Rai Aren's Blog - Posts Tagged "sphinx"

Cast the movie version of Secret of the Sands!

We have been approached by Hollywood film producers (the real deal!) on the movie option for Secret of the Sands , they indicated the book seems to have "BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE POTENTIAL" - very exciting!! In the meantime, check out which actors Rai has cast in the lead roles on Storycasting.com.

Here's the link:

Cast the movie version of Secret of the Sands on Storycasting.com



Feel free to cast your own votes! Have fun :)





Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

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Published on February 24, 2009 11:32 Tags: adapted, ancient, book, egypt, egyptology, film, great, movie, novel, option, sands, screenplay, secret, sphinx

An Egyptian "What If?" - New 5-star review of Secret of the Sands!!

I wanted to share our latest & totally fantastic 5-star review. It's been posted right here on Amazon & in the Apr-09 edition of Sonar4 Science Fiction & Horror Ezine, a very cool publication. In their own words:

"We are a Free Science Fiction and Horror Monthly Ezine that accepts submissions all year long of Short Stories, Flashes, Micros. We also do reviews and author interviews."

Here is the link to their website, be sure to check out all of their cool content!

Sonar4 Science Fiction & Horror Ezine



At the end of the review, I have included an author's comment, which I thought important to share.

We are also being checked out by Hollywood for a future movie version of the book, so we hope to see you on the big screen in the not-too-distant future! (in IMAX & 3D!!)

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands





Reposted from Amazon & Sonar4 (note: some spoiler alerts):

An Egyptian "What If?"

Every story is a "what if?" Writers are continually writing alternate histories of the world even if they seem identical to the world we inhabit. Ancient Egypt wavers in our minds between knowledge and imagination, fact and fiction, like waves of heat coming off the desert, is what we see real or mirage?

Secret of the Sands by Rai Aren and Tavius E has two stories running concurrently and that mirror each other. The first story is the of ancient Egypt before the Pyramids but not before the Sphinx. The "what if" in Secret of the Sands embraces the theory that the Sphinx is older than accepted dating based on the evidence that parts of the Sphinx show that at one time rain flowed over its body indicating that the Sphinx must have been built at a time when the Egyptian weather was much milder and wetter approximately 12,000 years ago. We're introduced to the kingdom of King Traeus and Queen Axiana and the extended royal family that lives in the palace. Traeus and Axiana are beloved rulers and the country is at peace. Traeus has plans to build what will become the Sphinx in honor of a legendary lion that saved an ancient king, it is to be a gift from the royal family to his people. Traeus is taken aback when at the Spring Ceremony, which honors the harvest, some of his subjects stage a protest and demand that Traeus reveal all of his plans to the people. There is also strife within Traeus' own household, Traeus' brother Prince Alaj and his wife Zazmaria are dissatisfied with the status quo of the lack of power Alaj has within the family, and the slights and deceit they perceive from Traeus. Zazmaria is easily seduced by the powerful enemy of Traeus, Lord Draxen. But the intriguers aren't wrong, Traeus himself does have a secret that he is hiding from everybody. He is building a secret chamber under the Sphinx (also rumored in our day and age to exist) to house some kind of machine called the Pharom. Traeus wants to harness the power of this machine to the benefit of his people.

The concurrent story is set in our world, the world of Mitch and Alexandra, they're lifelong friends and colleagues who are doing their field work on a dig near the Sphinx to earn their doctorates. They work for Professor Dustimaine a vainglorious man more interested in taking credit for the work and discoveries of others than doing any actual field work, except to berate the doctoral students into working harder and longer. One afternoon under the Egyptian sun Alex(andra) falls asleep and has a dream of an ancient chest with strange markings. The dream upsets her so much that she jumps up and runs until she trips over something in the sand, they dig it up to discover it's the chest Alex was dreaming about. Inside the chest they find two scrolls made of metal from a time that predated the iron age. They take the chest to their friends in the lab Jack and Bob, who provide the comic relief but they're skilled lab technicians and if they don't have the equipment they know other doctorial students who do have the right equipment. Together they discover a Rosetta Stone for the two scrolls found which are written in an ancient language and parts of it written in an archaic but more modern form of ancient Egyptian. Together they decide to keep the artifacts and their discoveries away from Professor Dustimaine until they can verify their findings, but each time they make a new discovery it pushes them on to a new discovery until they find the Pharom and activate the powerful machine.

I really enjoyed this book, the authors have a very natural style, that lets the reader feel as if they're witnessing the events as they unfold, it takes a certain amount of confidence and skill that usually takes a lifetime of writing to develop. The writers have the confidence to trust in their story to let the tension build, drawing the reader farther into the story and investing themselves into the outcome, and lets the reader discover things on their own. The writing fully involves the reader and you'll find yourself cheering the heroes, and wanting the villain(s) to get their comeuppance. The characters are vivid and palpable, especially Mitch and Alex, the camaraderie displayed by the two characters feels as if you're getting to know two real people. The same can be said for the descriptions, at times you can almost hear sand scrapping against rock.

I know there's a tradition in science fiction stories of not telling too much about technologies or tools that would be used everyday by the inhabitants of the world described. But I think the Pharom should have a little background on how it came to be in Traeus' possession, what he thinks it will do to benefit his subjects, and how he knows how to use the power. We are told the Pharom is given to man by an alien race, but we never see how that contact was made and why the aliens would give such a machine to a King of a primitive society. The Pharom is alien to Traeus and his people and would naturally invite explanation, these questions need answering, some are alluded to but that's mostly left for the reader to fill in the blanks. I think it's a little obvious throughout the book that a lot of things are being set up for a sequel, and that may be a little unfair for the reader because we're being intrigued and beguiled by elements that we aren't going to see brought to fruition by the end of the book. There's a planned sequel to Secret of the Sands but even a book with a planned sequel should give some answers to the reader be satisfied some of their questions and really to whet their appetite for the next book. But these are minor quibbles compared to all the overall quality and strengths of the book.

This is a beautifully written book and I enjoyed reading it very much, and that I would readily recommend to anyone looking for a good story to read.

--Jym Cherry, staff reviewer for Sonar4 Science Fiction & Horror Ezine

Author's note on this review (additional spoiler alerts): the comment on why aliens gave this technology to the King - this is not the case, the technology was developed by the King and the aliens are not a 'separate' part of this story... ;)





"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

"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
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Published on March 23, 2009 13:25 Tags: 5-stars, ancient, egypt, fiction, historical, novel, review, sphinx

"Can you spell B-L-O-C-K-B-U-S-T-E-R?" New 5-star review!!

I wanted to share another of our latest 5-star reviews for Secret of the Sands:

(reposted from Amazon.com):

This book has "Summer Blockbuster" written all over it. Mr. Bruckheimer, are you paying attention?

Amittedly, it has all the elements I love--action, suspense, the metaphysical world, Egypt, archaeology.... Yes, it brings to mind my hero, Indiana Jones. This book is as close to Indy's equal as any novel or film will ever get.

The pacing is flawless, the characters well-defined, the history thoroughly researched. The authors have done their homework, and I can't wait for the seuqel.

A note to the reviewer who criticized the authors' grammar, etc.--bear in mind that this is not meant to be a textbook. It's entertainment. The best novelists learn the rules of good English, then break at least half of those rules. The objective is to tell an exciting story, not give an English lesson.

I would enthusiastically recommend this novel to anyone who wants a real page-turner!

Norma Beishir
author, Chasing the Wind
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Published on March 25, 2009 11:30 Tags: 5-star, action, adventure, ancient, egypt, novel, review, sci-fi, sphinx

Secret of the Sands is again an Amazon kindle BESTSELLER!!!

I am so thrilled to share that Secret of the Sands is again an Amazon BESTSELLER!! Our Amazon.com kindle edition reached #87 in the kindle-fiction-historical fiction category today!!!

Below is the link to our Amazon.com kindle page:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-of-the-S...

This wouldn't be possible, of course, without our AWESOME publisher, Maine Desk/Bristlecone Pine Press!





If you are a reader who likes a good mystery and is intrigued by ancient Egypt, I hope you will give us a try!

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

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Published on April 26, 2009 22:57 Tags: amazon, ancient, bestseller, ebook, egypt, kindle, novel, sphinx

Coming soon! For Sony ebook readers - Secret of the Sands!

I am very happy to share the news that our publisher, Bristlecone Pine Press/Maine Desk LLC is in the process of striking a deal with Sony to offer their ebooks for the Sony reader. We've been receiving requests from interested readers who want our book for their Sony readers, so I am very happy that we will soon be able to offer this cool option!







Do stay tuned! I will let you know when it becomes available :)

In the meantime, you can find our trade paperback copy here:

Secret of the Sands trade paperback on Amazon


Our Amazon kindle version:

Secret of the Sands Amazon kindle edition


And our Mobipocket link:

Secret of the Sands on Mobipocket


Happy reading always, my friends!

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
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Published on May 18, 2009 14:07 Tags: adventure, ancient, ebook, egypt, fiction, historical, mystery, reader, sony, sphinx, suspense

Secret of the Sands has been picked up by a publisher for foreign translation rights!!

Hi Goodreads peeps,

We just received some fantastic news - a publisher in Turkey has offered us a publishing deal for translation rights to Secret of the Sands!! I can't wait to see the book in a new language!

I'll share details as I get them :)

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

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Published on August 02, 2009 12:44 Tags: adventure, ancient, deal, egypt, fiction, mystery, novel, publisher, publishing, sands, secret, sphinx, suspense

New Interview with Rai & Tavius in "Behind the Books"

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Tavius & I are honored to have been interviewed by author Kathy-Diane Leveille for her blog, "Behind the Books". We hope you'll stop by, have a read, leave a comment, and also check out all of the other interesting features on her blog. Here's the link:

Behind the Books Interview with Rai & Tavius


Kathy-Diane is also a fellow Goodreads authors, so do add her as a friend, if you haven't already. Here's her page:

Kathy-Diane Leveille's Goodreads page


Happy reading always, my friends!

Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands

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Published on September 01, 2009 18:25 Tags: adventure, ancient, author, authors, egypt, great, interview, mystery, novel, sands, secret, sphinx, suspense

Operation eBook Drop - authors, join us!

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:

http://www.omnilit.com/product-secretofthesands-82018-240.html

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Here is an article about it by Holly Christine in the Pittsburgh Book Examiner. You can find Holly on Twitter: http://twitter.com/hollyrambles and here is the link to the article, which I have copied in below:

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-15202-Pittsburgh-Books-Examiner~y2009m9d13-Introducing-Operation-eBook-Drop

"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

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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


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Published on October 25, 2009 17:24 Tags: adventure, ancient, drop, ebook, ebooks, egypt, mystery, omnilit, operation, sands, secret, sphinx

Secret of the Sands is a kindle BESTSELLER again!!

I am so honored 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 below :)

Here is the link to the kindle edition of Secret of the Sands:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-of-the-Sands/dp/B001ESMPTG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1225087001&sr=1-1

And here is the link to our trade paperback version:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sands-Rai-Aren-Tavius/dp/1419675524/ref=sr_11_1/103-7609026-1067836?ie=UTF8&qid=1189435997&sr=11-1


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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

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Published on October 27, 2009 22:39 Tags: adventure, amazon, ancient, bestseller, book, egypt, kindle, mystery, novel, sands, secret, sphinx

Awesome new 5-star review of the adventure novel Secret of the Sands!

Hi friends,

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:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sands-Ra...

and here is the link to our Amazon kindle version:

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-of-the-S...


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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


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Published on October 28, 2009 16:36 Tags: adventure, amazon, ancient, bestseller, book, ebook, egypt, egyptology, fiction, kindle, mystery, novel, sphinx, timeline