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, March 11, 2011

Editing Continues to Progress

Finished with my pass through chapters, 5 – 10. Well, at least my first pass. And I can honestly say the manuscript is way improved - Chapters 1 – 10, anyway. Since I have 24 chapters in THE VASE, that leaves 14 more chapters. So while I’m waiting for Ti to send the next chunk, I’ll read Chapters 1 – 10 again, to see how the improved prose sounds.

Whenever I read parts of the manuscript that have been changed, it feels strange because I’m so used to reading the original version. But as I made the changes, I knew the prose was better, and some of the sentences made more sense. Some of them fit better. And some of them have better research supporting the information.

I have said that I didn’t change everything Ti suggested. Whenever I thought it better to leave it as is, for whatever reason, I was fully cognizant of the fact that I might change it anyway later on. Now is the time to see if it happens. If not, there will certainly be other reads.

I’m eager to see how it sounds. I know the changes I did make will stick, unless I change them again; not back to the way they were, but improving them even more. That’s happened a lot. It means the manuscript is getting better and better.

It’s thrilling to me, really, because I know when this book is done it’s going to be a superbly written work. It will be like when I finished a great painting or sculpture. But I’m betting it will be an even better feeling than that. We’ll see.
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2 comments:

  1. Ricky BushMarch 12, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Yeah, that other set of eyes sure can help polish things up. Can't they?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. DMarch 12, 2011 at 11:36 PM

    Ti is great, but you already knew that.

    ReplyDelete

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