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, May 21, 2012

Tweaked the Cover Design


It's been a couple months or more since Caroline at Melange designed the cover to KILLER OF KILLERS, and I loved it so much there hasn't been a day go by without me looking at it. And over the course of that time there were two things that didn't seem right about it.

First the e's in the title text. When she came up with the design, I asked Caroline to boldface the text of the title. When she did that, the hole in the e's disappeared. I didn't think much of it at the time, but over the past couple months, it bothered me.

And second, the title was too low. That put it off center. It did have one good effect: the "of" was placed at the same level as the nose hole in that skull. But it still didn't overcome the bottom-heavy look to me. So I asked Caroline to raise the text a bit.

And she did. She fixed the e's, too. And with the text raised to the vertical center of the cover page, it looks balanced now. And as an unexpected, but added benefit, the central part of the web now has a centered position in the space it's in, which is also a better effect.

This really is an example of how a publisher can be accommodating and cooperative. It's also another example of a publisher being communicative.

No need to rehash the problems I had with another publisher who was not so communicative. It's refreshing to know that my current publisher is willing to abide by the wishes of its authors. And on that note, here's to my anticipation of the first edits. They should be coming in any day now. But like I said, the top person, Nancy, had already told me she believed it wouldn't need much editing at all. And that's a testament to the five years I spent polishing up that manuscript. I'm curious as to what kind of edits it might need. But I can tell you this: there are no more typos at this point. Of that, I'm sure. Stay tuned.

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