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, September 25, 2014

Don't like it? Change it!

If you have the power to change something you don't like, then change it. And change it right away, before it's too late. That's one great thing about being a writer. You have complete power over your own writing. Until an editor gets a hold of it at least. So change it if you don't like it. If you wait, it will be too late. Once it's published and out there, that's it.

It's one of the reasons revisions are so very necessary. That's your chance to change things. I changed an awful lot in all of my books. And for that, they are so much better. It's art. When you're drawing a picture, painting a painting, sculpting a sculpture, or composing a song, just like writing a book or whatever, you have the power. It's the creator who's creating who is in charge. That's such a wonderful thing, because in life there's not a lot of things you can change that you don't like.

Like politics, wars, poverty, disease, crime, etc. These things are so horrible, and you just can't change them. Not even people who have the power to change them will change them. Those things are here to stay. And those less important things? Things that could be changed, like other people's art? Well, I've seen shows, movies, or listened to songs, and I've wanted to change this or that about them. But of course, since they weren't my creations I had no power to do so. Had I the power, those shows or songs would have been so much better. But I can't worry about other people's creations. Just my own. And that's why my creations, unlike a lot of other people's creations, are near perfect. To me, at least, they are. Just sayin'.

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