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 16, 2015

John Dunn Book Ready for Beta Reader

I deleted that scene I was talking about yesterday. And I followed up and changed the references to it. So that means it's ready for submission. Meaning if any agent or publisher were to request the full, it's ready to send. Does that mean it's a finished work? No. I'm sure to reread it over and over again, and every time I do I'm sure to make more revisions. But at this point, I believe those revisions will only be in the polishing of the prose. No more significant story changes. I think all the scenes that are in there now will remain in there, and I don't think I'll be adding any additional scenes.

There were a couple other scenes that happened in real life that I might have put in there. There was the fight between two Zulu regiments that Dunn witnessed firsthand which killed about 75 Zulus. And there was an event involving a Zulu chieftain and gun registration, where he refused to do it, then fled, killed three white policemen, was caught, went to trial and was convicted. Some say it was another factor that led to the Anglo-Zulu war.

But the book's already over 120,000 words. It's plenty long enough. And neither scene would really add much more to the story. It's good to go. Ready for a Beta reader.

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