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, June 23, 2025

Music Revisions

So I've been waiting for the summer vacation to revise my songs. But not really revise them. What I've been wanting to do since last summer was re-SiNG some of the songs. I got a lot of that done last summer. But I wasn't quite done. I had started with Volume 1 and worked my way up through Volume 11 re-singing the songs at which I believed I could do a better job. And then school started again, and, being a music and art teacher, I had to dedicate my time to that. But here we are with another suumer and I am picking up where I left off. But instead of Volume 12, I skippped to Volume 13 because I think there were two songs there that needed re-singing most of all. Looking Back and Time in the Sun. It just so happens that Time in the Sun seems to be the most popular of ALL my songs, since it's received more "listens" than any of my other songs. Although I'm glad people like it, I was always wary of my singing voice on that song and wanted to re-sing it. Unfotunately, it's another very difficult song for me to sing. But on my second day of trying, (today) I got a version that is at least acceptable. I even improved the lyrics somewhat since I had the chance to do that. I figure it's like my novels. If you can improve any portion of it, go for it and I did. So I hope those of you have liked that song, will give it another listen. And I also hope that you agree that it's now a better version. (But I'm still no Frank Sinatra. Far from it. Very far.)

No comments:

Post a Comment