Rai Aren and Tavius E. first met in college and soon found that they not only shared an interest in ancient Egypt, but they also shared a desire to write. Characters were created, plots thrown around, and before long a story was formed.
Secrets of the Sands hit the ´dunes´ running and quickly climbed the ranks on Amazon.com and has made appearances in trade shows overseas including the Beijing Trade Fair, Frankfurt Trade Fair, and the Sharjah World Trade Fair.
Currently, Rai and Tavius are working on the sequel which they´ve titled Destiny of the Sands, and has been tentatively set to release this year.
C. L. Vaughn: Hello Rai and Tavius, welcome to Author-2-Author. I´ve only had the chance of interviewing one other author team so I´m really glad I was given this opportunity.
I´d like to start off by asking you both about how you got started with writing. Were you both writing stories before you met, and how long after you met did the idea of writing a novel surface?
Rai Aren: When I was young, maybe ten years old, I loved the Nancy Drew stories so much, that I wanted more, so I would write my own ´fan ficton´, only 10-15 pages, but it was fun. Tavius & I actually knew each other for many years before we started writing Secret of the Sands, studying in college. We talked about ideas over the course of the year prior to starting the book, bouncing ideas & concepts off of one another. Then one night I saw a program on the Discovery Channel where they were still debating the age of the Sphinx, and I thought, wow, that would be the perfect launching point for a really cool novel. The rest as they say, is history
Tavius E.: I started writing only after I had a long talked with Rai. We found out we were both interested in Egyptology and enjoyed reading or watching stories pertaining to this field. We decided it would be a good idea to write our stories and ideas, instead of talking about them.
C. L. Vaughn: I read on your blog, http://secretofthesands.blogspot.com, that you placed an advertisement in Foreword magazine and that it resulted in your novel making appearances in several international trade shows.
Can you share with our readers your experiences with Foreword and how your novel became included in the trade shows?
Rai Aren: To our knowledge, I´m not sure if our activities with ForeWord have really had much impact on our sales. We actually paid for the ad and the trade shows separately, signed up for both types of activities separately. We did not have any contact subsequent to these activities to indicate they made any real difference for us.
Tavius E.: It´s hard to tell the effect the ad in Foreword had on sales of Secret of the Sands. I think since we are new and unknown writers, the ad probably did not generate much sales. Most of the sales came from Rai and her work on MySpace.
C. L. Vaughn: I noticed that your main website, http://www.secretofthesands.com, was designed my author Jeremy Robinson. I´ve actually had the chance to interview Jeremy (my first interview) and we´ve even emailed a few times. Did Jeremy also design your book´s cover and the banners/poster?
Tavius E.: Yes, Jeremy did the book´s cover, banner and poster. He helped us out with some hints on how to promote Secret of the Sands.
Rai Aren: Jeremy also did the interior formatting. He did a great job of everything, and was wonderful to work with. The way that all happened was that I came across his book, The Didymus Contingency, but I wasn´t familiar with him. I bought the book, then looked up his website, noticed he did the graphic design work too, and contacted him. I really liked his style, plus his genres are along some of the same lines as ours, so I thought he would be someone who would understand what we would want in a cover and would be able to do it well. He did such a fantastic job that we hired him to do our website & print materials, too!
C. L. Vaughn: What was the process you two had for writing the book? Were you meeting in person or was the majority of the work being done via emails?
Rai Aren: When we first started this process, most of the writing was done together, but as we developed the story & characters more, and became more confident in our writing, that our storytelling was on the right track, we did more & more on our own. We would then send each other our work, review it, make changes when we would meet, then set out a plan for what each would accomplish for the next time we would meet. Having a plan, meeting regularly, reviewing everything together, kept us on track, organized and motivated.
Tavius E.: Most of the writing was done on our individual time, but we met often to discuss about the story and do some writing and editing.
C. L. Vaughn: On your site you mention that RFS Publications is actually a fictitious publisher and that it stands for Recipe for Success. Who actually are you going through to print your book? Is there an ebook version of the novel out there as well?
Tavius E.: Booksurge, a subsidiary of Amazon, is the company printing our books. There is currently no ebook version of Secret of the Sands, but it might be something we will consider doing in the future.
Rai Aren: We have had a couple of inquiries from readers who would like the Kindle version of our book, so I am going to look into that. We are waiting to hear back from a handful of publishers and agents with whom our book is currently under consideration with. I definitely want to give our readers the wide range of options when choosing our story, so I just need to decide whether to wait until a traditional publishing deal gets inked, or to go ahead with it in the interim.
C. L. Vaughn: Can you explain why you chose to use pen names for your writing and what made you pick, Rai Aren and Tavius E.?
Rai Aren: For a few reasons. Firstly, I liked the exotic-ness of the names, and we wanted to keep things mysterious. The book has a mystery to it, and we thought it would add to its mystique if the authors sounded less everyday, so you wouldn´t automatically guess at our background, ethnicity, genders, etc. At the heart this is basically a continuation of important aspects of the story.
Also, I like having a measure of privacy, but even more meaningful to me is that going by this name, Rai Aren, feels like an important turning point in my life. I was always a creative person when I was young, then I went on to a successful career in business, but now I am coming back to who I really am at the core. It´s like a separation of the child-like dreamer who only exists to create, from the person who went to college & university in the pursuit of a professional career to build a life, get a home, etc. Both are good, but Rai is pure creativity – a creative energy & outlook.
I was brainstorming names during a writers conference, I wanted something that wouldn´t be indicative of gender or ancestry. I actually made it up out of thin air, but the initials, and two first letters of the first name both spell Ra, like the Egyptian sun god.
Tavius E.: We did not want people to know our nationality or gender as we were concerned people might have misconceptions about us. I always liked the ancient Roman name Octavius. I just took a form of that.
C. L. Vaughn: How much research about ancient Egypt was put into the novel and have either of you made the trip to see Egypt in person?
Rai Aren: Going to Egypt is our lifelong dream, we have not yet been (unless you count in our dreams!) We have both been fascinated by Egypt & her incredible history since we were little kids. I do have an extensive collection of books, DVDs and Egyptian art, took a (non-credit) course at the local university here on ancient Egypt, plus I was a member of the local SSEA – Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities for a number of years. I hope to resume my membership with the SSEA, I really enjoy that group, time pressures are the only thing keeping me away.
Tavius E.: Rai has extensive books and DVDs on ancient Egypt. She has attended workshops and seminars. I´ve watched several episodes on Discovery Channel and History Channel. I´ve also done some research on the internet. I have not been to Egypt, but one day would like to go there.
C. L. Vaughn: Mind telling us about the novel and the sequel?
Tavius E.: Secret of the Sands begins with two archaeologists discovering some unknown artifacts in Egypt, belonging to an unknown civilization dating back to 10,000 BC. As they deciphered the artifacts, the story of the unknown civilization comes to life. The two archeologists realize that a secret from this ancient civilization still exists today and it will have catastrophic results for everybody if they don´t find a way to stop it.
Destiny of the Sands will continue the adventures of the two archeologists and support characters from the first book. There will be more action and intensity as the stakes are much higher. The story will be darker.
Rai Aren: Secret of the Sands is a fun adventure story, but with underlying messages, big and small. There´s much more beneath the surface. We poured our love of, and fascination with, ancient Egypt, into every page. We took many things that are already known about Egypt´s past, then extended beyond that to timeframes that are not necessarily so well understood, where people still debate, and wrote a fictional pre-pharaonic history to explain it.
Though Secret of the Sands is a standalone story, the sequel Destiny of the Sands carries on from there. It will also tie actual historical facts into our fictional tale, while uncovering hidden ´truths´ about things we are all very familiar with. The journey of the characters that readers got to know in SoS becomes increasingly perilous. From there, we have brainstormed the third installment of this trilogy, and the stakes grow at an alarming rate, with huge consequences. We have some really big surprises in store for our readers, it will knock your socks off!
C. L. Vaughn: Has self publishing been a worth while adventure for you both so far? Any tips for the other writers out there who are thinking of self publishing their books?
Rai Aren: I have learned an incredible amount about so many aspects of the book biz. It´s been a lot of hard work, but enjoyable just the same. I do think that I wouldn´t have appreciated things as much had we not had this experience, if we had been published traditionally to start off with. Of course, a traditional publishing deal is our goal, but we really felt that our book was ready, that there was a big market out there for this type of story and that we had something unique and interesting to offer of quality. Like anything, you can spend as much or little as you wish, but my advice to anyone thinking of this as an option is this:
Make sure you have done the absolute best job you can on your story, get it edited by others who will help you, not just compliment you because they like you. Understand fully your genre, what makes that type of story good, and be very clear on what you are trying to accomplish and ask yourself critically, did you accomplish it?
If that confidence is there, polish it, format it nicely, get a good cover, because for good or bad, that is a very strong marketing tool. Also a website is a wonderful tool, it´s a destination people can visit to learn more about you.
Then be prepared that it is a ton of work both in the process to get the book to print, then in the marketing afterwards. Network, network, network!!! With other authors, with readers, every chance you can. If you are prepared to go the long haul, it can be a very rewarding experience.
Tavius E.: It´s been a good learning experience. I would prefer our book to be published by a traditional publisher.
C. L. Vaughn: Last and not least, do you two have anything else you´d like to share with our readers?
Rai Aren: Pursue your passions, whatever they may be, with all your heart and soul! Read lots of books, it´s good for your brain! Support authors
Tavius E.: We are hoping this story would be a trilogy. We have some ideas for a 3rd book, but first we must finish the second book.
C. L. Vaughn: Thank you again for both taking part in this interview and for reading the first issue (The Man Beneath Lake Union) of the Owen Ruger Micro-adventure Series. It´s been an honor to meet you both.
Secrets of the Sands hit the ´dunes´ running and quickly climbed the ranks on Amazon.com and has made appearances in trade shows overseas including the Beijing Trade Fair, Frankfurt Trade Fair, and the Sharjah World Trade Fair.
Currently, Rai and Tavius are working on the sequel which they´ve titled Destiny of the Sands, and has been tentatively set to release this year.
C. L. Vaughn: Hello Rai and Tavius, welcome to Author-2-Author. I´ve only had the chance of interviewing one other author team so I´m really glad I was given this opportunity.
I´d like to start off by asking you both about how you got started with writing. Were you both writing stories before you met, and how long after you met did the idea of writing a novel surface?
Rai Aren: When I was young, maybe ten years old, I loved the Nancy Drew stories so much, that I wanted more, so I would write my own ´fan ficton´, only 10-15 pages, but it was fun. Tavius & I actually knew each other for many years before we started writing Secret of the Sands, studying in college. We talked about ideas over the course of the year prior to starting the book, bouncing ideas & concepts off of one another. Then one night I saw a program on the Discovery Channel where they were still debating the age of the Sphinx, and I thought, wow, that would be the perfect launching point for a really cool novel. The rest as they say, is history
Tavius E.: I started writing only after I had a long talked with Rai. We found out we were both interested in Egyptology and enjoyed reading or watching stories pertaining to this field. We decided it would be a good idea to write our stories and ideas, instead of talking about them.
C. L. Vaughn: I read on your blog, http://secretofthesands.blogspot.com, that you placed an advertisement in Foreword magazine and that it resulted in your novel making appearances in several international trade shows.
Can you share with our readers your experiences with Foreword and how your novel became included in the trade shows?
Rai Aren: To our knowledge, I´m not sure if our activities with ForeWord have really had much impact on our sales. We actually paid for the ad and the trade shows separately, signed up for both types of activities separately. We did not have any contact subsequent to these activities to indicate they made any real difference for us.
Tavius E.: It´s hard to tell the effect the ad in Foreword had on sales of Secret of the Sands. I think since we are new and unknown writers, the ad probably did not generate much sales. Most of the sales came from Rai and her work on MySpace.
C. L. Vaughn: I noticed that your main website, http://www.secretofthesands.com, was designed my author Jeremy Robinson. I´ve actually had the chance to interview Jeremy (my first interview) and we´ve even emailed a few times. Did Jeremy also design your book´s cover and the banners/poster?
Tavius E.: Yes, Jeremy did the book´s cover, banner and poster. He helped us out with some hints on how to promote Secret of the Sands.
Rai Aren: Jeremy also did the interior formatting. He did a great job of everything, and was wonderful to work with. The way that all happened was that I came across his book, The Didymus Contingency, but I wasn´t familiar with him. I bought the book, then looked up his website, noticed he did the graphic design work too, and contacted him. I really liked his style, plus his genres are along some of the same lines as ours, so I thought he would be someone who would understand what we would want in a cover and would be able to do it well. He did such a fantastic job that we hired him to do our website & print materials, too!
C. L. Vaughn: What was the process you two had for writing the book? Were you meeting in person or was the majority of the work being done via emails?
Rai Aren: When we first started this process, most of the writing was done together, but as we developed the story & characters more, and became more confident in our writing, that our storytelling was on the right track, we did more & more on our own. We would then send each other our work, review it, make changes when we would meet, then set out a plan for what each would accomplish for the next time we would meet. Having a plan, meeting regularly, reviewing everything together, kept us on track, organized and motivated.
Tavius E.: Most of the writing was done on our individual time, but we met often to discuss about the story and do some writing and editing.
C. L. Vaughn: On your site you mention that RFS Publications is actually a fictitious publisher and that it stands for Recipe for Success. Who actually are you going through to print your book? Is there an ebook version of the novel out there as well?
Tavius E.: Booksurge, a subsidiary of Amazon, is the company printing our books. There is currently no ebook version of Secret of the Sands, but it might be something we will consider doing in the future.
Rai Aren: We have had a couple of inquiries from readers who would like the Kindle version of our book, so I am going to look into that. We are waiting to hear back from a handful of publishers and agents with whom our book is currently under consideration with. I definitely want to give our readers the wide range of options when choosing our story, so I just need to decide whether to wait until a traditional publishing deal gets inked, or to go ahead with it in the interim.
C. L. Vaughn: Can you explain why you chose to use pen names for your writing and what made you pick, Rai Aren and Tavius E.?
Rai Aren: For a few reasons. Firstly, I liked the exotic-ness of the names, and we wanted to keep things mysterious. The book has a mystery to it, and we thought it would add to its mystique if the authors sounded less everyday, so you wouldn´t automatically guess at our background, ethnicity, genders, etc. At the heart this is basically a continuation of important aspects of the story.
Also, I like having a measure of privacy, but even more meaningful to me is that going by this name, Rai Aren, feels like an important turning point in my life. I was always a creative person when I was young, then I went on to a successful career in business, but now I am coming back to who I really am at the core. It´s like a separation of the child-like dreamer who only exists to create, from the person who went to college & university in the pursuit of a professional career to build a life, get a home, etc. Both are good, but Rai is pure creativity – a creative energy & outlook.
I was brainstorming names during a writers conference, I wanted something that wouldn´t be indicative of gender or ancestry. I actually made it up out of thin air, but the initials, and two first letters of the first name both spell Ra, like the Egyptian sun god.
Tavius E.: We did not want people to know our nationality or gender as we were concerned people might have misconceptions about us. I always liked the ancient Roman name Octavius. I just took a form of that.
C. L. Vaughn: How much research about ancient Egypt was put into the novel and have either of you made the trip to see Egypt in person?
Rai Aren: Going to Egypt is our lifelong dream, we have not yet been (unless you count in our dreams!) We have both been fascinated by Egypt & her incredible history since we were little kids. I do have an extensive collection of books, DVDs and Egyptian art, took a (non-credit) course at the local university here on ancient Egypt, plus I was a member of the local SSEA – Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities for a number of years. I hope to resume my membership with the SSEA, I really enjoy that group, time pressures are the only thing keeping me away.
Tavius E.: Rai has extensive books and DVDs on ancient Egypt. She has attended workshops and seminars. I´ve watched several episodes on Discovery Channel and History Channel. I´ve also done some research on the internet. I have not been to Egypt, but one day would like to go there.
C. L. Vaughn: Mind telling us about the novel and the sequel?
Tavius E.: Secret of the Sands begins with two archaeologists discovering some unknown artifacts in Egypt, belonging to an unknown civilization dating back to 10,000 BC. As they deciphered the artifacts, the story of the unknown civilization comes to life. The two archeologists realize that a secret from this ancient civilization still exists today and it will have catastrophic results for everybody if they don´t find a way to stop it.
Destiny of the Sands will continue the adventures of the two archeologists and support characters from the first book. There will be more action and intensity as the stakes are much higher. The story will be darker.
Rai Aren: Secret of the Sands is a fun adventure story, but with underlying messages, big and small. There´s much more beneath the surface. We poured our love of, and fascination with, ancient Egypt, into every page. We took many things that are already known about Egypt´s past, then extended beyond that to timeframes that are not necessarily so well understood, where people still debate, and wrote a fictional pre-pharaonic history to explain it.
Though Secret of the Sands is a standalone story, the sequel Destiny of the Sands carries on from there. It will also tie actual historical facts into our fictional tale, while uncovering hidden ´truths´ about things we are all very familiar with. The journey of the characters that readers got to know in SoS becomes increasingly perilous. From there, we have brainstormed the third installment of this trilogy, and the stakes grow at an alarming rate, with huge consequences. We have some really big surprises in store for our readers, it will knock your socks off!
C. L. Vaughn: Has self publishing been a worth while adventure for you both so far? Any tips for the other writers out there who are thinking of self publishing their books?
Rai Aren: I have learned an incredible amount about so many aspects of the book biz. It´s been a lot of hard work, but enjoyable just the same. I do think that I wouldn´t have appreciated things as much had we not had this experience, if we had been published traditionally to start off with. Of course, a traditional publishing deal is our goal, but we really felt that our book was ready, that there was a big market out there for this type of story and that we had something unique and interesting to offer of quality. Like anything, you can spend as much or little as you wish, but my advice to anyone thinking of this as an option is this:
Make sure you have done the absolute best job you can on your story, get it edited by others who will help you, not just compliment you because they like you. Understand fully your genre, what makes that type of story good, and be very clear on what you are trying to accomplish and ask yourself critically, did you accomplish it?
If that confidence is there, polish it, format it nicely, get a good cover, because for good or bad, that is a very strong marketing tool. Also a website is a wonderful tool, it´s a destination people can visit to learn more about you.
Then be prepared that it is a ton of work both in the process to get the book to print, then in the marketing afterwards. Network, network, network!!! With other authors, with readers, every chance you can. If you are prepared to go the long haul, it can be a very rewarding experience.
Tavius E.: It´s been a good learning experience. I would prefer our book to be published by a traditional publisher.
C. L. Vaughn: Last and not least, do you two have anything else you´d like to share with our readers?
Rai Aren: Pursue your passions, whatever they may be, with all your heart and soul! Read lots of books, it´s good for your brain! Support authors
Tavius E.: We are hoping this story would be a trilogy. We have some ideas for a 3rd book, but first we must finish the second book.
C. L. Vaughn: Thank you again for both taking part in this interview and for reading the first issue (The Man Beneath Lake Union) of the Owen Ruger Micro-adventure Series. It´s been an honor to meet you both.
