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, March 20, 2012

Agents Need Not Apply

Yesterday I talked about why I needed no agent. But that was specific to KILLER OF KILLERS. So I thought I’d talk about THE VASE today.

A little more than a year ago, I had decided to submit THE VASE to publishers on my own, because the agents I had at the time were unwilling to represent it. The only explanation I received was because it dealt with the Middle East. It was like, Okaaaayyy… Most disturbing to me at that point was that they never even bothered to read it. Had they at least read it, they would have learned it wasn’t the standard Middle East terrorist yarn. Although there were terrorists involved in the plot, there was so much more to the story – really unique and original stuff. But they just blew it off. Other agents blew it off, too, and I realized the agent thing was a waste of time.

So I submitted it myself to the publishers who didn’t require an agent. And in my first round of submissions, I received three contract offers. The first one I decided not to sign, but the second one I signed. That was Virtual Tales. As I’ve chronicled on this blog, after the first round of edits Virtual Tales folded. So I got busy advising the publishers who had expressed interest from that first round of submissions and the third contract followed. That was Cogito.

But after another round of edits, Cogito flaked as I explained in last week’s post. Fortunately, there was a clause in Cogito’s contract that enabled me to terminate that contract and I did.

And it’s where I stand today. Right now, two other publishers are still willing to publish it. But I’m not quick to sign contracts anymore. Another publisher, in England, is still looking at the full, and three pretty good publishers right here in the States have requested the full. And I will most definitely wait to see what their answers will be.

All writers know about waiting, but I feel good about my chances because every publisher who requested the full, after having read the partial, has offered a contract. Stay tuned. It’s a heck of a ride, and I’m not jumping off.
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