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, September 13, 2011

Agents

When my WIP, John Dunn, Heart of a Zulu, is finished, I'm considering querying for an agent again. My last experience with agents really wasn't a good one, and I don't have an agent right now. I figured I didn't need one, as I did a better job of finding a publisher for THE VASE than my agent did for KILLER OF KILLERS. And I still believe that KILLER OF KILLERS is the better book. But that might just be a personal preference thing.

My whole agent experience was just another example of luck gone awry. An agent has got to love your book in the first place, and my first agent did, but as I've chronicled on this blog, she retired within months of signing me. The other agents who took over, I have to believe, did not feel the same, and I am doubtful they even read the darn thing.

A good agent is supposed to take care of their client, and the thing that bugs me the most about the agents who took over my case, is that when I told them about my next book, (THE VASE) they had zero interest in representing it. They didn't even bother reading it. It's like, what the heck? It's not like I was someone off the street. I was already a signed client! Who needs agents like that? No one.

So, I have it in my contract with Cogito that they have the right of first refusal for the next book I write, which is going to be John Dunn. I'll tell them about it, and they may well be interested. I'll also tell them about KILLER OF KILLERS. But if THE VASE is the only book of mine that they publish, what then? Hhmmnn. I think I'll query an agent.
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