Hey there fellow authors & readers,
I just joined LibraryThing this week, a very cool site for avid readers and writers. If you are also a member, do look me up & connect with me there. Here's the link to my profile:
Rai Aren's LibaryThing profile
I have, of course, added our adventure novel, Secret of the Sands to my profile. If you haven't already read it, I'd be honored if you would check it out :)
In the shadow of the Great Sphinx of Giza, two young archaeologists unearth extremely unusual artifacts over 12,000 years old, but the find is wrong - very wrong. The artifacts shouldn’t be there…they shouldn’t exist at all. The greatest discovery in human history may turn out to be the deadliest…
Happy reading always, my friends!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Find me on LibraryThing!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Secret of the Sands adventure novel is again an Amazon kindle Bestseller!!

I am so honored & thrilled to see our adventure novel, SECRET OF THE SANDS, is once again an Amazon kindle BESTSELLER!! Currently we are #77 for Historical Fiction, which is wonderful!
Thank-you so much to our awesome readers - we love yooooooouuuu!!!!
I included a screen shot of our proud moment :)
Happy reading always & thank-you for your support!!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Secret of the Sands Official Press Release
SECRET OF THE SANDS by Rai Aren and Tavius E.
Welcome to Egypt’s hidden past.
In an Egypt before pharaohs and pyramids, a mysterious civilization nearly changed the course of mankind. Now its secrets are about to be unearthed – but is the world ready for the consequences?
Inspired by the best parts of Indiana Jones, The Mummy and National Treasure, Secret of The Sands by co-authors Rai Aren and Tavius E. is a captivating hybrid of science-fiction, historical fiction and mystery. The story covers a time before what is in the history books, giving authors Rai Aren and Tavius E. the freedom to propose explanations for many of ancient Egypt’s unknowns still shrouded in mystery today.
The most unique aspect of Secret of The Sands is the dual intertwined storylines. Questions asked in the present are revealed as the past unfolds, slowly inching towards the stunning revelation. Who was this civilization really and where did they come from? What went wrong? Will they ever return and finish what they started?
Secret of The Sands is, at its heart, a love letter to ancient Egypt. The authors’ life-long fascination with the subject matter brings the story to life with contagious enthusiasm and genuine respect. Rai Aren was a member of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (SSEA) for many years before and during her foray into writing, and took two (non-credit) courses in Egyptology at the University of Calgary. Archaeology & Anthropology were hands down her two favorite courses in all of her post-secondary education.
Secret of The Sands educates while it entertains, and the work-in-progress sequels will introduce a deeper message and new theories when many aspects of Egypt’s past, our own past and certain mysteries of the universe are tied together.
About The Book:
SECRET OF THE SANDS by Rai Aren and Tavius E.
• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: RFS Publications; 1st edition (September 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419675524
• ISBN-13: 978-1419675522
About The Authors:
RAI AREN
Rai loves the stories of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones (her first kitty cat is named Indiana, Indy for short), and The Matrix (take the red pill!), to name a few. She loves getting lost in these enchanting worlds and studying their underlying philosophies. Ancient Egypt has held a particular fascination for her since childhood. She feels right at home surrounded by Egyptian art and books.
Rai feels that novels have the ability to take us on magic carpet rides, allowing us to escape into fascinating and engaging worlds, where the stories become real to us. Storytelling is an ancient, timeless practice and is an integral part of who we are. For Rai, writing a novel is a similar, but far more intense experience and she is thrilled to be a part of such an honored tradition. She believes that these stories are out there, waiting and wanting to be told - that they travel the universe in search of the door, the conduit, to the soul who is meant to tell their tale. She hopes you enjoy the worlds she & Tavius have opened the doors to…
TAVIUS E.
Tavius E. (pen name) grew up and currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He attended Mount Royal College and Athabasca University, majoring in Business and Accounting. Movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Star Wars trilogies have ignited his imagination. Authors such as David Eddings and Dan Brown have inspired him to write.
He enjoys learning about ancient Egypt and archaeology. He sometimes looks up at the stars in the skies and wonder about all the amazing stories that have never been told. As a result, he and his college friend, Rai Aren, are pursuing their shared interests of being successful storytellers.
Contact Information:
For more information, please visit the profile at AllTheseBooks.com
E-mail: rai-tavius@secretofthesands.com; rai.aren@yahoo.com
Website: www.secretofthesands.com
MySpace link: http://www.myspace.com/mysteryscifiauthors
Video Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1GkYZZTM5w
Bristlecone Pine Press: http://www.bcpinepress.com
Written and distributed by:
Marius Menzel for http://AllTheseBooks.com and http://BookHuntersBlog.com
Webmaster@BookHuntersBlog.com
910-625-1372
Welcome to Egypt’s hidden past.
In an Egypt before pharaohs and pyramids, a mysterious civilization nearly changed the course of mankind. Now its secrets are about to be unearthed – but is the world ready for the consequences?
Inspired by the best parts of Indiana Jones, The Mummy and National Treasure, Secret of The Sands by co-authors Rai Aren and Tavius E. is a captivating hybrid of science-fiction, historical fiction and mystery. The story covers a time before what is in the history books, giving authors Rai Aren and Tavius E. the freedom to propose explanations for many of ancient Egypt’s unknowns still shrouded in mystery today.
The most unique aspect of Secret of The Sands is the dual intertwined storylines. Questions asked in the present are revealed as the past unfolds, slowly inching towards the stunning revelation. Who was this civilization really and where did they come from? What went wrong? Will they ever return and finish what they started?
Secret of The Sands is, at its heart, a love letter to ancient Egypt. The authors’ life-long fascination with the subject matter brings the story to life with contagious enthusiasm and genuine respect. Rai Aren was a member of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (SSEA) for many years before and during her foray into writing, and took two (non-credit) courses in Egyptology at the University of Calgary. Archaeology & Anthropology were hands down her two favorite courses in all of her post-secondary education.
Secret of The Sands educates while it entertains, and the work-in-progress sequels will introduce a deeper message and new theories when many aspects of Egypt’s past, our own past and certain mysteries of the universe are tied together.
About The Book:
SECRET OF THE SANDS by Rai Aren and Tavius E.
• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: RFS Publications; 1st edition (September 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419675524
• ISBN-13: 978-1419675522
About The Authors:
RAI AREN
Rai loves the stories of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones (her first kitty cat is named Indiana, Indy for short), and The Matrix (take the red pill!), to name a few. She loves getting lost in these enchanting worlds and studying their underlying philosophies. Ancient Egypt has held a particular fascination for her since childhood. She feels right at home surrounded by Egyptian art and books.
Rai feels that novels have the ability to take us on magic carpet rides, allowing us to escape into fascinating and engaging worlds, where the stories become real to us. Storytelling is an ancient, timeless practice and is an integral part of who we are. For Rai, writing a novel is a similar, but far more intense experience and she is thrilled to be a part of such an honored tradition. She believes that these stories are out there, waiting and wanting to be told - that they travel the universe in search of the door, the conduit, to the soul who is meant to tell their tale. She hopes you enjoy the worlds she & Tavius have opened the doors to…
TAVIUS E.
Tavius E. (pen name) grew up and currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He attended Mount Royal College and Athabasca University, majoring in Business and Accounting. Movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Star Wars trilogies have ignited his imagination. Authors such as David Eddings and Dan Brown have inspired him to write.
He enjoys learning about ancient Egypt and archaeology. He sometimes looks up at the stars in the skies and wonder about all the amazing stories that have never been told. As a result, he and his college friend, Rai Aren, are pursuing their shared interests of being successful storytellers.
Contact Information:
For more information, please visit the profile at AllTheseBooks.com
E-mail: rai-tavius@secretofthesands.com; rai.aren@yahoo.com
Website: www.secretofthesands.com
MySpace link: http://www.myspace.com/mysteryscifiauthors
Video Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1GkYZZTM5w
Bristlecone Pine Press: http://www.bcpinepress.com
Written and distributed by:
Marius Menzel for http://AllTheseBooks.com and http://BookHuntersBlog.com
Webmaster@BookHuntersBlog.com
910-625-1372
Sunday, November 1, 2009
New! Secret of the Sands adventure novel trailer #2
I am very proud to show off the brand new video trailer for our adventure novel, Secret of the Sands! I made it myself using a very cool, free tool called Animoto. I hope you like it! The words to the song actually match up incredibly well to specific story points, I'm totally jazzed about it :)
Happy reading always, my friends!
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands, adventure novel
"A deep probing mystery riddled with prophecy and danger, Secret of the Sands uses Egypt and her mythology as a backdrop to delve into the meanings of life and religion." -McNally Robinson
"Rai Aren and Tavius E. have crafted a fast-paced, exciting novel overflowing with mystery and intrigue. The tension is constant. The characters fully developed. And the plot gripping. Ancient history and present day relevance are so expertly intertwined, that you might forget you are reading a work of fiction." -- Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy
Happy reading always, my friends!
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands, adventure novel
"A deep probing mystery riddled with prophecy and danger, Secret of the Sands uses Egypt and her mythology as a backdrop to delve into the meanings of life and religion." -McNally Robinson
"Rai Aren and Tavius E. have crafted a fast-paced, exciting novel overflowing with mystery and intrigue. The tension is constant. The characters fully developed. And the plot gripping. Ancient history and present day relevance are so expertly intertwined, that you might forget you are reading a work of fiction." -- Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Awesome new 5-star review of the adventure novel Secret of the Sands!

I was absolutely delighted to come across another 5-star review of our adventure novel, Secret of the Sands. I thought I would share it with you:
reposted from Amazon:
"Can't wait for the Movie!", October 27, 2009
"Secret of the Sands is a very entertaining and exciting tale of ancient Egypt and modern archeology. The authors succeed in painting the ancient world and its characters in realistic and memorable fashion. Secret of the Sands is a story of adventure, wonder, betrayal, forgiveness, suspense, and action - all the elements that so often can be weaved together into a blockbuster movie. A hope this tale gets the opportunity to reach the big screen - i'll be amongst the first in line to see it! Fans of adventure tales like Indiana Jones will love this book." --P. Martucci
********
If you are interested in buying our mystery novel, here is the link to the trade paperback version:
Purchase Secret of the Sands paperback
and here is the link to our Amazon kindle version:
Purchase Secret of the Sands kindle edition

Happy reading always, my friends!
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands
www.secretofthesands.com
For 12,000 years a dark and deadly secret has been hidden deep below the Great Sphinx of Giza. In present day Egypt, a frightening, yet awe-inspiring story unravels as archaeologists race against time to decipher an ancient truth...
"A deep probing mystery riddled with prophecy and danger, Secret of the Sands uses Egypt and her mythology as a backdrop to delve into the meanings of life and religion." -McNally Robinson
"Rai Aren and Tavius E. have crafted a fast-paced, exciting novel overflowing with mystery and intrigue. The tension is constant. The characters fully developed. And the plot gripping. Ancient history and present day relevance are so expertly intertwined, that you might forget you are reading a work of fiction." -- Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Secret of the Sands is a kindle BESTSELLER again!!

I am so honored & delighted to see that Secret of the Sands, a mystery novel, is once again an Amazon.com kindle BESTSELLER in the category of Historical Fiction. Currently, we are at #92 on this fabulous list. I included a screenshot :)
Here is the link to the kindle edition of Secret of the Sands:
Secret of the Sands kindle edition
And here is the link to our trade paperback version:
Secret of the Sands paperback version
Thank-you to all of our readers, we greatly value you!!
Happy reading always!
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands
For 12,000 years a dark and deadly secret has been hidden deep below the Great Sphinx of Giza. In present day Egypt, a frightening, yet awe-inspiring story unravels as archaeologists race against time to decipher an ancient truth...
"A deep probing mystery riddled with prophecy and danger, Secret of the Sands uses Egypt and her mythology as a backdrop to delve into the meanings of life and religion." -McNally Robinson
"Rai Aren and Tavius E. have crafted a fast-paced, exciting novel overflowing with mystery and intrigue. The tension is constant. The characters fully developed. And the plot gripping. Ancient history and present day relevance are so expertly intertwined, that you might forget you are reading a work of fiction." -- Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Operation eBook Drop - authors, join in!
Hi fellow readers & authors,
I wanted to pass the word along about a great initiative – Operation eBook Drop. It provides donated eBooks to soldiers serving overseas. I am always inspired to hear about how books can help bring some light into someone’s life. I signed up to donate copies of Secret of the Sands – our title, published by Bristlecone Pine Press, was recently listed in the OmniLit catalogue, which made this possible. Here’s the link to our book there:
Secret of the Sands on OmniLit

Here is an article about it by Holly Christine in the Pittsburgh Book Examiner. You can find Holly on Twitter: Holly's Twitter page and here is the link to the article, which I have copied in below:
Operation eBook Drop article from Pittsburgh Books Examiner
"Operation eBook Drop is the recent development of Edward C. Patterson, author of eight novels (The Jade Owl, most recently). In the Kindle forums, Patterson came across a US soldier stationed in Iraq. The soldier expressed an interest in downloading Patterson’s work, but couldn’t because Amazon’s Whispernet (the service Amazon uses to send eBook purchases to it’s Kindle counterpart) does not function in Iraq.
The issue sparked an idea in Patterson, a frequent poster and respected member of the Kindle forums. After discovering that Kindle authors expressed an interest in making their work available for free to overseas soldiers, he concocted a plan to use Smashwords, utilizing the site’s coupon feature for free eBooks to soldiers.
Since the conception of Operation eBook Drop only a few days ago, over thirty-five independent authors have offered their work(s) for free to overseas U.S. soldiers. Smashwords quickly responded with Patterson in further developing the project, notifying nearly 1300 authors.
For now, authors interested in participating in the program are encouraged to email Patterson. Works must available through Smashwords with a 100% off coupon code. Soldiers interested in particular works will express their interest through Patterson. Patterson then notifies the author, who will then email the soldier links and coupon codes. Smashwords is currently working on an automated system to further the project development.
For more information or to get involved with the program, visit Smashwords for complete program details."
*******
If you are an author, I hope you will join us in this very worthy effort!
Happy reading, always, wherever you may be…
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

For 12,000 years a dark and deadly secret has been hidden deep below the Great Sphinx of Giza. In present day Egypt, a frightening, yet awe-inspiring story unravels as archaeologists race against time to decipher an ancient truth...
"A deep probing mystery riddled with prophecy and danger, Secret of the Sands uses Egypt and her mythology as a backdrop to delve into the meanings of life and religion." -McNally Robinson
"Rai Aren and Tavius E. have crafted a fast-paced, exciting novel overflowing with mystery and intrigue. The tension is constant. The characters fully developed. And the plot gripping. Ancient history and present day relevance are so expertly intertwined, that you might forget you are reading a work of fiction." -- Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy

P.S. I thought I would share our video trailer with you:
Created by Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands, with help from her friend Tommy Taylor, author of The Second Virgin Birth.
I wanted to pass the word along about a great initiative – Operation eBook Drop. It provides donated eBooks to soldiers serving overseas. I am always inspired to hear about how books can help bring some light into someone’s life. I signed up to donate copies of Secret of the Sands – our title, published by Bristlecone Pine Press, was recently listed in the OmniLit catalogue, which made this possible. Here’s the link to our book there:
Secret of the Sands on OmniLit

Here is an article about it by Holly Christine in the Pittsburgh Book Examiner. You can find Holly on Twitter: Holly's Twitter page and here is the link to the article, which I have copied in below:
Operation eBook Drop article from Pittsburgh Books Examiner
"Operation eBook Drop is the recent development of Edward C. Patterson, author of eight novels (The Jade Owl, most recently). In the Kindle forums, Patterson came across a US soldier stationed in Iraq. The soldier expressed an interest in downloading Patterson’s work, but couldn’t because Amazon’s Whispernet (the service Amazon uses to send eBook purchases to it’s Kindle counterpart) does not function in Iraq.
The issue sparked an idea in Patterson, a frequent poster and respected member of the Kindle forums. After discovering that Kindle authors expressed an interest in making their work available for free to overseas soldiers, he concocted a plan to use Smashwords, utilizing the site’s coupon feature for free eBooks to soldiers.
Since the conception of Operation eBook Drop only a few days ago, over thirty-five independent authors have offered their work(s) for free to overseas U.S. soldiers. Smashwords quickly responded with Patterson in further developing the project, notifying nearly 1300 authors.
For now, authors interested in participating in the program are encouraged to email Patterson. Works must available through Smashwords with a 100% off coupon code. Soldiers interested in particular works will express their interest through Patterson. Patterson then notifies the author, who will then email the soldier links and coupon codes. Smashwords is currently working on an automated system to further the project development.
For more information or to get involved with the program, visit Smashwords for complete program details."
*******
If you are an author, I hope you will join us in this very worthy effort!
Happy reading, always, wherever you may be…
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

For 12,000 years a dark and deadly secret has been hidden deep below the Great Sphinx of Giza. In present day Egypt, a frightening, yet awe-inspiring story unravels as archaeologists race against time to decipher an ancient truth...
"A deep probing mystery riddled with prophecy and danger, Secret of the Sands uses Egypt and her mythology as a backdrop to delve into the meanings of life and religion." -McNally Robinson
"Rai Aren and Tavius E. have crafted a fast-paced, exciting novel overflowing with mystery and intrigue. The tension is constant. The characters fully developed. And the plot gripping. Ancient history and present day relevance are so expertly intertwined, that you might forget you are reading a work of fiction." -- Thomas Phillips, author of The Molech Prophecy

P.S. I thought I would share our video trailer with you:
Created by Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands, with help from her friend Tommy Taylor, author of The Second Virgin Birth.
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