Interview with Featured Authors, Rai Aren And Tavius E.

 

I remember the day a girl in my 5^th grade class brought in pictures from her family’s trip to Egypt. I was fascinated with King Tut’s gold encased sarcophagus. I wondered how the tomb had gone unnoticed for so many years and how many other secrets lay buried beneath the sands in Egypt.

Stories about hidden treasures with mysterious origins pique everyone’s curiosity but it takes a special kind of writer, or in this case pair of writers to create the perfect blend of factual content and fictional imagery.

Rai Aren and Tavius E. are the dynamic duo behind the Cold Coffee Magazine featured novel, Secret Of The Sands. In this exclusive interview Rai and Tavius talk about the incredible path that brought them together and the hurdles they overcame to write this amazing story.

 

CCM: Rai, Tavius, welcome to Cold Coffee. It’s been a few months since we talked about doing this feature and I’m glad to finally get a chance to speak with you about your exciting new book, Secret Of The Sands. Anyone who’s put in the effort knows how tough it is to write a novel. The dedication, study and time it requires can be enough to deter even the most inspired writer.

Writers by nature are avid readers and in most cases tend to write about subjects they enjoy reading about. What were some of your favorite novels and when did you first become interested in writing?

 

Rai: I was a huge Nancy Drew fan. I read every book in that series that I could get my hands on. I think it whet my appetite for mysteries. I also read some Hardy Boys novels, but as a young girl, I really preferred having a girl as the protagonist/mystery-solver. I was also in love with the Anne of Green Gables series. When I got a bit older, I remember reading The Amityville Horror. I was never so scared by a book in my life. At the time, everyone believed it was a true story, and from then on I could only read the book during daylight. When I got to the part about the red-painted room,well, my heart still races just thinking about it!

 

Tavius: I read a few books as a child, but I was not an avid reader. Bridge to Terabithia was one of my favorite books growing up. I enjoyed creative writing in high school and college. I would always read, watch movies and think of ways to improve the stories. It wasn’t until 2002 that I teamed up with Rai to write Secret of the Sands. We are currently writing its sequel, Destiny of the Sands.

 

CCM: When most people think of Egypt they think of pyramids, King Tut and Mummies who don’t like to be disturbed. When did you first become interested in Egypt and how long have you been researching ancient civilizations?

 

Rai: I have been utterly fascinated ever since I was a child. I took non-credit courses in Egyptology after college, just to keep learning and connecting with ancient Egypt. I was a member of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities (SSEA) for many years and even have an ankh tattoo – the symbol of life or everlasting life. I wouldn’t feel complete without it. I feel this ancient symbol protects me somehow…

I absolutely love learning about ancient civilizations. Ancient Egypt is my favorite, but pretty much any ancient history fascinates me. My favorite subjects in college were anthropology and archaeology.

Tavius: I was 12 years old when my class learned about Ancient Egypt and it immediately caught my interest. Since then I’ve been mesmerized by her history and mythology. To this day I continue to learn about ancient civilizations. Dan Brown’s books (The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons) have inspired me more to learn.

CCM: Let’s talk about Secret of the Sands.  What is the background of this story and who are the main characters?

Tavius: The story starts with two archaeologists, Mitch Carver and Alex Logan, who discover previously unknown artifacts in present day Egypt. They decipher the hieroglyphics on the artifacts in secret and discover that an unknown civilization existed. A story is revealed about an ancient civilization and the secrets they held that could still have catastrophic results for all mankind.

There are many characters in this story. In modern times the main characters are Mitch Carver and Alex Logan. As the story goes back in time readers learn about King Traeus, Prince Alaj, and Princess Zazmaria.

CCM: The two of you co-authored this book. How did you meet and what made you decide to write a book?

Tavius: My co-author and I went to college and studied together for many years. In school we teamed up on several projects and were always very successful. Once we were in the workforce, we came to a point where we thought, “Is this all there is to life”? Books and movies with an epic story were of great interest to us, and since we are both avid readers and love writing, we decided to create an epic story of our own.

CCM: How has writing a novel as a team worked out for you?

Rai: Tavius and I work exceptionally well together and I feel we created something that was better than either of us could have done separately. As debut novelists, the learning curve would have been much steeper & more intimidating on our own.

Tavius: I agree. Co-authoring has worked out great for us. Apart, we never could have created such a rich, diverse and complex story. Writing together has allowed us to read, edit and critique each other’s work, which has helped ensure the characters and plot were consistent.

CCM: Secret of the Sands is a story that unfolds in two time periods. How did you manage the changes between story lines?

Tavius: We created a summary for each time period and used a different style of writing for the ancient parts. We also made sure our characters spoke in a certain manner.

Rai: The planning that went into it made the writing a very natural, organic process. We had clear ideas for both timelines, and they just naturally intertwined. As Tavius mentioned, the trick was to keep track of everything, such as time jumps, how much time had passed for our characters, how they aged and how their lives would develop as a result.

CCM: The amount of research that went into this book must be staggering. With two writers and two timelines how did you maintain the consistency of that information?

Rai: We kept a companion document that contained details of all the characters, timelines, story ideas, a full outline, research notes on ancient Egyptian history, issues to be resolved, things that gave us ideas for the book, inspirational quotes, sections that were discarded, ideas for the sequel and possibly a prequel. That document alone is 382 pages in length.

Tavius: We had already collected a vast amount of books and videos pertaining to Ancient Egypt. We had to pick and choose what facts or myths to include in the story.

CCM: Developing believable characters can be tough for any writer. For this reason many writers model their characters after people they know or have met. In developing the characters for this story did you model them after anyone in particular?

Tavius: We did model the two archaeologists after ourselves, but just a little. The reader might be able to pick up a few hints about our personalities after reading the story. We created the royal family out of thin air. I don’t see them being modeled after anybody. I believe they are unique, with their own strengths and flaws.

Rai: The female archaeologist is myself in many ways. In fact, a friend of mine commented on how freaky it was for him to read the Alex sections because it was like having me in the room with him. The way Mitch and Alex interact in the story, their personalities, style of talking, the way they connect, challenge and tease one another is very much like Tavius and I. It was very easy and natural to write.

CCM: How are you promoting the novel and what advice would you give to aspiring novelists who are trying to increase awareness of their own works?

Tavius: Our novel has been promoted via The Secret of the Sands website, Amazon, MySpace and Facebook, among others. We have personally gone to bookstores, including Chapter, to sign and market the book.

Rai: I have actually spent the last several months working full-time promoting the novel and countless hours creating, maintaining, and updating our profiles on the various websites we’re affiliated with. We also attend book festivals, conferences and fairs. I also do most of the communications with fans and people who are interested in the business aspects of it.

CCM: What can your readers expect from you next?

Tavius: We are currently working on the sequel, Destiny of the Sands. We hope to have a rough draft of the manuscript this year. Then we will do some major editing and hope to have a presentable format next year. Our hope is that we’ll get a major book deal soon.

Rai: We’re also working towards a movie deal for the book. People from Hollywood have already approached us, so there is some interest.

CCM: I know you have greater goals, but you’ve already seen more success than many writers. In closing, what kind of advice can you offer young writers?

Rai: I think its important that aspiring novelists know that although writing a novel is a huge undertaking, the marketing and promotion require an equal, or even greater amount of effort. You have to embrace this fact early if you want to realize any measure of success.

Understand that an author is a brand. People who like your writing feel like they know you. I think an author is an extremely important part of a book’s appeal, especially once you’ve published more than one.

Establish an online presence. If you’re not sure how, go to our website and look under News. You’ll find many links to places where our names and our book can be found.

Most importantly, have fun. Writing should be a labor of love.

 

Cold Coffee Magazine would like to thank Tavius and Rai for taking the time to answer our questions and help their fellow writers. Their experience and dedication is both admirable and inspirational.