to me. And to honor that experience, I'm even naming the nurse in my story after the nurse in real life: Nancy. (I am using a different last name, of course.)

But the point of all this is that I'm back in action. I was focusing on my other WIP, Inside the Outhouse. But being an MG/YA story, the word count will probably be about half that of the other WIP. It's one of the many good things about MG/YAs. Shorter stories and not as much commitment regarding time spent in story development. Although I must say I have spent a good amount of time with this story's development.

So, back to work. And stay tuned.

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