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, May 3, 2013

Another Publisher Interested in The Vase

It was just yesterday I received an email from another publisher I had queried more than a year ago, expressing interest in publishing The Vase. Of course, I replied that it was being published by Penumbra, but still it makes me glad that The Vase had received such a large number of positive interest from a collection of different publishers. That publisher was something like the eighth publisher to at least express interest, and there have been five that have actually offered contracts. Penumbra is the third publisher with whom I had signed. The other two, I have documented thoroughly already, so no need to rehash that. But there was another publisher who offered a contract last December, which was before I had committed to Penumbra, but I was already working with Penumbra, polishing the writing, specifically the POV, that I wanted to at least see that through, so I passed, and, of course, Penumbra did offer the contract. If you go to the "coming soon" page on the Penumbra website, The Vase is already listed. So it's real, and I think it will be available by this summer. Can't wait. Still waiting on the return of the final edits, in the PDF print proof. The last one looked good. They have a picture of a vase on the first page of every chapter, which is cool. And it's close to what I envisioned the vase to look like, too. And the quality of the publication seemed great. Again, can't wait.

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