Lighting the Sacred Way, A Spooky Tale of Ancient Ephesus

I am very excited today because I have a new short story out, and it is unlike any I've done before.  Lighting the Sacred Way is a bit of suspense/bit of horror, set in ancient Ephesus.  Ephesus is one of my favorite places to visit in Turkey and I've long been fascinated with Artemis of Ephesus and the Temple.  For me, it was great fun bringing all that back to life...especially in a spooky sort of way.

What "Lighting the Sacred Way" refers to is the processional route from the Temple of Artemis, around the holy mountain, through Ephesus, and back to the temple where the people would parade carrying a statue of Artemis.  It was a way of bringing Artemis to her people, into her city, since the temple actually lay well outside of Ephesus.

Artemis of Ephesus fascinates me because she is unlike other representations of Artemis throughout the Greek/Roman world.  She seems to be descended more from a local mother goddess than the virgin huntress.  In fact, you can see resemblances to Cybele in the look and worship practices of Artemis.  I won't say too much, because I think I'll do a whole blog post on it sometime soon.

I had fun researching this story, though being as obsessive as I am about details, sometimes went a bit overboard.  Ephesus was quite a large city and a cosmopolitan port of the Roman Empire for several hundred years.  So there was a lot to learn to make sure I had the details accurate for the time period in which my story was set.  I'm sure I've probably mess up somewhere.

Also included in Journeys of Wonder are fabulous stories by Lisa Gail Green, Trysta A. Bissett, Leslie S. Rose, and Ian Kezsbom. I've included some promo material from the publisher below to tell you more about each of these stories of wonder.  But, let me know in comments -- as a writer, what was your favorite setting to research?  Or as a reader to read?

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Journeys of Wonder: Volume 2 – the second anthology in a series of genre fiction. Quick on the heels of Volume 1 this new volume brings back some favorite authors and introduces a couple of new ones.


Featured in this volume are five incredible tales – each of which will leave you in wonder and amazement.

1. CAL by Lisa Gail Green: A young man challenges his father after falling in love with a cybernetic life form.
2. The Terrible, Perfect Duet by Trysta A. Bissett: Cicadas, insomnia, and high school. What could possibly be more horrifying?
3. Helios by Leslie S. Rose: As humanity flees the wrath of Earth's dying Sun, a daughter's quest to claim her birthright jeopardizes the chance to escape.
4. Encrypted by Ian Kezsbom: Spies. Codes. Murder. A thriller about a man on the run – hiding a secret that others would kill for.
5. Lighting the Sacred Way by S. P. Sipal: Set during the time of the Roman Empire, a woman tries to vanquish the evil spirit residing within her. One that arrived on the day her husband was murdered.

 On sale only at Amazon.com! $.99 for a limited time or free through the Amazon Prime lending library!

Visit us at: www.journeysofwonder.com