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.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Multiple Projects and Characters Based on You
Still, there was a point where I left KOK alone and concentrated on THE VASE completely, until I completed the first draft. Then I would volley between the two, giving a full reread on one, and then the other. Once both were "done" I started planning the sequel to KOK. It's still my sentimental favorite. Maybe because, as a first novel, a lot of "me" is in there. I read somewhere, I forget once again who, but it was someone who knew about writing and writers. This person said that an author's debut novel will contain a MC who is based on themselves. I think it's true that a lot of Trent Smith's personality traits are indeed based on my own.
For example, Trent Smith is a loner. I like to be a loner, although with a wife and two sons, I'm not so much a loner anymore. Trent Smith hates cigarettes and drugs, especially recreational drugs. In fact, he despises them, and so do I. Trent Smith is roughly the same size person as I am, too. He's quiet and opinionated, but keeps his opinions to himself, until drawn from him by circumstances.
So, aside from the fact that I've never killed anyone, I'm a lot like Trent Smith, or vice versa.
In THE VASE, there is no one like me. But that was the point of the article I read. It's the debut novel that contains the like character. So now that I'm on my fourth book, it's no longer happening.
Just hope that working on multiple projects doesn't affect the quality of the material.
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ReplyDeleteJ.S Lambert
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