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.




Thursday, April 18, 2013

Editing Quirks

One of the things about editing/revising that I might label a quirk is when you sit for an hour trying to think of the best word to use in a particular part of your manuscript. And then you realize it was all for nothing. What happened to me last night was I spent, well, maybe not an hour, but almost an hour, trying to figure out what verb to use in a dialogue tag in my book The Vase. It's when Professor Weiss is hurt and he is responding to someone asking him if he can walk. So I was trying to figure out what dialogue tag to use when he answered. I was thinking to just write He answered. But no. I almost went simply with He said, but no. He groaned? He muttered? After nearly an hour of getting nowhere, what was my solution? NO DIALOGUE TAG. Sometimes, no dialogue tag is the best way to go. But I wish I realized that a lot sooner. Oh well. Such is the life of a writer.
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