The Wayfaring Stranger    The Big Fire Full. Chapter 42 Joe Moore was making what he called his “firewood rounds”: he would go by Aunt Mollie’s, then the Sweats, and finally Miz Girlie’s. By the end of the day, he would have supplied every family with plenty of smaller sticks for the wood stove, as well as larger ones for …

Somewhere in China.      October 2003 I’ll always remember her dark unforgettable eyes. We only met once in a bustling train station, and I never got her name. I don’t recall her speaking since we had a language barrier and a brief visit. This young Chinese woman was in danger, meeting four Americans. Our contact told us she would …

Where We All Belong   Curt Iles     I. THE JOURNEY  _____________________         CHAPTER 1   CAPTURED   “A prisoner of war is someone who was trying to kill you, but then asks you not to kill him.” —Winston Churchill   13 May 1943 Tunisia, North Africa   “The first five minutes of a POW’s captivity …

Where We All Belong is the first book in a three-book series, A LOUISIANA JOURNEY.   A LOUISIANA JOURNEY  will consist of three books: Where We All Belong   A German POW, Noah Becker, comes to Louisiana during War World II and finds a new life and new love. The American Woman  Louisiana girl Maggie Loewer travels to war-torn Germany to find …

Where We All Belong A Novel by Curt Iles BACK COVER COPY Visit www.creekbank.net to read “Early Reader” Chapters ____________________________ Back Cover    “Hitler said we’d march across America. He just forgot to tell us we’d be carrying shovels instead of rifles.”   During  World War Ⅱ, over 200,000 German prisoners of war, primarily members of Rommel’s famed Afrika Korps, …

Where We All Belong by Curt Iles Introduction   You cannot make up a story better than the truth.    Mowata rice farmer Jimmy Loewer shared the following story:   In the 1960’s a car drove up to his family farm and a well-dressed middle-aged couple stepped out. The man pointed at the farm’s windmill.  Jimmy’s visitors were a German …

  Readers, Many of you are curious about our upcoming novel, Where We All Belong.  We are currently putting the finishing touches on this 94,000-word novel. (that translates to about 370 pages.) We are in the most challenging phase of publishing a book: finding an editor/publishing house. I’d appreciate your prayer that God will open doors and Where We All …

NEWS from Rice University.  Used by permission. 12/4/1997 12:06:00 AM Updated: 31 August 2023 To our knowledge, the entire Rice Land pine timber farm was lost to the Tiger Island fire. A Growing Tradition: Rice University in Beauregard Parish The Rice Land Lumber Co. is more than a tree farm: its crop rotation provides a renewable resource and sustained income …

The Friendship Lane                       The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway.                                                              –Henry Boye   This story is about two men who refused to lose their friendship over a difference of opinion.  It is a story worth telling and one worth remembering. It’s the story of The Friendship Lane in Dry Creek. It’s …

The Most Famous Man in Alexandria. It was late on a Tuesday night when there was a knock at our door. I opened the door to see a man about my age, dressed in a loosely-fitting jogging suit and wearing blink on every visible spot of his body.  He had slicked-back hair with a coy smile. I immediately thought he …

Lloyd’s Teeth Lloyd and Lana have always been one of my favorite couples.  I’ve always described  Lloyd as dapper.  He was impressive to be around.  His wife Lana was equally impressive, always looking twenty years younger than her age and possessing a contagious laugh. Lana told the following story from the early years of their marriage: She and Lloyd were …

One Step at a Time I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.    Psalm 32:8   I grew up on a one-mile stretch of gravel road in Dry Creek. Our house was the only house at the dead end of this narrow country lane. My Dad always …

“A $1000 Saddle on a $100 Horse” This favorite story was told to me by my friend Diann Cain Norris. Diann’s family has always been active in rodeos. Her parents, “Junior” and Anita Cain made sure their three daughters, Diann, Dena, and DeAnn were busy with horses and basketball. “Junior” Cain said that a neighbor asked him, “Why in the …

Pine Trees and Gravel Roads This story, written in 2023, is from my third book Wind in the Pines.  They’ve clearcut a large swath of pine forest adjacent to the home I grew up in at the dead-end road where my parents live. A Clear Cut is always sad to me.  This one removed the thick strands of pines about …