My name is William “Roy” Pipes; I was born in the Peachtree Community of Murphy and Cherokee County, North Carolina. My Grandfather Rufus Pipes moved his family from Wilkes County, North Carolina about 1904 to Peachtree, and we have been here pretty much since.

After high school, I joined the Navy then attended Western Carolina College, and after graduating I moved back home, and took a teaching position in Andrews where I taught high school science. Over twenty or more years, I moved around the county teaching at several schools, including White Church Elementary School, Murphy High School, and Ranger Elementary School. During these years, I sometimes coached both football and basketball, and was promoted to principal at Andrews High School, White Church, Ranger, and Superintendent of Cherokee County Schools.

Over the years, I earned several advanced degrees. These included a Masters Degree from Clemson University, an Educational Specialist Degree from Western Carolina University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Georgia.

After retiring in 1993, I taught for Piedmont College for the next fourteen years. My wife of 52 years passed away in 2010. I married my present wife, Betty Brown Pipes in 2011. On April 23rd of this year we will celebrate six wonderful years together. She was born in Robbinsville, but was living in Florida when we first met, so presently we divide our time between Florida and North Carolina. Betty is a graduate of Gaston College, and she is an artist. She has one daughter and two granddaughters.

Once retired, I began writing novels I call Appalachian Novels. Betty is my editor and I have written and had published eight novels. These novels are:

My first novel was titled Darby, An Appalachian Community, and was written from a true story my father told me of his life in Darby, North Carolina. Darby is a small community in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It takes place in the early 1900s and contains some Appalachian dialect.

I then wrote Hanging Dog, a sequel to Darby, but taking place in the Hanging Dog Community, near Murphy, North Carolina. It is a standalone novel, but might be best read after Darby.

My novel Mammy, A Term of Endearment is based on a former slave who after being freed was my father’s Mammy from his birth to age eight. I met Mammy at age nine when she was in her nineties. After meeting Mammy, I decided to learn more about slavery and write this novel.

One of my earliest memories is at age three playing a game searching for doodlebugs under the porch of our house. I titled this novel, Doodlebug, Doodlebug, Your House is on Fire. Doodlebug is an intriguing murder mystery involving a three year old boy living in the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina.

A Haven for Willa Mae is a novel of a wife who suffered from her husband’s physical and emotional abuse. Too often spousal abuse is neglected, but thanks to a young doctor, just out of medical school, Willa Mae’s abuse was stopped, but it developed into years of tumultuous times, as played out in my novel.

The Sinister Smile is my latest novel, and is of a man who after murdering four people pled guilty by reason of insanity and feigned insanity to avoid the death penalty. He then after thirteen years, breaks out of the insane asylum. It has romantic links, one link is a delusion, and another is true love. It is different in that each section has a different person talking or a different issue being discussed.

Betty and I together wrote a children’s novel, we call Marcy. It is about our little Maltese dog. It reads as if she is the author. She is a rescue dog and presently rules the roost at our home.

My seventh novel is complete, but not yet published. The title, Gone, Like a Candle in the Wind is a story of egos, psychological disorders, and anxieties making a riveting thriller with tension, stress, and danger. It is action-packed and fast-moving, full of surprises, suspense, and mystery. It contains a mix of obsessions, instabilities, and deceptions.

My eighth novel, complete but not yet published is titled, The Journey, and is about the affluent son of a wealthy and influential family.

Any of these published novels can be purchased locally from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Curiosity Shop, Hanging Dog General Store, and Living Waters Book Store all of Murphy, and Hill Gallery in Brasstown. Most novels are $14.95.