If you don't know Cherokee County resident Roy Mitchell very well, you might think he is, well, plain. Here's the rundown: The contributing writer for The Post doesn't drink or curse; his two favorite movies are in black and white; and his ice cream flavor of choice is—you guessed it—vanilla.

In stark contrast, Roy's new book, “Blessed are the Meek”, is far from bland. Sampling from two decades of classroom experience, the veteran teacher's novel chronicles some unexpectedly savory characters.

In the 294-page work of Christian fiction, Mitchell's imagine conjures a high school controlled a power-hungry principal used to getting his way, a football coach with no morals, and a voluptuous substitute teacher willing to show off her curves to just about anyone.

But the real object of everyone's desire is Mobile football star Demetrius Dupree. The football establishment is willing to cheat, steal, or make a deal to get this Division I prospect into their school's uniform.

In his teaching career, Mitchell has worked at Cedar Bluff, as well as three Georgia schools: Adairsville, Trion, and Coosa Middle. Asked if real-life teachers are as spicy as the characters in his book, the veteran teacher responded, “Maybe when most everyone in the building is a kid, the grownups start acting strange. Sometimes a school's faculty resembles a soap opera.”

The book isn't all about eccentric teachers. The essence of “Blessed are the Meek” is in witnessing and Christian salvation, as well as exposing the balance between the South's two passions–God and football.

“Here in the football-crazy South, there's an obvious contradiction,” Mitchell says. “Some whisper Sunday morning prayers, but bellow boisterous cheers when their favorite team is playing. We sometimes put football on an unhealthy pedestal.”

The novel's main character is history teacher Ronnie Meek. A few days before he's about to be fired (so the school can hire Dupree's father) Ronnie is sleeping in church when his phone rings.

“That was how my idea came for the story,” Mitchell says. “I was sitting in church one day with my cell phone on, glad that I'd remembered it before it went off. Then my mind wandered. What would happen if I'd gotten a call or a text—and it was God? Would anyone believe me?”

In “Blessed are the Meek,” that exact situation presents itself to the story's protagonist. What happens next? Readers will have to find out for themselves.

The book is available at www.amazon.com for $15. Several local stores also carry Mitchell's new novel, including the Peddler's Market in Sand Rock, Scooter's Country Store in the Kirk's Grove community, The Post and Cherokee County History Museum in Centre, and Nana's Antiques in Cave Spring, Ga.