The Mysteries - Daughter of Darkness: A Novel of Ancient Eleusis: Volume 1 - Softcover

In 480 BC, fifteen-year-old Melaina's biggest worry, she thinks, is wishing to follow Artemis and remain virgin when her mother and grandfather want her to marry and became a priestess. But when the Persians invade, the gods themselves have plans for Melaina, including carrying a divine child and divining for the Greek fleet in a battle to determine the salvation or ruin of all Greece.

David Sheppard is the author of the non-fiction books Novelsmithing and Oedipus on a Pale Horse. Sheppard holds a B.S. from Arizona State University and a M.S. from Stanford University, and he has also studied American Literature at the University of Colorado. His poetry has appeared in The Paris Review, and in the Arvon International Poetry Competition Anthology (Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney, Editors). A veteran of many writing groups and conferences, Sheppard is a past member of the Rocky Mountain Writers Guild, having chaired its Literary Society and participated in its Live Poets Society and Advanced Novel Workshop. He has taught astronomy, novel writing, and Greek mythology at New Mexico State University - Carlsbad. He has also traveled throughout Western Europe, and is an amateur photographer and astronomer.