Secret of the Sands - award-winning adventure novel climbs higher on the Bestseller lists & is now also available in the UK!

Hi fellow book peeps,

Like a proud parent, I wanted to share a couple of cool news items about our adventure novel Secret of the Sands. For the last several months, the novel has been a consistent feature on the Historical Fiction Bestseller list for Amazon kindle, and today I noticed that we have reached one of our highest positions on the list - #29, and we are now appearing on a second Bestseller list for kindle - "Genre Fiction, Historical". That is really thrilling!! We are deeply grateful to all of our readers!! Here is a screen shot of our proud moment, of which I'm all aglow :)



This is doubly wonderful news, because our terrific publisher, Maine Desk/Bristlecone Pine Press, has just recently made the ebook edition available in the UK as well. We are so jazzed to be branching out around the world. Here is a link:

Secret of the Sands adventure novel - Amazon kindle UK

Secret of the Sands is actually a multi-genre novel, suitable for young adult to adult audiences. It is a mix of adventure, mystery, suspense, action, alternative historical fiction & speculative sci-fi (the kind of story that is catnip to me!). It has both light-hearted aspects, as well as serious moments and events. The description that sums it up is that the book is a little Indiana Jones meets The Mummy meets National Treasure.

From the back cover:

A Prophecy was Told…

An ancient prophecy, thousands of years old, told of the coming of the Chosen one, but she will be both loved and feared, and some will stop at nothing to defy everything she represents.

A Secret Long Buried…

A secret power that once proved too deadly, was hidden away deep beneath the sands of Egypt, only to be revealed by its sworn guardians when the time came that the knowledge would be safe.

A Deadly Riddle is Unlocked…

Two young archaeologists fatefully unearth unusual artifacts dating over 12,000 years old. The exhilarating find however, is wrong - very wrong. The artifacts shouldn’t be there…they shouldn’t even exist at all.

A Power Unleashed…

Now after remaining dormant for 12,000 years, the secret has been uncovered, and its true purpose suspected. What will be the greatest discovery in human history will either change us forever or destroy us for trying…






Happy reading always my friends! Thank-you once again to our readers - you mean the world to us!!!

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

Rai Aren

Author

Secret of the Sands

Read Now - http://bit.ly/15WZUp

Twitter - @raiaren

Join me on Goodreads this Friday, June 25th for a Q&A on I Love Canadian Authors!

Hi there fellow book enthusiasts,

As I have mentioned many times, Goodreads is one of my favorite sites. I am also proud to be a member of the Goodreads group "I Love Canadian Authors" & was honored to be invited to participate in their Author Q&A. My turn is this Friday, June 25th, and I will be available to answer questions throughout the day.

Here is the link to the group on Goodreads:

I Love Canadian Authors group

And here is the link to the Author Q&A thread:

Author Q&A

I am following on the heels of some very cool authors, so do stop by & check out the previous Q&A's - there's lots of interesting things being asked & shared.

Of course, like many of the other participants, I will keep an eye on my thread after my day and respond to addition questions that come in. If you are not already a Goodreads member, but books are an important part of your life, I encourage you to join!

I am looking forward to this & thank the moderators of the "I Love Canadian Authors" group very much for this opportunity. Talk to you soon!

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Secret of the Sands - Bestseller for Historical Fiction!

Good day!

I wanted to share our cool news - our award-winning mystery novel Secret of the Sands has been on the Amazon kindle BESTSELLER list for Historical Fiction for the last several weeks. Whoohoo!! We have our awesome readers to thank for that!

Currently, we are at #75, here's a screen shot:




We are so very grateful for each & every reader. We love to entertain you! I also want to pass along to our fans who take the time to write in to tell us how much they enjoyed Secret of the Sands - that gives us big, huge warm fuzzies every time :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Interview with Rai Aren on thriller author Sean Ellis' site

G'day peeps,

I wanted to pass along a link to my latest interview. We talk about our award-winning, bestselling adventure novel Secret of the Sands, its upcoming sequel, Destiny of the Sands, and more. I was honored to be invited as a guest on thriller author Sean Ellis' website. Sean is the author of The Shroud of Heaven. Other authors he has featured are Kent Holloway, Nicholas Boving, Steven Savile, Paul Byers, David Wood, Barry Reese, and Craig Smith. I am delighted to be in their company. Their interviews/features are all worthy and entertaining reads. I encourage you to check them all out while you're there. Here is the link:

Sean Ellis - "Authors You Need to Read!"




I thought I would also share a link to Sean's novel, I've ordered my copy and I am looking very forward to reading it:

The Shroud of Heaven on sale on Amazon


My sincere thanks to Sean for the opportunity to be a guest author on his site! Thanks for your time & happy reading always :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning adventure novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Celebrating Secret of the Sands' BESTSELLER status for Historical Fiction!!

Hi friends & fellow readers,

I was doing my dance of joy this week as Secret of the Sands kindle edition spent a couple of days on Amazon's BESTSELLER list for Historical Fiction, reaching at least #78. That is a huge honor for us & I want to pass along our sincere thanks to our readers - you're everything to us!

I'll take a moment to show off the screen shot of our super-cool bestselling standing:



Yippee!! Here is the link to the kindle edition:

Secret of the Sands kindle edition

Our readers rock!

Happy reading always my friends :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Come & check out Book Town

Hi fellow authors,

I wanted to pass the word along about one of the very cool ning sites out there. It's called Book Town and here is their mission statement:

"The social network that brings writers, readers & artists together. From novels to short stories Book Town is the place to promote your work."

The site has discussion forums, a bookstore, groups, various resources organized by genre, and more. We all have many choices in our social networking, and with some sites, it can be challenging to find places within that are on point with your needs and goals. Book Town makes a great addition to your social networking activities if you are interested in writing, reading, or are an artist.

Here is a link to the site:

http://booktown.ning.com/

and here is a little more info on what they are about:

"Book Town was built to provide a social network that brings writers of novels, graphic novels, short stories, poems, quotes, and artist together to:

* Provide assistance to the novice writer by building a network of accomplished authors who are willing to give pointers and advice to beginners in need of assistance.

* Gain additional exposure for authors to promote their projects by way of book sales, video trailers, contest, and by posting appearances in book fairs, book signings, radio and TV appearances."


Also, as many of you know, the free ning sites are no longer, but Book Town is not one of them, so you can rest assured your profile will remain. I have been a member since shortly after their inception and there are lots of cool peeps there to engage with & learn from. If you are an author, they are also offering opportunities for FREE promotion, including author features & a Book of the Week program. Sign up & check it out! Do befriend me there, too :)

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS

Secret of the Sands, award-winning mystery novel - back better than ever & ON SALE NOW!

I am extremely pleased to announce that SECRET OF THE SANDS, our award-winning, bestselling mystery novel has successfully undergone a great new upgrade. It has been polished inside & out. This endeavor took two months to complete and was initiated by the exciting award our adventure novel received of a silver medal for "Fiction-Mystery", in the ReadersFavorite.com 2009 Book contest.

The new cover has the medal on it and new wording. Here is what it looks like:



In the new interior, there's lots of new things including a couple of new quotes and some very cool hieroglyphs...you'll love it!

The new version is available on Amazon & even better - they have put it on sale! I don't know how long that will last & I have no control over that, so get it while it's hot, avid readers!! Here's the link:

Secret of the Sands - new version, on sale!




Amazon's "Search Inside the Book" feature is going to take 6-8 weeks to update to the new interior, but rest assured, it's the new version you will get!

The other changes to the interior include new blurbs & excerpts from numerous great reviews this ancient Egypt book has received along the way, an update to our author bio at the back of the book (it was time), the fixing of the handful of typos (egads!) that gremlins must have inserted into the book when we weren't looking ;) and the mention of our bronze medal award for the sequel, Destiny of the Sands - also from ReadersFavorite.com in the "Fiction-Mystery" category (which can also be found at the back of the book). We are thrilled to bits to have won two medals! I have also included our new tagline for the sequel on that page:

Some secrets cannot remain hidden, some cannot be forgiven...

Those words perfectly capture the story of both books, if you've already read Secret of the Sands, you will know what I am talking about... ;)


Here is a screen shot of the awards that we won:




If you are a Canadian bookstore or library, you can also order SECRET OF THE SANDS through our new distributor, Red Tuque Books:

www.redtuquebooks.ca







Here is our ad, which appears in Red Tuque's 2010 Spring catalogue:




Here is the ordering info - readers can also use the ISBN or LCCN to request the book at their fave library or bookstore if they don't already carry it:

ISBN-10: 1-4196-7552-4
EAN-13: 978-1419675522
Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN): 2010904965

BISAC codes:

1. FIC002000 FICTION / Action & Adventure
2. FIC030000 FICTION / Suspense
3. FIC040000 FICTION / Alternative History
4. FIC028010 FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure
5. FIC024000 FICTION / Occult & Supernatural


So, who would love Secret of the Sands? This adventure novel has a double storyline, where the past & present intertwine & is intended for both young adult & adult audiences. It would appeal to people who love National Treasure, The Mummy movies, and Indiana Jones (it even has shades of The Chronicles of Narnia & The Golden Compass in it), readers who love suspense, adventure, alternative historical fiction, speculative sci-fi, unique mystery tales, and those who are fascinated by ancient Egypt and the enigmatic Great Sphinx of Giza…covers a lot of people, doesn't it?! That was the idea ;)

Secret of the Sands has made numerous appearances as an Amazon.com BESTSELLER in the categories of "Ancient Civilizations", "Books, Religion & Spirituality, Fiction", "Fiction, Action & Adventure", and "Historical Fiction", so having a new version of the book that has been shined & polished is very special :)

Happy reading always, my friends!

Rai Aren, co-author of the award-winning mystery novel SECRET OF THE SANDS


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…

Rai Aren

Author

Secret of the Sands

Read Now - http://bit.ly/15WZUp

Twitter - @raiaren

"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