Murphy,
NC novelist Wally Avett got a Christmas surprise early this year, when he was notified
that Amazon will include two of his books in their annual Holiday Gift Guide listing.
MURDER IN CANEY FORK and LAST BIGFOOT IN DIXIE will be among
books recommended by Amazon as downloads at $1.99 each during the entire month
of December.
“I’m
very happy about the opportunity for sales and exposure,” Avett said this week.
“Last year Amazon picked CANEY FORK
for its Daily Deal for just one day and it spiked for a week, selling several
thousand copies.”
A
graduate of the UNC Journalism School, Avett worked on several Tar Heel daily
newspapers before settling in the extreme southwestern tip of the state as
editor of the weekly CHEROKEE SCOUT newspaper for the decade of the 70’s.
He
served as Murphy’s town manager during the 1980’s and then pursued a career in
sales – outdoor advertising, manufactured housing and then real estate, selling
mountain homes to Florida retirees.
Along
the way he did some magazine writing but always dreamed of writing
fiction. He still writes a regular
column, HILLBILLY RANGER, for the local paper in Murphy.
In
the past three years he found an agent, Jeanie Loiacono of Houston, and his
four completed novels were published.
They are available at Amazon Books and also at several sites in Murphy.
“I
love a good story,” he says. “And
therefore all my writing is inspired by true incidents, molded to fit my
fiction. CANEY FORK , for example, is based on the true story of a vigilante
slaying in a Southern state during World War II.”
BIGFOOT is a wild rollicking tale written
for the homefolks in Murphy with a gentle love story, a little humor and a cast
of characters often recognizable to local readers.
REBEL BUSHWHACKER and COOSA FLYER were both published in 2015,
both heavily inspired by local history.
BUSHWHACKER is a bloody tale of the
partisan raiding in the mountains during the Civil War, a number of true
incidents included in the fictional treatment, especially the atrocities of
real-life southern guerilla, John P. Gatewood.
FLYER is pure fiction but was inspired
by the life of pioneer Georgia aviator Micajah Clark Dyer, who invented and
flew a primitive aircraft at least 20 years before the Wright Brothers.
Avett
lives with Dean, his wife of 52 years, on a large creek just outside
Murphy. He is a gardener, outdoorsman,
Sunday school teacher, gospel singer and reluctant handyman who sometimes tells
funny stories.
Avett has joined NCWN, and we welcome him to NCWN-West.
On December 12, Saturday, 1 - 3 p.m. at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC, Wally along with Tom Davis and Deanna Klingel and Glenda Beall will present a panel discussion on publishing and marketing. This is a free event held by NCWN-West and is open to the community at no charge.
The Coffee with the Poet series continues on Thursday, December 17th at 10:30 a.m. at City Lights Bookstore. The December gathering will feature performance poet and novelist Randi Janelle. She will share her poetry and also read from her novel, The Story: Deviation. She has performed her poetry in New Zealand, Australia and regularly performs in Asheville.
